How many usb hubs can you connect

If it is part of a daisy chain setup with other power hungry devices, it is not going to receive the right amount of power to operate efficiently. This means that if you are trying to save important information and the power drops, you are going to lose all that information.

USB communication has evolved over the years in many aspects. One of the major ones being data transfer speeds. As you can see, there are many different speeds available for different applications depending on the need but to reiterate, the faster the better! While you can connect USB hubs of different versions, the main issue is that the data transfer rate is limited to the slowest version.

Search for:. Devices like printers, scanners, webcams, keyboards, external harddrives and many more. The one thing that these devices have in common is their connectivity. However, a computer or laptop is limited by how many USB ports it has. But, sometimes just one USB hub might not cut it. So, how many USB hubs can you daisy chain? A deeper look at daisy chain Daisy chaining in electrical and electronic engineering involves connecting multiple devices in a sequence.

How many USB hubs can you theoretically daisy chain USB hubs are most commonly used to extend the number ports of a computer system as it can only come with a limited set of USB ports.

But, sometimes you might require multiple USB hubs. You will require multiple to accommodate multiple input and output devices. But, how many USB hubs can you daisy chain? You can connect up to devices to a computer via a single daisy chain. Are there any issues when you daisy chain multiple USB hubs While it might be theoretically possible to daisy chain up devices to a computing system which includes the 32 USB hubs , there are some things you need to take into consideration before you do so.

However, a computer USB port is limited to the power it can deliver. It is rated at 2. To make matters worse, USB 3. That is, they live in the similar yet separate tree architecture in parallel with USB 2. USB 3. This will even furhter reduce the number of devices which can be attached to a single XHCI host controller. Architecturally, 8-port USB hubs implement their 8-port configuration by internally cascading 2-port and 4-port USB hub chips.

Each individual hub chip contains both a USB 2. Remember that each hub chip itself contains a USB 2. Going back to the previous example of the commonly available Intel XHCI-based host system, the integrated controller supports a maximum of 96 endpoints. By removing one device 23 total , we would drop down to 96 endpoints.

However, many host machines use USB internally for built-in peripherals, including webcams, touchscreens, and touchpads. Therefore, the number of external devices that can be connected is different for every system. This number can be further impacted by a host machine where the USB connectors are already expanded by internal hubs.

We've created a follow-up blog post with a suggested topology to reach maximum daisy-chaining potential. Read it here. Unfortunately, this will limit all devices to USB 2. Use a USB 2. MaQleod MaQleod Pacerier, yes, each device is allocated mA from the hub, if it requires more than that it needs external power.

It also has a set range between 4. Do you mean that if I have 8 holes in the hub and i plug in them all, only 5 will actually receive power?

Pacerier, I updated the post to clarify the difference between how a hub acts when it has external power vs when it is powered from another hub. So if the hub has external power, it will share the mA to all connected devices as they request it, if there is available current. If the hub is powered from another hub alone, it will never allocate more than mA per device to the maximum it can pull from the previous device mA.

Add a comment. Ben Richards Ben Richards If by "safe" you mean they will not be damaged, then yes, they should be fine. However, the more devices you plug into a USB hub, the more power will be drawn. The common practice is to avoid using hubs and daisy chaining as much as possible, to avoid running into power issues. The Overflow Blog. Does ES6 make JavaScript frameworks obsolete? Podcast Do polyglots have an edge when it comes to mastering programming I have a monitor, keyboard, mouse and external sound system connected to the dock.

I also have USB hubs connected for various devices: printer, two external hard drives, webcam, camera, phone, iPod. It means I can move the laptop by disconnecting the power and one USB cable.