Are the four powered charge ports only for charging, or do they transfer data as well? The ad. doesn't really say.

The 4 red ports ARE NOT DATA PORRTS, plugging an external device into one of these ports COULD DAMAGE your external device. This is why they are RED USB ports, RED LED LIT power buttons and marked with a LIGHTNING SYMBOL, DO NOT, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PLUG ANY DATA type device into these RED USB PORTS, they are for CHARGING ONLY. The other 7 BLUE USB Ports, BLUE LED LIT Power Buttons and labeled USB 3.0 under each port defines them as DATA ports, which can also suffice as a charging port, if needed to be used as such. Only plug in EXTERNAL DEVICES to the Blue USB3.0 Ports, like external Hard Drives, etc. I have 3 External Hard drives plugged into mine, 2 -2TB and 1 5TB, I have not had a single issue with this hub in keeping up with the drives, all 3 are in use at all times for assorted things, I also have 2 wireless dongles plugged in to this hub, no issues, 1 for my wireless keyboard and 2nd one is the wireless mouse. I also have 2 USB RS485 "special" dongles used for my Holiday lighting needs used year round,, so that's 7 devices plugged into the Blue Dtat Ports, not a single issue with anything I have plugged into this 7 USB Data Port/4 Power Charging Port hub, and I have 3 USB devices that get plugged into the 3 charging cables plugged into the High Speed Charging ports, which have never interfered with any of my data devices. And I have one charging port open that is open and used for charging devices when needed, even when all 4 charging ports have rechargeable items on them, I have never had any issues with this hub. It works perfectly for my needs and I have been working with hubs and computers for a very long time, and this one works very efficiently as long as you don't plug data devices into the SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED CHARGING ports, as these 4 ports on this hub WILL NOT TRANSFER DATA, and in most cases will destroy an external device like an External Hard Drive or Data transfer device plugged directly into one of the RED USB Charging ports. The manual even states NOT to plug data transfer devices into these 4 ports. Doing so could also cause damage to the hub as well! READ the manual, as I think some of the issues I've read here are the lack of understanding of these hubs capabilities and where to plug in specific devices, it's all laid out in the manual. Sadly, no one ever bothers to read these manuals, then blames the product when they made the mistake of using the device incorrectly! And NO, I don't work for the manufacturer or the company, just know this hub is getting some bad raps which I really believe to be caused by human error and misunderstanding of this particular hubs' makeup. It works just as it says, and it will do the job properly as long as you follow the instructions on how to use it correctly! I can sure recommend it, it DOES work and very reliably.

im worried with more devices plugged in that the USB controller is going to have a hard time keeping up. does this product do anything to circumvent?

Just an FYI, 3.5" Hard Drives or for that matter any drive that requires a significant amount of current should use an external power source. IF you rely on USB3 to provide power, you may get drive corruption. I know this from first hand experience. Tried to use a POE adapter on a Raspberry Pi4 to power a ssd 2.5" drive. I got corruption. Got rid of the POE adapter, and supplied power via the wall wart and NO issues. It's not exactly the same case but it is the same low power issue.

Do you still need to safely remove from usb in the os first before using the power switch to turn off?

Yes, you should always eject removable storage before disconnecting from system (either by pulling from port or from using switch). The purpose of the eject button is to let you know that no more data is qued to be read from or written to the removable media. Removing or turning off the media while data is still qued will corrupt it.

I'm aware of the 4 charging ports but can the rest of the remaining USB ports be used to power other devices without data transfer?

Yes, if you aren't in a hurry. I have both my smartphones plugged into blue ports because I often transfer data back and forth between them and my computer. I also usually charge my Kindles from the blue ports for the same reason. I usually get "slow charging" notifications and they don't charge quickly, but they do charge. I tend to save the red fast-charge ports for items that don't exchange informaton with the computer, like my USB-powered rechargeable fan.

Powered USB 3.0 Hub, Wenter 11-Port Hub Splitter (7 Faster Data Transfer Ports+ 4 Smart Charging Ports) with Individual LED On/Off Switches, Power Adapter for Mac, PC

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