I’m using several external drives for backup purposes. I was interested whether there are some differences in terms of read/write/access time between these. I have tested two drives connected directly to USB3.0 port and through USB3.0 hub:
Touro 500GB USB3.0
Touro 500GB USB3.0 HUB
WD My Passport 2TB USB3.0
WD My Passport 2TB USB3.0 HUB
There are two interesting results. First of all, there is no speed difference between both drives (read/write/access: 83MB/49MB/17ms). Thus buying super-performance (read super-expensive) external drive make no sense, as the drive speed will be limited most likely by USB3.0 port connection anyway.
Secondly, there is no speed difference if drive is attached directly to the computer USB3.0 or through USB3.0 hub. But, I have noticed mouse lags when mouse was connected through the same USB hub. Thus if you expect to perform extensive disk reads/writes it’s better to connect it directly to the computer or at least avoid many important devices to use the same hub.