*** Note: Several recent comments have stated that this product no longer comes with a worldwide voltage input (100-240V) power supply. That's a shame, and I'd definitely knock a star off the review if I could due to this change on D-Link's part -- I can only imagine it was part of a cost-cutting move. :-(
(Note that this review was originally posted in 2005, so it's been a LIFETIME for an electronic device and the DUB-H7's you buy today are likely quite dissimilar insofar as their physical construction goes compared to the ones from 2005.)
Original review:
I've had one for about six months now, and it's worked without problems. One of the things I particularly like with it is that it comes with one of the newer "slimline" power supplies that doesn't block other plugs, works anywhere in the world (100-240V), and is more efficient than the old "wall wart" power supplies.
Let me address some of the other comments here:
1) For the guy with the Lexar data card... it is a blight on D-Link's reputation that their technical support was clearly incompetent (this is sadly true of many companies today -- being pushed there in part by the relentless "drive to the bottom" by consumers who often care more about price than quality and support), but I doubt that even a really good company could have helped much. Although the hub may have somehow been at fault, it's also possible the Lexar card had problems -- even if it worked fine in other hubs. For the record, I've used a handful of USB drives with this hub without problems... although not a Lexar brand.
2) Regaridng plugging in a USB 1.0/1.1 device and slowing the hub down -- this doesn't actually happen, at least in the hub I received, but what D-Link is doing is hedging their bets (hence the word "may" -- which unfortunately these days many manufacturers use when the word "will" is more correct!): Inside the hub you'll find a VERY generic hub IC (actually, two of them), and D-Link has a lot of freedom to use different vendors' ICs based on price, availability, etc. All of them are USB 2.0 hubs, but ones without so-called "per port transaction translators" will drop to full speed (12Mbps) if any of the ports have such a device plugged into them. Happily, ICs like this are pretty much extinct today (when USB 2.0 first came out they were around). In any case, your solution of just getting two hubs certainly still applies. I agree this should be a little bit more prominently advertised, but so should a lot of things about USB, WiFi, etc. -- the oft-touted data routes of 480Mbps and 54Mbps (respectively) are pure fantasy, for instance, in real world applications. D-Link DUB-H7 High Speed USB 2.0 7-Port Hub
The product is and does what all the descriptions say. Looks good, nice and small etc. etc. It is, of course, backward compatible with USB 1.0 and 1.1, but I got a nasty surprise when I opened the box and read the "Quick Install Guide". Under the "tips" section, they state: "Connecting USB 1.1 devices to the DUB-H7 may cause all USB devices connected to the hub work at USB 1.1 speed. To ensure 480Mbps throughput for your USB 2.0 devices, do not connect USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices to the hub at the same time." Maybe this is common knowledge to a computer expert, but to me it wasn't! I have 1.1 and 2.0 devices which I want to connect, and now I have to start unplugging and re-plugging devices constantly? That's why I bought a hub with 7 ports in the first place! If I had known this, I would have bought two 4-port hubs: one for my USB 1.1 devices, and one for my USB 2.0 devices.You can download the Quick install guide I am talking about at Dlink's website: http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=149 and click on "Install Guides" for the PDF format download.
I was excited to have this 7-Port USB 2.0 hub until I discovered that it cannot handle more than four devices reliability and it cannot handle any high power devices, such as an external hard drive at all. I tried USB powered externals (Seagate 100 GB) and external hard drives with their own power supply (Western Digital 250 GB) It just doesn't recognize these. My Seagate 100 GB external started making that funny noise it makes when it is not getting enough power.
I also had trouble with my Linksys transmitter for my wireless Skype phone. It worked fine when plugged directly into one of the computer USB ports, but would not work at all with the D-Link Hub.
I would think the unit was defective, except that the mouse, Cruzer USB drive, and keyboard that I have plugged into it work fine.
This device has its own power supply, but it doesn't seem to be able to handle the load. I would not recommend it. I plan to replace mine with another brand.
I have a multitude of accessories for my computer including a scanner, printer, memory card reader and an ipod. The hub only works with accessories that have their own power sources. If I plug in any of the accessories without their own power sources (like the ipod or keyboard) I get a low USB power notice and cannot communicate with the attatched accessory. Even though this hub has its own power supply, it only alots a certain amount of power to each port, thereby decreasing the amount of power each accessory can use. I would not recommend this product and would return it if I could. - 7-port Usb Hub - 7 Port Usb Hub - 7 Port Usb 2 Hub - D-link'
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