[SOLVED] Connecting Two External Displays via a USB Hub

[zelotr]

Dear Community,

I would be very grateful to get someone's approval of my solution or if someone suggested me a better one before I commit to buying unnecessary components.

I have two old HP U160 15.6-inch LED Backlit Monitors which I would like to use in our laboratory as wall mounted monitors for things like CCTV.

Each one of them requires a USB 2.0 connection for both power and video. When I connect both of them to my ACER Aspire R 15 laptop, there is no problem in setting them up as individual screens - both have good picture quality.

However, when I tried to connect them through a simple Satechi 12 Port USB Hub, both screens started flickering, losing and gaining the connection to my laptop.

My understanding of the situation is that a USB 2.0 hub has insufficient data transmission rate (manufacturer claims as 480Mbps for mine) for two monitors to transmit their individual signals through it (I could not find the required signal rate for each monitor) and that I simply have to get a USB 3.0 or 3.1 hub.

Would that solve the problem?

Or is there a better way to save my laptop's UBS ports while still having both monitors connected to it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[geofelt]

I think you could use a powered usb hub.
Perhaps something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Port-2-5A-power-adapter/dp/B00DQFGH80

Or, use the 12 port hub to expand the availability for non power hungry devices on the laptop.

 

[zelotr]

I think you could use a powered usb hub.
Perhaps something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Port-2-5A-power-adapter/dp/B00DQFGH80

Or, use the 12 port hub to expand the availability for non power hungry devices on the laptop.

Geofelt,

Thank you for your reply!

Indeed, I didn't take into account that my usb hub may not provide enough power for two monitors to work properly... That actually sounds like a more probable reason for my issue.

Even though this model of usb hub should have a power adapter, I don't have with me anymore unfortunately.

I am ordering an externally powered usb 3.0 hub to try. I will post the result once I get it.

Once again, thank you for your advice!

 

[zelotr]

I think you could use a powered usb hub.
Perhaps something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Port-2-5A-power-adapter/dp/B00DQFGH80

Or, use the 12 port hub to expand the availability for non power hungry devices on the laptop.

UPDATE:
I bought a powered LC-HUB-ALU-2B-10 - USB hub, that has three USB ports specifically for charging. Upon plugging both of my monitors in to it, everything works just fine - no problems whatsoever with signal and connectivity.

Again, thank you for your helpful advise!