BT Home Hub 2.0 USB Connection for USB Devicies

[JonnyAlpha]

Hi;

I have been looking around for a USB Network Hub to connect my new Verbatim 1TB USB HDD to my home network, with the added possibility of adding a USB Printer.

I've looked at the BELKIN USB Network Hub http://www.belkin.com/networkusbhub/

As well as a couple of other devices but I just noticed on my Black BT Home Hub (v2.0 I think) there is a single USB port, on looking at the manual it says "Connects external storage or other device to hub (we suggest you keep this socket free for future BT services)" note exactly sure what this means maybe it was a BT ploy whilst they were waiting to bring out BT Devices and sell them at an extortionate rate?

I did however find some info on a couple of sites regarding some successes in connecting a mix of USB devices although one post states that the extra power (Is this not a standard USB port with a 5v supply)? supplied by the the BT USB port fried their Seagate HDD.

Anyway before I fry my Hard Drive any firm up to date advice would be appreciated.

My BT Home Hub is a v2.0 Type A.

[JonnyAlpha]

UPDATE:
As a test I just plugged a 2GB USB Data Stick into the USB port of the BT Home Hub.
I found a post on the web saying that the IP Address of the USB Port is 192.168.1.253?
So i pinged it and received a reply however had no idea how to access it as it did not show up in finder, anyway I went into mac system preferences and turned on File and Printer sharing.
After this the BT Home Hub appeared as "bthub" in finder and the contents of the Kingston appeared in a sub folder called "Disk_a1".

I then tried to copy a file from my mac to Disk_a1 however I get the following message "The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items" - I get a similar message when trying to write to my Seagate USB HDD connected directly to my mac - is this a file system error. However I can read files from Disk-a1 no problem I just cannot write.

After spending an hour researching this problem heading down the macs can read but not write to PC formatted USB data sticks I actually remembered that I could read and write to the Kingston previously and that the restriction is only caused when its connected to the BT Home Hub. When it is connected to the Home Hub get info on the device shows it as a "PC Server" not a USB data stick!!
I just found out that this the failure

[johnwill]

FWIW, I use the Belkin Network USB hub here, and I've connected printers, webcams, and USB disks to it successfully.

[JonnyAlpha]

Originally Posted by johnwill

FWIW, I use the Belkin Network USB hub here, and I've connected printers, webcams, and USB disks to it successfully.

Apart from the slow data access from an external Hard Drive anyone had success using the Belkin Network USB in a mixed PC / Mac environment?

[johnwill]

That I can't say, never used a Mac with it.