A Powered USB hub is an ergonomic and extremely useful tool that can expand a USB port into 3, 4, or even 5 more ports for use. Effectively considered an extension cord for USB, it’s most useful to people with lots of USB powered items that need to be put into good use.

There are two main types of ways to power a USB hub. A bus-powered hub is a type of USB hub that gains it’s power from a computers USB port. This is useful because it’s completely self sustaining, however, a lot of devices need more power than a device like this can provide, so high powered USB items are effectively put out of use by a bus-powered hub. The second type of a powered USB hub is called a self-powered USB hub. These type of USB hubs draw all of their power from an external power source attached to the hub itself, usually into a wall outlet. These can be useful if a bus-powered hub doesn’t provide enough power, but be warned that self-powered USB hubs tend to be more expensive. Also, consider the fact of outlet space. If you don’t have an open electrical outlet, self-powered USB hubs may not be feasible for your situation.

High capacity Powered USB hubs are also available. In extremely rare cases, hubs can reach the size of over 100 additional USB ports. The maximum amount of USB ports in a network is 127, which is a number usually reserved for extremely high-need operations. An interesting question to think about when considering that massive number is the speed factor. To effectively provide a reasonable amount of speed to all of these ports, USB 2.0 is generally used, which supersedes the previous 1.1 version. However, one should take caution as a USB 1.1 device will not become high speed simply by inserting it into a USB 2.0 port.

In conclusion, Powered USB hubs can be very useful for people with the need to expand their USB network. Be it the average consumer or a large company, they make a very viable purchase.