[ericwass]

I've got a MacMini in my kitchen operating as a TV/Voicemail/Photos/iPod/AirTunes streaming system. Problem is, all of my USB devices seem to require being plugged directly into the back of the Mini to work properly (as opposed to the Mini-shpaed Belkin hub I bought) and, of course, I don't have enough ports.

Can anyone recommend a USB2 hub that will solve this? Something, I assume, I'll have to plug in.

Here are my peripherals:
Ovolab Phlink module
Miglia TV Micro
Casio Exilim dock
Treo 650 dock
iPod USB2 dock

[mduell]

Is the hub you have powered (i.e. does it also plug into the wall)? Can it be powered (some will work either plugged into the wall or not)? If it can be powered and is not powered, I'd try that first. It may be an issue of having enough power to feed all of your power hungry devices (which looks like at least 80% of them).

[ericwass]

Hi. Thanks for the reply. No, it's not powered (and can't be) - which I'm sure is part of the problem. So, I assume, I need one that is.

It's strange though, I can't figure out why the Exilim camera dock and the Treo dock (both of which have there own power sources) need a direct connection to the Mac to work consistently. Does it have something to do with polling the USB ports? And, if so, will a powered connection solve this?

[mduell]

I don't know if a powered hub will solve your woes, but I think it has a good chance.

Here are a couple highly rated powered hubs:

7 port D-link for $25 (less $10MIR)
4-port PPA for $12

Both have >10 reviews averaging >4.5/5.