Cheap Front-Panel USB Ports
Written: Jan 27 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Four front-panel USB2 ports
Cons: Black face does not match the rest of my computer.
The Bottom Line: For $8 at a blowout sale, this is a steal. Get it if you need more front-panel USB ports.
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| pvreditor's Full Review: Belkin (F5U261) Networking Hub |
I'm always looking for a bargain and have a hard time turning down a real deal. Thus, when I saw a Belkin F5U261 four-port USB front-panel adapter for just $8 (it was a blowout sale), I had to buy it.
I have a computer with a single front-panel USB port that often gives me trouble with certain USB accessories, most notably my thumb drive. The computer's front-panel USB port is also only USB1.1 standard, which limits it to 12 Mbps. I have a USB2 card in this computer (because I needed more USB ports) but the front-panel port is connected to the motherboard and limited to USB1.1. Therefore, I was very much attracted to the Belkin unit's support of USB2, which provides data transfers at rates up to 480 Mbps.
When I spotted the Belkin F5U261 in the store, it wasn't clear on the package how it connected to the computer's USB system. Looking at the unit, it looked like a standard USB cable connects to the rear of the unit and then plugs into a standard USB port. This turned out to be the case and I will write a little more about this shortly.
The Belkin F5U261 is a four-port USB2 hub that fits into a standard 3.5-inch bay, such as a floppy or Zip drive space. Fortunately, my computer had one unused 3.5-inch space and the Belkin unit physically fit in the slot. Unfortunately, the slot in my computer had only screw slots for the bottom of the unit and none for the sides. The Belkin has screw holes on the side but none on the bottom.
I'm nothing if not handy with tools. I held the Belkin F5U261 in place, marked the bottom screw holes and drilled holes in its plastic case. They worked perfectly and there is no chance that the screws will touch any of the unit's electronics. With the unit firmly mounted, I plugged it into my computer's power supply, using an adapter cable supplied with the Belkin unit.
Now the interesting part... Belkin provides a cable with this unit to plug it into a standard USB port. Remember where I said I had a USB2 card in this computer? When I installed the card a year ago, I was puzzled by the fact that it had a USB port on the rear edge of the card, facing the inside of the computer. At the time, I couldn't figure out what this was for and thought it was a waste of a perfectly good USB port.
However, the cable from the Belkin F5U261 mated perfectly with this port, giving me a tidy installation with no odd wires snaking around to the back of the PC. I don't know what you're supposed to do if you do not have one of these internal USB ports... the manual that came with the Belkin F5U261 simply says to plug it into a USB port. Needless to say, I was happy to have exactly the right place to connect this unit but not every computer will have a convenient internal USB port. You may have to get and install a USB card to give you a USB port if you decide that the Belkin F5U261 is a must-have. An alternative would be to thread a USB cable outside the back of your computer and plug it into one of your back-panel USB ports. This sounds like an ugly, if workable, solution.
After the physical installation I booted up my Windows 98SE computer, and it quickly found and set up the Belkin unit without any driver installation. The manual said that I might need my Windows disk but it was not needed. No driver disk came with the Belkin F5U261.
The front of the Belkin F5U261 has a red LED, four USB ports and four green LEDs, one by each USB port. The red LED lights up when power is applied, which means that it comes on when the computer is turned on. Each green LED lights up whenever the unit recognizes that something is plugged into that USB port.
So far, I've plugged an Iomega 250 MB Zip drive, a Buslink 20 GB portable hard drive and a Jungsoft thumb drive into the Belkin F5U261 and all worked with no problem. Compared to the USB1.1 port already on the front of my computer -- which has always been a little quirky -- the Belkin seemed to facilitate much faster data transfers, even though all three accessories are USB1-standard devices.
My biggest problem with the Belkin F5U261 is that it has an ugly black plastic face that looks cheap and doesn't blend at all with my "putty" colored computer. Otherwise, I very much enjoy having the extra front-panel USB ports for my burgeoning collection of USB accessories. As I acquire more USB2 devices, it's good to know that the Belkin is compatible with this high-speed standard.
If you are considering the Belkin F5U261, your biggest concern should be where you will plug the unit into your computer's USB system. I was lucky in that my computer already had an exceptionally convenient internal USB2 port. Not every computer will have such a thing.
A second concern is the mounting method I had to use for this Belkin unit. I think that my computer is unusual in this regard and that most computers with an available 3.5-inch bay will have the side screw slots to match the Belkin F5U261.
Otherwise, I'm very pleased with the Belkin F5U261. For a very low price, it gives me four high-speed USB ports on the front of my computer, saving a lot of crawling on the floor to plug in accessories.
Recommended:
Yes
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