PC Peripherals Powered USB hub which provides both charging and data

I

ibose

Skilled
So I have this Lenovo YogaBook which has one micro usb port used for charging it. That is also the only available port which can be used for data transfer so you can attach an external hdd, etc. I was looking for a usb expansion hub with at least 2 usb ports which can connect to the micro usb and do data transfer and charging the YogaBook simultaneously. The closest I could find is this splitter cable but that gives only 1 usb otg port -

Terabyte Micro USB Male to 2.0 Female Host OTG Cable with Adapter and Power Y Splitter : Amazon.in: Electronics

Terabyte Micro USB Male to 2.0 Female Host OTG Cable with Adapter and Power Y Splitter : Amazon.in: Electronics
www.amazon.in
Any options ?
 
@ibose I think your Yogabook most likely uses USBPD to fast charge (can confirm by looking at the power brick. Just see if it has additional output voltages other than 5V).

So, at the very least. You'd have to sacrifice the fast charging because you want to keep the rail voltage at 5V (by using a 5V only power source maybe).

The next issue that I see is that when you're charging the Yogabook, the power comes from the brick, so it's acting as a host. I don't know if the USB spec allows power transfer from a peripheral to a host (never seen it). If you want to transfer data to the device, it should be the host. So, I suspect that even with a regular USB hub, you can't solve this problem.

Quickest way to check is to test with a powered USB hub, if you have one laying about.
 
Yes it does have 5.2/7/9/12 V mentioned. I have purchased the powered Transcend hub that was mentioned above. It's supposed to be delivered on Friday. I will test and report back.
 
deusExMachina said:
I searched around a bit, looks like you need a USB-C hub with pass through charging. Checkout these:
Amazon Link 1
Amazon Link2 (belkin)
Click to expand...
His YogaBook has a single microUSB port.

ibose said:
Yes it does have 5.2/7/9/12 V mentioned. I have purchased the powered Transcend hub that was mentioned above. It's supposed to be delivered on Friday. I will test and report back.
Click to expand...
Powered USB Hub doesn't send power upstream. It shares power down to the devices connected downstream to the hub.

- - - -


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What do you think? Will this work?
 
Last edited:
ibose said:
Hmm.. so you are saying that the Transcend hub will not work?
Click to expand...
Powered HUB will not charge the device upstream.

Suppose you need to connect 3 external 2.5inch hard discs to a single USB Port, that USB Port doesn't have enough power to drive all three HDDs at once but has enough bandwidth. So you provide power from outside (wall adaptor) to the hub which further provides power to the HDDs. This is my understanding, others please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not 100% sure on this but pretty sure.
 
ibose said:
Yes it does have 5.2/7/9/12 V mentioned. I have purchased the powered Transcend hub that was mentioned above. It's supposed to be delivered on Friday. I will test and report back.
Click to expand...
This will not work. it is meant for a computer. If you connect it to a tab, you'll use a micro-usb to Type A OTG cable. Type A can only deliver power, not receive. That's why till type-C came, both ends of a USB cable used different connectors.

Only Type-C can both receive and deliver power.

If at all this is to work, you'll need something like this: https://www.amazon.in/kirin-Micro-Charger-Smartphones-Black/dp/B00LTHBCNM

But I've never seen anyone use it, so you'll have to go by Amazon reviews of the product. Priced almost same as the transcend one you have ordered.

Edit: there's this much cheaper product with no reviews which claims to do the same: https://www.amazon.in/Street27-Micro-Female-Three-Adapter/dp/B07GYV37XB/
 
gourav said:
This will not work. it is meant for a computer. If you connect it to a tab, you'll use a micro-usb to Type A OTG cable. Type A can only deliver power, not receive. That's why till type-C came, both ends of a USB cable used different connectors.

Only Type-C can both receive and deliver power.

If at all this is to work, you'll need something like this: https://www.amazon.in/kirin-Micro-Charger-Smartphones-Black/dp/B00LTHBCNM

But I've never seen anyone use it, so you'll have to go by Amazon reviews of the product. Priced almost same as the transcend one you have ordered.

Edit: there's this much cheaper product with no reviews which claims to do the same: https://www.amazon.in/Street27-Micro-Female-Three-Adapter/dp/B07GYV37XB/
Click to expand...
These appear to have a switch for choosing between the OTG and charging so both cannot work simultaneously ?

The splitter cable mentioned by @john1911 is the one I mentioned in my first post but it gives only one OTG port. I need at least 2-3 ports while able to charge simultaneously. If I couple that with the Transcend hub plugging it into that one OTG pprt, will that work ?
I am basically looking to connect 1 USB pen drive, 1 2.5 inch external hdd and 1 logitech unifying receiver for kbd and mouse.
 
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