What to Look for when Buying a USB Splitter

There are many reasons to want to purchase a USB splitter. USB splitters increase the number of ports available, allowing you to have many USB devices plugged into your computer at the same time. This can be extremely useful if you want to transfer data between different USB devices, such as secondary hard drives and thumb drives. Additionally, not having to ever unplug your USB devices can be a big time saver, especially if you have many of them. What follows should give you enough information about the various features of different USB splitters to make an informed choice about which one is right for you.

Types of Ports

There are three types of USB ports. While they are generally compatible, it is good to be aware of them when deciding which USB splitter you wish to purchase. USB 1.0 is the original type of universal serial bus port. It is the slowest of all three types, having the ability to transfer approximately 1.5 Mbits per second. Next is USB 1.1, which is more recent and has a speed of 12 Mbits per second. Even more recent is USB 2.0, which has a speed of 480 Mbits per second. All of these ports are completely backwards compatible and capable of connecting to older devices. For example, a USB port configured for USB 2.0 can connect to a device built to use USB 1.0. However, it will only operate at 1.5 Mbits per second.

After USB 2.0, USB 3.0 was released. USB 3.0 is faster, and will usually be backwards compatible, but not always. Because of this, you should plan accordingly, considering the particular devices that you plan to use. If all of your devices are pre-3.0, any type of ports is acceptable, but 2.0 ports are best. However, for 3.0 devices, 3.0 ports may be necessary.

Power Supply

Some USB splitters run off the power from your computer. Others, in contrast, have their own external power supply. For many uses, unpowered USB splitters are fine. They are perfectly capable of handling flash drives and other devices that do not consume too much power. If possible, you should strongly consider an unpowered splitter, as it minimizes the number of cables you have to deal with.

However, for more power consuming devices, a powered splitter is best. If you have a device such as a secondary USB hard drive, it may not be able to run on an unpowered splitter. Even if it can, its performance may suffer.

Number of Ports

Obviously, the more ports on your USB splitter, the more potential use you will be able to get out of it. More ports on your USB splitter means more devices simultaneously connected to your computer, which is the entire point of having a USB splitter in the first place.

However, upgrading from a small splitter is actually easier than it sounds. USB devices can be daisy chained together, which means you can gain extra ports by connecting a USB splitter to a second USB splitter. However, this will reduce the rate of data transfer, as well as potentially cause problems for unpowered splitters.