I was tired of the cable clutter to my iPods, printers, etc. coming out of the front of my older D-link 4-port hub. I bought this as it has 5 ports on the back to keep cables of items that I have permanently plugged in (like printers and drives) out of the way. It is somewhat heavy and has non-skid rubber pads so it does not slide around on the desk. Additionally, it has 2 easy-access convenient ports on the top for the temporary use of USB key drives, digital cameras, and the like.My only gripe is that it seems to me this hub could have been designed for more than 7 ports, as there is a lot of space on top and the front that could have been used for more USB ports. I always seem to get more and more USB devices, and I would certainly have bee interested in buying a version of this with more than 7 USB ports.