For 12 US-Dollars
Raspberry Pi releases its own USB hub
To counteract the mass of bad products, Raspberry Pi released its own USB hub. Because the company became frustrated with many of the product available online, Raspberry Pi designed its own four-way USB 3.0 hub.
Most Raspberry Pi single-board computers, except the Raspberry Pi Zero and A+ form factors, incorporate an on-board USB hub to fan out a single USB connection from the core silicon, and provide multiple downstream USB Type-A ports. Since users often need more peripherals than there are ports, Raspberry Pi released its own official »USB 3 Hub«. It is a four-way USB 3.0 hub to use with a Raspberry Pi or other computers.
Key features include:
A single upstream USB 3.0 Type-A connector on an 8 cm captive cable
Four downstream USB 3.0 Type-A ports
Aggregate data transfer speeds up to 5 Gbps
USB-C socket for optional external 3A power supply (sold separately)
The reason why Raspberry Pi designed its own hub is, according to the company, that they became frustrated with the quality and price of the hubs available online. Either they have a high price for a nice design and a reliable product, or they are cheap and less compatible or unreliable.
So, Raspberry Pi worked with their partners at Infineon to use the hub silicon CYUSB3304. Then they worked out the electronics and the industrial design, and applied their manufacturing and distribution capabilities to achieve a lower price. The resulting product works with all models of Raspberry Pi computers and costs 12 US-Dollars.
