QuadraPort
USB PCI Card
100 A+
by Jeffery Roberts Senior Hardware Editor
The Company
Belkin is a
privately held corporation located in Compton, CA, USA. Founded in
1983, Belkin started as a manufacturer of computer connectivity components and
is best known as a provider of high quality computer cables. Eighteen
consecutive years of growth has taken Belkin from an initial first year gross of
$100,000, to an anticipated $400 Million (USA) in FYE/2000. No longer just
a cable maker, Belkin now manufactures a diverse line of computer products,
devices and accessories. My first USB device was a Belkin, Parallel
to USB adapter, which I used to successfully connect a Okidata 9 Pin Dot
Matrix printer to a VIA chipset based, Super Socket 7 motherboard. The
installation process was not a smooth one and I became well acquainted and
favorably impressed by Belkin
Technical Support.
The Bandwidth Hurdle
Theoretically, USB can support
up to 127 devices. Unfortunately, a single USB host controller, with a bandwidth of 12Mbps, cannot
support the increasing number of bandwidth devouring devices being attached to today's PC. At the
USB Q & A support
forum, bandwidth bottleneck issues run a close second to problematic host
controllers in the number of complaints logged. As USB gains in
popularity, the need for additional bandwidth becomes a very real
problem.
The Current Solution
USB hubs do not increase USB bandwidth. Hubs do
provide additional device connection points but they do so by dividing the
12Mbps of USB bandwidth that the host controller supplies between the additional
new ports. The answer
to the bandwidth crisis is obviously a PCI/USB upgrade card. The problem
with the current selection of single host controller, USB
upgrade cards, is that they often do not provide enough of a bandwidth increase to satisfy
current usage, let alone allowing for future expansion.
The Fix
Enter the Belkin QuadraPort, USB Upgrade Card Model F5U006-UNV.
The F5U006-UNV features the Lucent,
USS344 Quadrabus IC which integrates four (4), USB 1.1, USB hosts in a single
chip. The four (4), USB hosts that
the Lucent chip provides produces a total of 48Mbps of USB bandwidth per upgrade
card. That’s four times (4X), the
bandwidth of a standard USB 1.1 host controller.
|
Bandwidth Comparison |
| Standard PC with onboard
USB |
12
Mbps |
| PC with (2) USB host
controllers |
24
Mbps |
| All other USB upgrade
cards |
12
Mbps |
| Belkin
Quadraport |
48
Mbps |
The Lucent USS 344
Quadrabus IC has received the Microsoft Windows Logo
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 2000
The Test Systems
I installed the Belkin Quadraport into
three (3) different systems.
A)
Abit BE6II - 440 BX – PIII 800 – 256 MB PC133 – Win2000 & Win98ME
B)
MSI 6167- AMD Irongate – Athlon 550 – 128 MB PC100 – Win98 SE
C)
FIC 503+ - VIA MVP3 – AMD K6-2, 400 – 96MB SDRAM – Win98 SE
Installation
The card installs just like any other
PCI/USB upgrade card and is instantly recognized by the operating system. I recommend having the
Windows CD handy, as first time installations may require the drivers from the
installation disk. Win2000 and Win98 recognize each of the four (4), new
F5U006-UNV host controllers as a Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller. Win98SE and
Win98ME correctly identify the
Lucent chipset as Lucent, (See Screen Shots) . Please note that the
incorrect ID did not impair the function of the card in the least.
System A
I removed all of the USB devices and
uninstalled the software for each device prior to installing the F5U006-UNV, a
process that I recommend if you are replacing an existing upgrade card, as I did
in this situation. The card
installed without incident and I was reinstalling my USB devices within minutes.
USB devices attached to this system include:
-
Visioneer
8600 One Touch Scanner
-
3
Com Home Connect USB Video Camera
-
Microsoft
Natural Keyboard Pro
-
Microsoft
Optical Mouse
-
Razer
Boomslang 2000 Gaming Mouse
-
Microsoft
Precision Pro USB Joystick
-
HP
DeskJet 970Cse
-
Xircom
PortStation with 7 Port USB Hub, Ethernet, Parallel, and Serial Adapters
With updated drivers installed, all
devices are working as advertised. I have never had this many USB devices
working concurrently on one system before, even with two USB upgrade cards
installed.
Screen Shots System A / Win2000 Pro
Properly
installed the Belkin Quadraport displays (4) new USB Host Controllers and (4)
new USB Root Hubs. System A
All USB Host Controllers
are Sharing IRQ5 (Typical)
Screen Shots System A / WinME
Note correctly identified Lucent USB Open Host Controller
System B
Clean install of Windows 98SE with the Quadraport installed. The new
upgrade card was correctly identified by the Operating System and installed
without incident. To the system I added the following USB devices:
-
Microsoft IntelliMouse with
IntelliEye
-
Microsoft Natural Elite USB
-
Kensington USB Video Camera
-
Wacom Graphire Tablet
-
Ariston Apollon USB Speakers
-
HP ScanJet 5200 Cse
Belkin BusStation 7 Port USB Hub
All USB devices except for the keyboard
were installed on the Quadraport card or through the hub connected to the
Quadraport. A very smooth install.
System C
Clean install without the upgrade card. The upgrade card was
added after the VIA USB filter v1.08 and other necessary VIA drivers were installed.
The BTC keyboard was then installed to an onboard VIA/USB port. To the system I added the following
devices:
The onboard USB host controller was
enabled in the BIOS and the keyboard was the only device attached to the VIA/USB
host. The Belkin Quadraport and the onboard VIA/USB host controller
coexist on IRQ 5.
Conclusion
The F5U006-UNV is all you could ever hope for in a PCI
upgrade card; unparalleled compatibility, exceptional performance,
excellent price and a lifetime warranty. Both
economical and practical, the F5U006-UNV is the "smart" solution to solving USB
"Problem Device" issues and bandwidth shortage.
The Quadraport is the best thing to
happen to USB since the Win98 operating system.
The only down side may be
getting your hands on one.
Well done Belkin!
Well done Lucent!
Good
Job!
USBMan
Approved Upgrade Card
Score / 100 A+
Lifetime Warranty
Full compatibility with Windows® 98 and 2000 and
Mac® OS 8.6 or higher, as well as with current USB specifications and PCI
specification version 2.1
MSRP $59.95
Editors Choice
Belkin Web
Site
Lucent Web Site
USBMan
08/26/2000
