Others say...

"LIMITED DEVICE Fails and Overheats but STILL USEFUL"
Quick notes on my experiences--

Best advice is to use this as a hub for self-powered devices ONLY. As in only plug in USB devices with their own independent power supplies. It works very well as a High-Speed USB 2.0 hub, but it fails miserably as a power supply for dependent hardware. I have two of these; models F5U237 v1 and v3.



SUCCESSES:

Low-draw and self-powered devices: I have a 9x12 Wacom tablet, Logitech mouse, Kensington trackball, Epson Scanner, Nikon Scanner, HP Printer, and a self-powered CD burner plugged in simultaneously with no problems.



FAILURES:

This hub can't properly operate several 5-volt (USB2.0 maximum draw) devices at once. It's hit or miss. You can't plug in a couple portable hard drives and an iPod at the same time, you will eventually get an "unknown device" error and the hub may overheat and/or stop responding.

Frequently fails to recognize my iPod 5G at all.

Causes occasional "write delay failure" errors on self-powered portable hard drives and flash drives.

Can't reliably run a QuickCam Orbit with any other devices plugged in, may cause a complete failure to boot in XP or Vista.



HUB FAILS as "UNKNOWN DEVICE"

If this happens you can move the hub to another USB port. Once you run out of USB ports you have to go into [ControlPanel/System/Hardware/Device Manager/Universal Serial Bus Controllers] and uninstall the unknown device and several occurrences of "USB Root Hub" which may not appear to be broken. This might disable your USB mouse so if you can run a PS/2 mouse do that, or do this via a remote session.

Generally I avoid Belkin. These were on sale.


"Worked for 6 months, broke like all the other bad reviews"
Sadly this USB hub broke in the same manner as reported by the other disappointed reviewers. After 6 months it simply stopped showing a green light and all devices you would hook into it would not appear. Disappointing to pay $30+ for a device that lasts such a small period of time. I would have considered it a fluke if not for the myriad of others having the same issue. Buyer beware.

"Top ports quit"
I've had two of these for a year or so and was quite satisfied until we moved and when I set everything up again, the top two ports quit working on one of them. These were very handy for syncing my iPhone or downloading photos from a camera. Now I need a third USB Hub, but I'm not going to get another one of these.

"Good choice of hub"
This hub works well. It has 5 ports on the back and 2 pointing up and provides external power to each port. Aside from the extra ports it helps clean up the cable mess going to the back of the computer.

"Reliable - this is my second"
I just purchased my second Belkin hub. The first one I bought and used for 2 years (the computer is on 24-7) without any problems. It's still working. I haven't had any issues with a warm hub as reported by some other reviewers. I've recommended it to friends. The only negative is once it's filled with USB cords it doesn't sit so well on the desk.

I've run a variety of devices on it- Scanners, printers, USB hard drives- seems to work with just about everything (although some devices like 3.5" hard drives need to provide their own power supply of course).

I like the lights which confirm that a device is plugged in (because some devices do not show up in the system tray). Two of the ports face upward - which are really convenient for devices that you tend to unplug after you are done with them - like USB flash drives- or camera memory.