Keyspan US-4A 4-Port USB Server (12 Mbps)

by Keyspan

Product Details

Data Sheet [499kb PDF]

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Product Manual [1.30mb PDF]

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Supplementary Guide [120kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.4 x 2.2 inches ; 11.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001NA3L2
• Item model number: US-4A
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,423 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 29, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Keyspan by Tripp Lite’s US-4A 4-Port USB Device Server lets you configure USB printers (including multi-function printers), USB scanners, hard drives, keyboard, mice and other USB devices to be used and shared by PCs on a network. The US-4A supports both Ethernet and Wi-Fi networks, making it easy to print to a USB printer or connect to other USB devices from a Wi-Fi laptop. Another great feature of the US-4A is that it overcomes the 5-meter USB cable limitation—you’re free to separate the host computer and the USB devices by any distance—100 feet, 100 miles or more. The US-4A can support up to eight USB devices, with USB 2.0 full-speed data transfer rates up to 12 Mbps. Seven LEDs (three for the system plus one for each USB port) display the US-4A’s operational status. You can tell at a glance if the server is connected to the network, if the server hardware and software are working properly, and which USB ports are currently in use.

Applications The US-4A is ideal for home offices, small offices, classrooms or any other venue where a need exists to make USB printers and other devices available to networked computers. Key Features Works Over Both Ethernet and Wi-Fi Networks With the US-4A, there’s no need to physically connect a computer to a printer. It works over both Ethernet and Wi-Fi networks, making it easy to print to a USB printer or connect to other USB devices from any networked computer—even a Wi-Fi laptop. Supports Multiple Devices The US-4A is capable of supporting up to eight USB devices, including USB printers, scanners, hard drives, keyboards, mice and more. Provides Full-Speed Data Transfer The US-4A’s USB 2.0 ports support data transfer rates up to 12 Mbps, with bi-directional communication between the computer and the USB device, speeding print jobs and other functions across the network. LED Indicators Ten LEDs (three system, three network, four for the USB ports) display the US-4A’s operational status. You can tell at a glance if the server is connected to the network, if the server hardware and software are working properly, and which USB ports are currently in use. System LED Status Modes LED 1 (Green) Off No power—check power supply LED 1 (Green) On Server powered and booted up LED 1 (Green) Blinking Server working LED 1 (Green) Blinking LED 2 or 3 (Red) Blinking Firmware error—contact tech support USB Port LED Status Modes LED (Green) Off No power—check power supply LED 1 (Green) On Server working/port active LED 1 (Green) Blinking USB device not supported/communications failure Free Software Upgrades Need to update the US-4A’s software? The process is quick and simple with free software downloads. Simply visit the US-4A’s product page on Tripp Lite’s website, click on the Help & Downloads tab and select your desired software download. What’s in the Box Package Contents US-4A Server Power supply CD with driver software and owner’s manual Quick Start Guide 2-year warranty Technical Specifications Connector A: RJ45 (FEMALE) Connector B: USB A (FEMALE) x 4 Autosensing: 10/100 LEDs: 1 Green, 2 Red (System) 4 Green (USB Ports) IP Addressing: Static/DHCP/ZeroConfig Data Transfer Rate: Up to 12 Mbps System Requirements (Windows®) Windows 2000/XP (Macintosh®) Mac OS X (v10.3 or later)

Product Description

Access USB devices from a WiFi notebookSeparate the USB device and the host PC by any distance

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Throw away your Print Server. This device is wonderful!, June 18, 2004

By 

Brian Fuchs (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Keyspan US-4A 4-Port USB Server (12 Mbps) (Personal Computers)

I opened the packing box 10 MINUTES AGO, and both of my printers are up and running on every PC.

I was a little worried when I saw the 'documentation' was smaller than a CD, but everything went off without a hitch:

Step 1: Power up the USB server with no USB device hooked up to it, and connect it to the network via RJ45.
Step 2: Install the software (if WinXP, use the unsigned drivers). Your OS searches the network at this time and finds the USB Server.
Step 3: Hook up your USB devices.

THAT'S IT!!!

If you have a Multi-Function printer, you NEED this device, because even if you find a compatible print server, it will only let you use the print function. A Printer Server turns your Multi-Function printer into a Uni-Function Printer.

With this device, it will be just as if the printer were directly connected to your PC. In fact, you are not limited to PCs; you can connect ANY USB device to it (camcorder, scanner, webcam, even a mouse or keyboard).

The ONLY advantage that a print server has over this device is that with a server, multiple PCs can control a target device at once (really, that's not quite true, since the requestes are put in a queue).

