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mac mini and usb hub

Hi,

Mac mini M1 2020

OS 11.5


I bought an Anker 4 port USB hub so I could run backup drives and Camera.

My mouse becomes slow and laggy after a couple of days.

If I unplug things and put them back, the mouse behaves normally....for a couple of days.

I'm thinking this is caused by the hub.

Are there known good hubs to try?


Thanks

Posted on Jan 2, 2022 7:07 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 3, 2022 8:34 AM

A self-power hub, should supply enough power to run multiple external drives and other low power USB devices.


A bus powered hub, may only be able to supply enough power for 1 external drive and other low power USB devices.


Another option, is to get a couple of USB-C to USB-A adapters and connect your external drives to those and use the hub for your camera and other low power USB devices.


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207816

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TCCADPU3/?

https://www.target.com/p/philips-usb-c-to-3-0-usb-a-female-adapter/-/A-79804275

9 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 3, 2022 8:34 AM in response to pmcgiffin

A self-power hub, should supply enough power to run multiple external drives and other low power USB devices.


A bus powered hub, may only be able to supply enough power for 1 external drive and other low power USB devices.


Another option, is to get a couple of USB-C to USB-A adapters and connect your external drives to those and use the hub for your camera and other low power USB devices.


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207816

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TCCADPU3/?

https://www.target.com/p/philips-usb-c-to-3-0-usb-a-female-adapter/-/A-79804275

Jan 4, 2022 7:26 AM in response to pmcgiffin

Actually it’s 4 USB ports, the Thunderbolt ports provide full USB functionality with any USB device using suitable adapter like this one https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJ1M2AM/A/usb-c-to-usb-adapter.


Start here: see if the problem disappears without the hub in the picture. If it does, ask yourself if you need one at all (i.e. have more than 4 USB devices that are in use all the time). If yes, I’d move non-Apple stuff and non-hard disks to the hub.

Jan 16, 2022 3:30 PM in response to Justanothergeordie

Poorly shielded high speed USB-C, USB 3 cables and devices can cause both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues.


see > https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201542


This is especially true with the Mac Mini’s because of it’s compact design.


First step is to rearrange your setup so that all high speed cables and devices are not in between the Mac Mini and Bluetooth device.


Next step, is to eliminate one high speed cable and device at a time until you find the one that is causing the interference.

Jan 16, 2022 1:55 PM in response to den.thed

Apologies for jumping on to this thread but I have exactly the same issues. I have a Mac Mini M1 with the following:


– LG 27 inch monitor plugged into 1 x USB C port

– 2 x 4TB desktop hard drives (powered) plugged into both USB 3 ports

– 1 x bus powered USB hub plugged into the spare USB C port, this is connected to: 1 x 8TB (powered) external hard drive, 1 x 1TB portable (non-powered) hard drive for Time Machine, 1 x webcam and occasionally used for SD cards


I regularly have slight keyboard or mouse lags and recently have woken the computer from sleep to error messages saying a couple of the hard drives have been disconnected.


I've been trying to figure out if it's the Bluetooth issue lots of Mini owners have discussed, the fact that I have a hub which doesn't have its own power supply or possibly something else causing the lags and the only other thing I can think of is the fact that I use BackBlaze to also back up everything as a failsafe. This is sometimes still backing up when I wake the computer up to work on it. Or maybe even time Machine?


I'm guessing I should start with the hub and get a decent powered one first? I've seen lots of powered hubs displaying the amount of power eg "9-in-1 USB with 100W hub", is that for a laptop and do I just need a regular powered hub?


Sorry for jumping in again... thanks.

mac mini and usb hub

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