Got stung by a shady USB hub at a trade show last month

I was at the Portland Tech Expo walking the floor and grabbed a 10-port USB hub from some booth that had no real signage. The guy said it was "industrial grade" and I paid $45 cash thinking I got a deal. Plugged it into my bench setup back home and it fried two flash drives and a card reader within 10 minutes. The chip inside was some no-name component that clearly wasn't rated for the power draw. I took it apart and the soldering looked like a kid did it with a blowtorch. Now I only buy power accessories from known distributors even if I pay triple the price. Has anyone else gotten burned by counterfeit gear at conferences?

2 comments

2 Comments

finleybutler11d ago

Ngl that's why I stick to Anker or Belkin now.

matthew_morgan11d ago

Stick with what works @finleybutler, learned that lesson the hard way myself.