When shopping for extra devices for your rig, it can be tempting to go cheap. Especially for something as simple as, say, a USB hub. However, Dr Gough Lui of Dr Gough’s Techzone has torn a $5 AliExpress-sourced model apart to take a peek at the internals, and the results are pretty shocking.
As the good doctor points out, cheap AliExpress offerings can be tempting, especially when the platform offers cashback and coupons to sweeten the deal. When the 7-port, “USB 3.0” hub arrived, it showed no obvious manufacturer branding details, beyond a difficult-to-trace company reference on the outer packaging.
After inspecting the hub and finding the odd visible flaw, Dr Gough decided to rip it apart to see what it was made of. Prying the plastic chassis asunder (no screws here) revealed six ports with only four pins, meaning the speeds would be USB 2.0 at best—with the exception of one port on the end with the correct configuration for USB 3.0 operation. Strike one.
Digging deeper, Dr Gough discovered a… shall we say, economical use of solder for the ports themselves, which makes them prone to flexing issues. Also, they’re all blue to indicate full USB 3.0 support across the connections. Strike two.
However, it’s the configuration of the external power port where things become really concerning. Beyond the fact that the two internal HS8836A chips “don’t do anything with power monitoring or port control indications,” which means the indicator LED is simply connected in series across the VBUS, the real issues begin here.
“The power connection… appears to be just commoned with the external port without use of the jack’s internal switch,” says Dr Gough. “This means a connected external power supply will backfeed the computer, and that could be a recipe for damage to the port or the computer and is something we had known about causing issues over 20 years ago, yet we’ve still got designs with this issue today.”
“Spaces for capacitors for a bit of local bypassing? Bypassed to save money,” Gough confirms.
Eek. While the hub itself doesn’t come with an external power brick, the facility for one is plain to see—and I really wouldn’t risk plugging it in. It might just stress out your PSU and other power-sensitive components, which is never a good thing. Or, it could cook something really important. Are you willing to spin the wheel for $5?
To sum up, Dr Gough concludes this is a “mildly dangerous device (in terms of causing damage to other devices)” and that it “would take too much effort to send back”, along with the risk of invalidating cashbacks that might end up costing them more.
“To say I am a bit miffed would be an understatement,” says the good doctor. Yep, I would be, too. Don’t cheap out on the extras, people. The fate of your gaming PC, or at least some of its more sensitive components, might just depend on it.
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