StarTech USB Docking Station

Posted by Brandon Boyce in November 11th, 2008

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Posted in: Hardware Tags: docking, laptop

Docking stations are typically very specific to the laptop you own. There may be a few other models that the docking station may work with, but for the most part they are pretty proprietary. To fix that issue StarTech created a USB docking station with 4 USB ports, a VGA port, speaker/microphone port, and a network port. All this runs through a single USB 2.0 cable that is connected to your computer. Currently there are only Windows drivers so Mac users are out of luck. I am not sure if they plan to create drivers for Mac anytime in the future or not.

Pros:

The USB part of the device operates like a USB hub so your keyboard will work as soon as you turn on the computer.
It is very convienent to only have to plug in one USB cable. I have a keyboard, mouse, phone dock and printer on the USB ports.
The size, it is very small and can easily be set out of the way so that hardly any desk space is lost.

Cons:

There are only 4 USB ports, I used them all up. Fortunately my laptop has more ports so I was able to plug in my external hard drive to it.
The monitor connected to the dock can’t turn on until the laptop is booted and the software required for it to operate is loaded up.
The monitor plugged into the docking station seemed to have little bit of a slower reaction time.

Overall I like the convenience and the look of the device. It has a very small footprint so it doesn’t get in the way of your desk space. I don’t now if it is possible but it would be really great if they could power it via USB rather than needing an AC power source, my surge protector is running out of space to plug things in. I would also like to see more USB ports, nearly everything is USB and having spots already called for with a keyboard and mouse that only leaves two more devices. With phones, cameras, printers, hard drives and everything else using USB there just aren’t enough ports to go around.

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Dustfinger said on August 30th, 2007 @4:22 pm

I find it oddly telling that this was posted on my birthday.

Hopefully some of this will help me crack my router, whose password I managed to accidentally change to god knows what >__

DarkTech said on August 30th, 2007 @5:56 pm

Dustfinger, unless you’re router is of the big industrial strength kind, the reset button on the back resets to factory settings including admin password. If it is a standard off the shelf type, you can probably re-enter all the required details in less than half an hour. My last setup took about that including setting up MAC allowances for the wifi.

If you still need the password sorted, or you’re using something this wont work for (industrial routers, linux servers acting as routers, etc) post you’re router model/distro to give us something to see what we’re dealing with.

Brandon Boyce said on August 30th, 2007 @6:08 pm

Dark’s right, you probably won’t be able to crack it with these tools. Your best bet will be to hold in that reset button to restore the router to its defaults.

itsmee said on August 30th, 2007 @6:35 pm

there are also a lot of authentication bypass exploits for home grade routers.

Dlink, netgear.. etc.

fatman said on August 31st, 2007 @6:19 am

and even if it’s a commercial grade router, there are ways to open it so long as you have physical access and putty/telnet.

Other Guy said on August 31st, 2007 @8:25 am

(I love how none of these comments have to do with this post)

Pressing the reset button usually works, but sometimes you have to hold it down for 5-10 seconds. But you probably knew that.

Dustfinger said on August 31st, 2007 @4:56 pm

Wow, didn’t realize a side comment would carry this far.

The router I have is a Linksys BEFSR81 ver 3. I know about the reset button, but the thing is I don’t know the email or password used to connect to our Bellsouth service (or ATnT now, whatever). My parents keep track of all that stuff, and I’d rather keep them in the dark about this, since they’ll probably get paranoid and think I’ll be opening up the network to hackers and such (which I probably will be, but that’s besides the point >__>). At this point I’m fairly new at figuring out how networks work and such, so a little nudge from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

DarkTech said on September 1st, 2007 @6:28 pm

After a brief look around google (30 min), nothing useful turned up. There is a DoS attack bug that can leave that model in the state it’s in now, but no info about a fix except the reset button. My advice is ask for the email/username + password from you’re parents in a way that doesn’t sound like you broke the router. “I want to check … settings at … provider’s end and need Pass +user to see them” is one that usually works. Talk about upgrading external anti-virus for you’re home email, etc. If they think it will make the connection more secure, they should give it to you… Most parent’s are low level user’s and will fold when you start talking about stuff that sounds complicated. Also if you happen to work for any type of computer store (in my case PC World on the advice/services desk) this is a great way to get money from customers.

Malfist said on September 2nd, 2007 @11:39 am

If they use it to log on to the internet each time, you could try a keylogger, but that’s illegal. My mother paranoid too so I know what you mean, my mother was afraid of me looking at Taoism and pornography. Keylogger helps a whole lot

lunk said on September 12th, 2007 @11:48 am

You could just reset it and wait a few hours for your parents to call tech support – they should send someone out to probably give you a new modem, but they’ll leave the default pw.

eyestrain said on September 26th, 2007 @3:28 pm

Download this -> Data Doctor Password Recovery.

then ask mum n dad to enter username/PW for you. The Doctor will remeber them and reveal them to you.

enjoy.

john said on October 19th, 2007 @4:52 am

im on my psp, i just use a keylogger. i now know all my moms passwords!! i am just starting and would app. help. how would yu hac a web like file planet. im not saying im going to do it . !!!!

Brandon Boyce said on October 19th, 2007 @9:26 am

litter the parking lot of the file planet offices with USB keys that have key loggers in them, someone is bound to pick one up and put it into their computer.

john said on October 19th, 2007 @12:59 pm

i am now on my computer. And flash drives cost a !@#$ load even for a little one. like 20 bucks. There isnt a way that i could use brute force? oh yah check out this website. hackerscatalog.com it has all this useful stuff. some illegal. but it had regestration gen. for stuff you get off the
internet that you have to buy to get more than 3 dvds copyed, for instance. its usefull. it cost a lot for shipping though. anyway, how would i deliver a email with a keylogger that sends emails to me. and how would i spike it?

Web designer Fredrick said on November 21st, 2007 @12:40 am

interesting post. its really a valuable information provided here in this post to prevent hacking. This is the first time i have come across NetStumbler, a decent wireless tool for Windows and easy to use also. thanks for those valuable information.

john said on November 21st, 2007 @3:51 pm

???hacking rules im just new…

bLuefRogX said on November 23rd, 2007 @8:00 pm

You didn’t mention SARA or SATAN, among my favorite tools for auditing security.

Shane said on November 27th, 2007 @8:12 pm

Ugh. I think I have seen variations of this list 1,000 times or more…

DarkMindZ said on December 29th, 2007 @8:27 am

yet another top tools / utilities :

http://www.darkmindz.com/download.dmz

xrgsal said on February 2nd, 2008 @10:10 am

dagii,

ilu. vmj. skj,wkj. djj. noushijan. silly. u light i yearn again. 2ctnotmsihawl4e. tarfb2thomy appr a h2 another taste. eaj,apj,jhj:jah,jmy,imy,jdy. sIsO.7.yj7.oi.

john said on February 4th, 2008 @6:52 pm

How do you get hashes. Where r they or how do you get them

Brandon Boyce said on February 4th, 2008 @8:29 pm

You have to get access to the hard drive to get the hashes, they are stored in the registry or in the SAM file

jason said on February 22nd, 2008 @12:36 pm

nice guide, now I know what to check if my comp is safe

newkiraj said on February 25th, 2008 @5:32 pm

haha #9 the last scentence should have been” you don’t want it hanging around to BYTE you in the ass.” lol anyway good list

Awards said on August 18th, 2009 @11:55 pm

test

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