I love USB devices. I've got plenty. I've got a USB connection to my all-in-one printer/scanner, a webcam, a SmartMedia memory-stick reader, an MP3 player, and MT's Aiptek PenCam II. (I've written epinions on most of these.) Now, the PC I had before this had only two USB ports. The problem here should be pretty clear, right?

Enter the Belkin F5U021 USB 4-port hub. Off I went to Staples and came home with the device. For $40, I could double my USB capacity. I brought the hub home, turned it on and plugged it in.

Belkin is known in the computing industry, largely for making aftermarket accessories. Need a new printer cable? Belkin makes one. USB cable? Belkin again. Surge protector? You guessed it. Odds are there's something by Belkin in your home already.

Hubs, whether they are USB hubs or Ethernet hubs, do not require any kind of driver. I plugged it into one of the USB ports on my PC and connected the other end of the cord to the uplink port. (This is analogous to the uplink port on an Ethernet hub -- but instead of uplinking several PC's linked in a hub to a router, the USB hub uplinks all the devices to the PC itself.) I plugged in the power and we were ready to go. For ease of setup, I give it a 10. It just can't get much easier than this.

For ease of use, the F5U021 gets another 10. This is largely because, well, it can't get much easier than this. Plug in power. Plug in uplink. Plug in devices. There you go, all there is to it. Plugging in USB devices is about the easiest connection you'll find. The hub comes with four USB ports. All of them work flawlessly.

Many USB devices ominously threaten their users that use of hubs is not supported. This is largely because the makers of those devices don't know if your hub is going to work or not. USB is popular and a lot of hardware makers are building USB ports and hubs into peripherals like the keyboard or the monitor. In some cases these will not work properly with certain USB devices. However, the F5U021 comes off well here -- it's been in service for about two years, and the four USB devices plugged into it have never experienced any sort of connection problem. So for reliability the F5U021 scores a third 10.

Style, however, is not the F5U021's strong point. It comes with a smoked gray plastic cover. A red LED tells you if it is plugged into the PC correctly, and four green LED's tell you if the devices are plugged in and showing up. Not too bad. You can see the green circuit board through the smoked gray plastic. Personally, it's not my thing. Given my druthers I'd have preferred an opaque cover.


I could live with the translucent case, though. Where the F5U021 really falls short is in its light weight. It's simply incredibly easy to knock over. For example, at one point my webcam (which can't weigh THAT much, it's relatively small), must've had some issues and tried to leap to its death from my monitor. The hub went with it, right off the edge of the desk. Both peripherals survived, but the hub could've been made a bit heavier without much effort at all. C'mon, for $40 Belkin could have tossed in another six ounces of plastic. I'm picking this thing up off the floor much more often than I would like. So, for engineering, I have to give the Belkin a 5.

Overall? The only real flaw is the fact that it's too-light and easy to fall. Belkin's web site claims this model is 'stackable'. Um, yeah, sure, whatever. It's 'stackable' the way a house of cards is 'stackable', sure. And it wouldn't take much more to knock them all over. Other than this flaw, however, the F5U021 is a perfect little device -- it's easy to set up, and it works. Every time, all the time. Period. What more can we ask of a device? If the F5U021 spent about a week eating Double Quarter Pounder meals, it would be perfect.

Recommended: Yes