With the USB server, every PC uses a little administration program. When launched, it opens a window that lists all of the devices that are connected to the USB server. A PC on the network that wants to use a device (i.e. print) needs to first take command of that device. You just select the device by name, and hit the connect button. From that point on, it's as if the printer were plugged directly into your PC. Others trying to use the printer would see that you were subscribed to it; they would have to wait until you release the subscription - which you have to do manually.

They could really use a virtual queue that keeps checking until the subscription is open, then releases the subscription when the job is completed. The problem is that if the device isn't a printer, how does it know when the job is finished?

So, even if you have only one PC on the network, you need to request access to use the printer. On the (sort of) bright side, every time you power up the PC, it will remember who owns what. I think the memory is maintained in the USB Server itself, not the PC. So if a PC takes control of a device, then dies, cycling power on the server releases all devices.

This is a little hokey (they claim they MIGHT fix it in a later release) but it's 1000% better than losing printer functions you paid for. They have an 'Admin' panel on the software, but I don't think it currently lets you boot someone off of a device.

If you already installed the devices you want to share, then once you connect to the server, every device will show up by name. When you take control of one or more of the devices, Windows goes through the 'new device ready' popup.

If you haven't added the device to your PC, then the server will show a default name for the device. Once you take control of it, Windows will detect the PnP device, and start the 'add new hardware' wizard.

It's truly as if the USB server didn't exist, and you had a REALLY long USB cable.

I have a Canon i950 Photo Printer, and a Brother 9600 MFC.

The Brother is particularly painful in that it won't even work with most printer servers. In fact, Windows XP doesn't even have a dedicated driver for it; Brother has all but stopped supporting it.

I was highly skeptical, but the MFC's scanner worked right away. As for the Canon, I launched the Status Monitor, and was soon seeing I had to replace an ink cartridge. So, the USB server is bi-directional, too (most Print servers aren't).

It took me longer to write this review than it took me to get the server up and running.

I can't recommend this product highly enough!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Causes Windows blue screen of death, October 17, 2005

By 

R H (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keyspan US-4A 4-Port USB Server (12 Mbps) (Personal Computers)

Despite the rave reviews for this product, I'm a bit more skeptical. I recently purchased an HP LaserJet 3015 MFC and wanted to use this device to connect to our office network. A couple of thoughts:

1. Toms Networking does a comparison between this product and Silex's SLX SX1000U. I would strongly suggest anyone thinking about buying this product to read the article. The article can be found at:

[...]

2. Although Silex's product only has one USB port, you *can* connect a USB hub to support up to 15 devices. The KeySpan device supports 4 devices, but you cannot add more devices.

3. I found that the unit would experience problems if I submitted a print job greater than 7 MB through the KeySpan. I reset the printer and nothing got fixed. Only when I power cycled the KeySpan did things work. I am using the latest version, v1.3.1, which also upgrades the KeySpan firmware.

4. Toms Hardware also reports that it would crash with several different devices. I read on other web sites that the Keyspan software causes the blue-screen-of-death (IRQ_LESS_THAN_EQUAL errors), so I tend to believe that the problem is caused more by the Keyspan drivers than the HP ones.

5. In some parts of its web site, KeySpan advertises that this unit supports USB v2.0, but if you read the fine print it's supporting at USB v1.1 speeds.

6. I discussed with KeySpan about connecting external hard drives. This unit is really meant for multi-function printers and cannot support external HD's.

7. I decided to return this product and try out the Silex instead. Although there is a lot of potential for this device, I would not suggest it for enterprise environments. I read the glowing Amazon reviews but would put more skepticism about their comments now that I have tried it for myself.

8. I will update this review later when I have a chance to try the Silex unit.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Update to my previous review, June 18, 2004

By 

Brian Fuchs (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Keyspan US-4A 4-Port USB Server (12 Mbps) (Personal Computers)

It's been 10 minutes after I posted my last review...

In that time, I have installed the latest software and updated the firmware. The two really took me about 5 minutes.

The update adds a nice feature for single-PC networks. If a device is labeled a single-user device, then you don't need to take control of it every time you want to use it.

I also found out that it is possible to boot others off the server (actually everyone).

If you go to the Admin tab on the server SW, and edit the server settings (something simple like a password change), it will reboot the hardware (not your PC), which will disconnect all shared devices. This is a rather brute-force approach, but the manual doesn't indicate any other way.

Even after an extra 10 minutes of use, I think this device is the best thing since a USB thumb drive (which you can connect to the server as well).

This thing is just TOO COOL!!!!

- end of gushing -