Yes it would just be used for power, with Y cables going into it for power and the other end (data) into a traditional hub.
Rich, any solutions for me as I can't get decent hubs in the UK :/
My simple solution, although I am only running 2 Stcks, is just to hack the Hub and connect up a decent 5V PSU directly to the Power connections.
Rich
In order not to flood, although it may be applicable, I sent Morguk 4 hubs that I found on Amazon, one of which is rated 5 stars by a miner.
So *my* understanding on how to find amps per port. Take the input, which on Amazon UK you have inputs at 12v by #a, as well as 5v by #a. Considering that, we'll assume 2A. 12*2=24Watts. Watts divided by volts = amps. So 24/5=4.8 total amps for the system. Then divide that by the number of ports to get average amps per port at 5v.
Note that USB runs at 5v, so the voltage of the input needs to be converted to 5v. So if you're looking at an input of 5v*2a you have 2a for all ports, but 12v*2a is 4.8a for all ports - so the input is important.
NOW number of ports: the fewer the ports vs the higher total amps is better. Some chipsets will actually amp limit if you draw over a certain level, but take into consideration that the device only takes the amps that it needs. You can have 10a on a port, but if the stick only need 1.4 it will only use 1.4. But the same stick in a 0.9a will only get 0.9a or, depending on circuitry it will deliver more till it reaches a certain point and then cuts power to prevent overheat internal to the hub.
When it comes to routing the electricity to the ports, its more expensive to regulate every single last port. You can cut your costs in half on that aspect by regulating two ports on the same line. So that means that branch would get 2x(per port amps), ie 0.9x2=1.8A per branch - so what that means is that the hardware only watches to ensure that that branch doesn't draw over 1.8a, so as long as you use one stick per branch you can have all the amps through that single port.
Ive no idea how to split up 7 ports, but on the 9 port mentioned earlier (it says 10 port but the 10th is a charging only port) there were three on/off switches - which leads me to believe that its a 3 branch, and while you may only have .9a per port, you actually have 2.7a per branch. You can overclock one stick, doubtful two, so you'd only be able to use three sticks there (one per branch). However there is probably enough to drive a fan each as well on those branches - they don't use much amperage, and you could have one fan per stick and be safe and cool.
OTOH the hubs provided to Morguk are 10 ports, and I would be they're split in pairs, so that means 5 sticks.
But sidehack would probably be able to correct me on any of this. I only have approximate knowledge of many things.
