The ikuai RSH-ST07C is a 7-port USB hub that supports multiple signal and connector types. It connects to your computer via a USB-C cable and offers two USB-C 10Gbps, one USB-A 10Gbps input and four USB 3.0 inputs. I tested it with multiple devices and it performs nearly identically to when the devices are connected directly to my PC’s inputs, confirming their rated speed. The price is currently about $30 and I think it’s a great choice for people who are looking for a fast, but still cheap hub. More info below the link:
Purchase Here: https://amzn.to/3YaHtow
I should probably start by explaining why there’s a modern USB hub review on a retro website: The answer is most of us rely on USB hubs and it’s been really challenging for me to find modern ones that run at full speeds. And while my previous USB hub was still working perfectly, I found myself constantly fumbling around looking for USB-C to USB-A adapters and while the ones I use support the full 10Gbps speed, it was just one more thing to keep track of. So, I figured I’d try looking for a cheap hub that had C-ports, offered input jacks with individual power control and (of course!), performed well. I expected it to be as much of a nightmare as my previous USB hub buying experiences, but I got lucky and the first one I bought performed exactly as I hoped.
I started by testing an external NVMe drive directly into my PC’s ports, then through the hub. I ran into some cable issues (more on that below), but with the right cables, it performed nearly as good as when directly connected. Please note that every time you run a HDD speed test, the results will be slightly different, so differences of a few MB should be thought of as “about the same”:
The cable that came in the box worked perfectly on both the input and output sides and I recommend using it; It’s a USB-C cable and one end has a handy USB-C-to-A adapter connected right to it. I needed a longer cable to allow this hub to sit closer to me (farther from my PC), so I ended up leaving the one that came with it on my desk and it’s been handy.
That said, I tried a bunch of other USB-C and Thunderbolt cables on the input side and had speed issues when verifying with the same NVMe drive. Some cables would only register 40MB/s transfer speeds, meaning the hub wouldn’t recognize it as a faster device, while others worked fine for reading data, but not writing. And those same cables performed fine when connected directly between the drive and motherboard. I’m not sure if this was a problem with the hub, cable, or NVMe enclosure, but seems to be a common issue these days with all hubs past USB 3.0 and sadly you just need to plan around it. If you use a different cable to connect the hub to your PC, I recommend running a similar speed test to confirm your cables and equipment are running as expected after purchasing. The good news, is once you find the right cables (remember, the one it came with is fine) you shouldn’t have to worry about this again.
My Keyboard and mouse wireless USB dongles are always connected via this hub, so I ran the speed test again with them connected and some small files being transferred to a USB 3.2 flash drive. The NVMe speed results were basically the same, so while you shouldn’t transfer large files to two drives connected to the same hub (if speed is important), its good to know having multiple ports running low bandwidth tasks won’t affect transfer speeds when using this hub:
Next, I wanted to test the external PSU – Both because using low quality power supplies are dangerous and could cause performance issues, but also because I constantly use my USB hub to power the RT4K, MiSTer and other devices. The PSU is rated at 3A, so I certainly wouldn’t connect power hungry devices to all 7 ports, however I ran a real-world (at least in my lab) test scenario: I connected the MiSTer running the N64 core with the SM64 attract mode running, through the RetroTINK 4K, while running the Crystal DiskMark test on the NVMe drive shown above and it all worked fine. I certainly wouldn’t suggest this as a normal scenario, but I thought it was a good way to prove real-world performance. That said (as ALWAYS), make sure you’re not under-powering your equipment and always consider using standalone PSU’s for power hungry devices:
The only other thing to note, is the input jacks’ power functionality – When turned on, they remain on even if your computer is off (or you remove the USB cable). So you can still use this to charge devices even when everything else is off and if you need to power off devices, you can turn each port off manually. To do so, use the capacitive touch buttons next to each port: To turn on a port, tap the power logo and to turn it off, hold your finger on the logo for a few seconds; This was annoying at first, but ensures you won’t accidentally power off one port while powering on another. Also, there’s a blue light that lets you know when the port is powered on, which is actually really handy and one of the few times I actually appreciate an LED light – The previous Rosonway hub (which I still like!) didn’t have LED power indicators, so I was always fumbling with the buttons to see if they were on or not. So while I think I would have preferred normal buttons, the capacitive touch buttons and their functionality is good enough. And you could always just leave all ports on if you’d rather not fumble with them.
Some deep-dive, technical info: I wanted to see exactly how this hub was working, so I contacted Ken from What’s Ken Making, as he’s an expert at tearing down stuff like this. It looks like the hub is driven by two main chips: The VLI VL822-Q7 drives the ports labeled “USB 3.2”, however it’s actually a USB 3.1 Gen 2 hub…although still 10Gbps, which I confirmed above. Also, the ports labeled “USB 3.0” are driven by a Realtek RTS5411S, which connects to one of the VLI chip’s inputs and is actually USB 3.2 Gen 1×1…which is basically the same speed as standard USB 3.0 ;p. In real-world performance, this hub matches exactly the specs it advertises, but I wanted to include this, as it’s fun for us fellow nerds to know how this stuff works. My assumption is the Realtek chip was used since it’s basically the same as USB 3.0, easy to get and low cost. And the VLI chip provided the exact performance they needed at also a decent cost. But holy crap, are these USB specs confusing!!! I still don’t understand why they didn’t just go to USB 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, etc, rather than all these “Gen 2×1, 2×2” crap. Anyway…
Overall, for $30, this is a must have for anyone who needs 10Gbps performance, with the combination of USB A and C inputs. There’s also a 10-port version available in the same link, but I didn’t test that one; Even though the Rosonway I upgraded from was a 10-port, I never used all the ports at the same time, so I thought it was better to save some money and just get the 7-port. That’s up to you though!
