Another Question about Unpowered USB Hubs

[BobH]

After reading John G's post about USB hubs, I was reminded that I have a question about them that I've been meaning to ask; but I didn't want to hijack his thread.

My question is about heat generated by using an unpowered USB, or for that matter one using external power. I have an HP laptop about 5 years old. It has only 2 USB ports and no internal wifi card. I also had to disconnect the touch mouse pad and use a wireless mouse. Both of my USB ports would be in use preventing use of a thumb drive or connecting a camera or other USB connections. To overcome this limit, I bought a USB hub dongle. It generates enough heat that it is uncomfortable for it to rest on the skin.

Is it normal for a USB hub to generate so much heat? Should I replace it? It generates more heat per square area than the battery does.

TIA

[John Gray]

Since a USB 2 port is restricted to using a maximum of 0.5A at 5V, and this draw is by the USB device itself it would worry me if an unpowered USB hub was producing any heat at all!