Cheap eBay powered USB hub?

[robdobson]

I'm planning on buying one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-PORT-USB-HU ... 1e75abad50

In order to power an external HDD with my pi.

Does anybody else use these? Are they any good? And are they safe (without modifications) for my pi?

Thankyou

[zardoz66]

this might help

http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeriphera ... d_USB_Hubs

[rpdom]

I'm planning on buying one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-PORT-USB-HU ... 1e75abad50

In order to power an external HDD with my pi.

Does anybody else use these? Are they any good? And are they safe (without modifications) for my pi?

Thankyou

I've got one exactly like that. It's rubbish.

The PSU claims to give 1000mA at 5V, but the voltage drops to 3V when I try to power just my model A Pi from it!

It will try to back-power the Pi through its USB input (until I cut the track).

Two of the USB sockets didn't work at all.

I kept getting USB reset messages whenever I tried using it.

Checking inside, the soldering is appalling, the circuit board doesn't fit the case properly and the USB sockets were at all different angles.

I would not hesitate in recommending you stay well clear of these hubs.