I think it’s kinda funny that PortPilot Pro does this … It always assumes the USB bus is only providing half an amp. My hub provides up to 1A per port. This was a battery pack being charged by the way. The voltage drop is roughly 0.3V … when there’s nothing plugged in, it hovers around 5.15V. Like right now my phone is plugged in and it displays 5.10V @ 225mA (average). @Mark_Kriegsman , didn’t you get one too? Does yours do this too?
I don’t know how it detects what type of USB port it is connected to, but virtually all PCs limit the current to 500mA as per the specification and this is limited in both the power up negotiation and with a resettable poly-fuse. Most USB cables are not rated to supply any more than 500mA at 5v either any way.
USB chargers are allowed to supply whatever they like with dedicated cables. The real problem is many computers which are not full PCs, often only provide 3.3v rather than the full 5v, pain for charging.
Part of the USB protocol is that the peripheral ‘negotiates’ with the supplying device as to how much current it wants (upto the 500mA), so that the the supplying device can keep track of how much power is being supplied across all the USB devices (upto 127 plus passive hubs).
Powered/active hubs add complications, but the negotiation and limits still apply from the specification. If your hub can provide 1A/1000mA, then it is breaching the USB specification. Having said that, there is nothing to stop a USB device saying I want 500mA and taking more, but on a lot of systems, that will blow the fuse until it is unplugged. So why make a device like that - you would just get lots of complaints. Devices that want lots of juice have their own PSU and only use USB power to run the communications logic - AKA large USB hard drives.
The device appears to be operating correctly. It thinks it is attached to a computer, thus 500mA limit. But your charger is pulling 84% more current than it is supposed to and the supplying device (your out of spec hub) does not care.
A lot of the limits are there to protect things, like cables, computer internals, etc. They are not there to protect the peripheral, that is upto the peripheral to protect itself against over current and over/under voltage. But many peripheral don’t and thus the need for this gadget - ignoring the hacked chargers that load a virus or torjan into your phone during charging - but that is what happens when you use public or cheap copy chargers…
A powered hub classifies as a device that has it’s own PSU builtin and simply passing communication back and forth. It doesn’t care that the computer’s limitation is 100 or 500mA. One that can provide a higher current makes charging devices much quicker. And mine, being a custom home brew, can provide 1A per port (it has 7 ports.) That’s not much different from what some Apple computers can do. PCs seem to be stuck at the 500mA rating.
I do have one (and so far I love it). And FWIW, I’ve plugged it in to several different power sources and is often recognizes them, and makes a good guess about available power.
Of I love this thing too. I now plug all of my strip designs in and let them run, see what kinds of current they draw.