Which router allows USB hubs?

[SilverBlade]

Simple question, which routers allow connecting USB hubs to connect multiple *powered* USB hard drives?

And I want to make it clear, I don't want a NAS..I simply 100% can't afford it. Plus I don't need a full NAS system as it would be just me accessing the hard drives - no one else.

I also do not trust having external USB drives shared on a Windows Computer - External USB drives tend to dismount themselves right in the middle of writing or reading big files. Not acceptable when reading or writing blu-ray rips.

 

[Vipermk2]

Asus RT-AC68U accepts a Hub on the USB 2.0 port but not the USB 3.0

 

[RMerlin]

Look at a basic networked solution such as a WD MyBook Live instead - it will be faster and more reliable.

 

[SilverBlade]

Asus RT-AC68U accepts a Hub on the USB 2.0 port but not the USB 3.0

Does this router support more than 2 hard drives? I am currently using 5..

 

[Vipermk2]

Does this router support more than 2 hard drives? I am currently using 5..

Unfortunately I can't confirm that for sure, I bought a 4-port hub in the hope that the router would support more than 1 USB 3.0 drive. I found that it would support 1 USB 3.0 and 3 USB 2.0 devices as that's all I had at the time. Going out on a limb, I would say yes it would do more but don't quote me on that.

 

[RMerlin]

Technically, it supports up to 26 disks.

 

[TonyH]

Simple question, which routers allow connecting USB hubs to connect multiple *powered* USB hard drives?

And I want to make it clear, I don't want a NAS..I simply 100% can't afford it. Plus I don't need a full NAS system as it would be just me accessing the hard drives - no one else.

I also do not trust having external USB drives shared on a Windows Computer - External USB drives tend to dismount themselves right in the middle of writing or reading big files. Not acceptable when reading or writing blu-ray rips.

If you say USB drives connected to PC is not as dependable as router connected it is hard to believe. Good drive enclosure with self contained power supply

Simple question, which routers allow connecting USB hubs to connect multiple *powered* USB hard drives?

And I want to make it clear, I don't want a NAS..I simply 100% can't afford it. Plus I don't need a full NAS system as it would be just me accessing the hard drives - no one else.

I also do not trust having external USB drives shared on a Windows Computer - External USB drives tend to dismount themselves right in the middle of writing or reading big files. Not acceptable when reading or writing blu-ray rips.

Self contained 2 bay USB enclosure worked very well for me. Could configure it as JBOD or Raid 0/1. Moved to NAS now.

 

[SilverBlade]

If you say USB drives connected to PC is not as dependable as router connected it is hard to believe. Good drive enclosure with self contained power supply.

Tell that to my Windows 7 computer. It disconnects external USB hard drives (with it's own power supply, and on a USB hub, also with it's own power supply) without being prompted by me. I could be writing to the file and suddenly it disconnects. It's done this multiple times...so I have trust issues with Windows 7 and external hard drives.

 

[L&LD]

Tell that to my Windows 7 computer. It disconnects external USB hard drives (with it's own power supply, and on a USB hub, also with it's own power supply) without being prompted by me. I could be writing to the file and suddenly it disconnects. It's done this multiple times...so I have trust issues with Windows 7 and external hard drives.

Do you use sleep or hibernate?

 

[yorgi]

Does this router support more than 2 hard drives? I am currently using 5..

Be careful when you plug hubs onto a ASUS router. My buddy plugged a powered 4 port USB 3 on his 87 U and he blew his USB ports on the router. I wouldn't recommend using powered hubs or any hubs on these routers because the ports are flaky.
Perhaps one can Technically, supports up to 26 disks as Merlin said but I wouldn't try that.
I have 2 3.0 WD drives on my 87 U and they both run 30-40mb/s which is fine with me.
I find that USB ports on routers are not as efficient as when plugged on Computers but they do a fine job if you want storage to stream movies or music or NAS. I never had any problems with the drives on the router. If you already have a router then by all means you can put the drives on there but like Merlin said Hard drives that can be plugged on a network is another solution.
But from my experience if you try plugging hubs on a router you are playing Russian roulette

 

[sfx2000]

Hubs can be a bit weird - I've seen USB3 hubs that work fine with Windows, plug them into a Linux box and things go odd - lot depends on the USB software stack, and that USB3 hub I just mentioned - it was actually a buggy device, and wasn't properly handling the end-points, and as such, corrupted all the data on the drive attached to it...

 

[System Error Message]

usb hub support depends on firmware and drivers.

As for whether a hub is electrically dangerous it depends on its design such as is it grounded? Where does the ground go? USB is always powered so if you touch the end of the usb cable connected to a device powered on such as a printer you will feel a bit of a harmless shock. Many powered usb hubs are flaky by design as they cant decide properly where power should go and they tend to come with insufficient power. One usb hub i have has an external power source, it has a 2.1A charging port but the plug has an output of 3A. the hub has 4 data ports and 1 charging port and by usb3 standards that would amount to 2.1A + 1.5A *4 which is 8.1A maximum if you follow usb3 standards. Many just either have a poorly designed chip or arent really designed to specification. USB chips and power regulation actually draw power even when unused. Im very sure many remember the horrible VIA chip SATA expansions, i still have a cardbus version of it and it works best without the drivers.

usb2 ports have a max standard power output of 500mA while usb3 ports output 1.5A max standard. Trying to draw too much power out of it or wrongly routing power could damage the usb and power chips.

Edit: before you buy a hub see what chip it uses and do a search.

 

[TonyH]

Tell that to my Windows 7 computer. It disconnects external USB hard drives (with it's own power supply, and on a USB hub, also with it's own power supply) without being prompted by me. I could be writing to the file and suddenly it disconnects. It's done this multiple times...so I have trust issues with Windows 7 and external hard drives.

My personal box(Asus ROG) runs dual boot W7 Ultimate 64 bit with 32GB/Ubuntu those things never happened to me.