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USB Ports

KennyJennings
Protege
I don't have enough USB ports on my PC for the rift, tracking camera, and a controller. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with using usb hubs, and which one I should get. I know I am going to get one with a power adapter so there aren't a bunch of devices trying to draw power from one port, but I am a little concerned about data transfer. I'm sure there is a lot of data being transferred through all those USB ports, and I'm not sure if using a hub is going to allow for all that data to be transferred fast enough because the hub is only plugged into one port. If anyone knows anything about this, I would love your input. Thank you.
2 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS

Accepted Solutions

marikcraven
Expert Protege
That's awesome. If they are all separate then you should be able to put a hub on any of them just fine. If they are shared then you'll have to look at data limits. Assuming that you aren't going to connect everything you own to the hub and have the USB connections on your computer free.

I wouldn't put the rift on a hub if it can be helped though. It'd be a better idea to put keyboard, mouse and another adapter on one separate USB 3 and connect rift and camera to their own port each. You could even just do a USB 2 hub and save a little bit of money if three of the things connected to your computer are 2.0.

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10 REPLIES 10

KennyJennings
Protege
Thank you so much for your help!

KennyJennings
Protege
I think I will probably purchase this, but does anyone know if a USB hub WOULD work? I really appreciate your answer, but I think a hub would be easier, if it would work. Has anyone who owns the rift tried this? Thank you for your help. 

mm0zct
Protege
It might be worth pointing out that the Xbox controller is only USB2.0, if you have 2 USB3.0 ports, and some number of USB2.0 ports, then put the Rift and Tracking camera into the USB3.0 ports, and use a standard hub for however many USB2.0 peripherals you have. (Or do you really only have 2 USB ports in total? it seems unlikely these days, and you might have pin headers on your motherboard to add more without buying a new controller card)

KennyJennings
Protege
I should have been more clear, I have more USB ports, but I'm using them for other things like keyboard, mouse, wireless adapter, ect. I could just unplug some of my devices while I'm using my rift I guess. I'm also concerned about convenience, because the back of my tower has most of the ports on it, so I was hoping to be able to just plug a USB hub into the front of my computer. If a USB hub won't work, I'll just have to do without my keyboard or something. So, has anyone tried a USB hub? Thanks for all of your help.

marikcraven
Expert Protege
How many of those things you have connected require USB 3? Keyboard and mouse shouldn't. Maybe external drives. The main thing here is how many USB 3 ports do you have because you can alway use a hub for everything 2.0 and you probably won't hit the data cap unless you are doing a lot of stuff at once with 2.0.

If you dedicate your 3 to just the rift and touch if you decide to get it when it comes out you won't hit the data cap but if you do a bunch of back up or external drives then I'd plan on taking those offline when using the rift anyway.

I have used 3.0 powered hub for 3 external drive rack running 8 3TB drives on two and the third one has 4 disks of 3TB each. I don't run them all consistently but the devices do get used often several different disks at once and not a problem.

KennyJennings
Protege
To answer your question, all the USB ports on my computer are 3.0. So you don't think using a USB hub for the rift is a good idea?

marikcraven
Expert Protege
That's awesome. If they are all separate then you should be able to put a hub on any of them just fine. If they are shared then you'll have to look at data limits. Assuming that you aren't going to connect everything you own to the hub and have the USB connections on your computer free.

I wouldn't put the rift on a hub if it can be helped though. It'd be a better idea to put keyboard, mouse and another adapter on one separate USB 3 and connect rift and camera to their own port each. You could even just do a USB 2 hub and save a little bit of money if three of the things connected to your computer are 2.0.

Percy1983
Superstar


To answer your question, all the USB ports on my computer are 3.0. So you don't think using a USB hub for the rift is a good idea?


Don't use a hub for the rift, but you can use a hub for many other devices to make room for the rift.
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