Does WD My Book 4 TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive work via a powered USB hub?

WD External and Portable SSD External SSD for macOS
1

I’m considering purchasing a pair of WD My Book 4 TB USB 3.0 external hard drives to use with my Mid-2011 iMac (which has only USB 2.0 ports).

I’m going to be a bit short on USB ports, so I was planning on attaching them to the iMac via a 7-port, 12V 3A powered USB 3.0 hub. Obviously I woudn’t get the USB 3.0 speeds, but I’m sure I’ll be upgrading hardware within the lifetime of these drives… ;¬)

My only concern is that in the description of the powered USB hub I was planning on buying (an Anker USpeed) it says “Some USB 3.0 devices require a direct connection to host USB 3.0 ports. (eg: Superdrive and some WD hard drives)”

Now I know the official line from WD is very likely to be “Don’t use hubs - plug in directly,” and that’s fine. But before I splash out, I wondered if anyone had any practical experience of running this particular external hard drive through a powered hub? Am I likely to run into problems?

Any advice greatefully received.

Cheers

2

Hopefully some other Users will shed some light from personal experience, as your guessing towards WD’s approach to USB hubs is correct.

My own personal experience related to OSX + anything USB 3.0 has not been positive though. I often find myself replacing USB 3.0 cables with USB 2.0 cables just to get some drives to work. Different brands as well. 

Regards,