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4-Port USB to Serial Adapter COM Retention FTDI Chipset 920K Baud Rate

USA-FTDI4X
$43.98
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User Reviews

Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
5.0 out of 5 stars Works on Linux

By: trainboy  on 2024-02-29

Am running Rocky 9.3 on a mobo that has no serial ports. Plug this adapter in to a USB 3.0 port and kernel USB xhci_hcd driver recognizes it immediately and configures /dev/ttyUSB0 - 3. Plugged in a legacy serial device (in this case, an old APC SmartUPS) and away it goes, talking just like it was a regular serial port. In other words, it just works. Right away. Nothing to configure. How often does that happen?
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
works well

By: Benjamin Nemec  on 2023-04-19

These do what they're supposed to do. All four com port show up. Work in Windows and Linux with existing drivers. Don't bother with the disk they include, I tossed them.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Plugged it in, loaded the driver, and it worked right out of the box

By: Dave S.  on 2023-04-14

Super easy to install and use. Inexpensive and much nicer than the array of single-channel USB-RS232 UART cables I had been using, and... it freed up more USB ports on my computer. Nice.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Exceeded my expectations

By: joe  on 2023-04-05

;This product is great for what I do in particular, my computer never blue screens.They are numbered at the plug itself so there is no guessing when you have to assemble and disassemble! 10-10 recommend for anyone who has to run multiple modules at once
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
It works very well for my job.

By: Kindle Customer  on 2022-05-23

Very well made and works for my job
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
USB to Serial Converter

By: KenD  on 2022-02-07

Product works find once you figure out how to download drivers. No written instructions included. A small DVD with multiple units listed and NO instructions on how to download the drivers to make the unit work. Eventually "clicked" on blue highlight in PDF file and it went to the Website and finally found the link to download. Nowhere that I could find in the PDF file instructions as to how to do this. Time consuming and frustrating. Very simple instructions in the PDF write up would certainly help.
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
USB to Serial Converter

By: KenD  on 2022-02-06

Product works find once you figure out how to download drivers. No written instructions included. A small DVD with multiple units listed and NO instructions on how to download the drivers to make the unit work. Eventually "clicked" on blue highlight in PDF file and it went to the Website and finally found the link to download. Nowhere that I could find in the PDF file instructions as to how to do this. Time consuming and frustrating. Very simple instructions in the PDF write up would certainly help.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Worked as expected

By: David Michael Murray  on 2021-08-13

Easy to install and download the drivers with limited tech knowledge. Worked flawlessly.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Using physical COM ports instead of virtual COM ports

By: Smalldog  on 2021-07-19

Purchased this to use with PowerSDR and WSJT-X rather than fooling with virtual serial port programs since both programs are running on the same computer, also purchased a null modem adapter (female to female) and connected two of the cables together..Very easy solution albeit a little overkill, but leaves an additional two RS-232 ports for antenna/rotor control in the future, and probably a little cheaper than some of the "virtual" serial port options out there that accomplish the same thing.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Works great

By: Ryan W  on 2021-03-31

It works great! I run 2 sessions at 115k and 2 at 9600, and it handles it fine.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Works perfectly with a Pi Zero W

By: Gift Ideas  on 2020-09-13

I ordered one of these for a Pi project and it worked right out of the box. No modules to load or tweaking necessary. I have a second one on order now to expand my project from 4 ports to 8. High quality product as well and the activity and power LEDs are great for running diagnostics.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Saves USB ports on my Raspberry Pi

By: Michael  on 2020-09-07

I love that I can use just one USB port on my Raspberry Pi to connect to 4 different Linux server serial consoles (with a null modem adapter in between).
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
works. no dead port or pin

By: SU  on 2020-08-11

unlike couple other brands tried, this one doesn't have problem out of the box. all ports are working just fine. ended up buying more of this to replace others
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Cisco Console Perfection

By: Jared  on 2020-07-21

I use this with a Raspberry Pi, and it connects 4 switches at the same time.Only problem is one of the 8 connectors were giving me problems, so I just used a different console cable.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
works on linux and w10

By: Jorge Zendejas  on 2020-03-21

great to increase serial ports capacity using only one usb port
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Fits notebook spacing

By: Keith  on 2020-02-22

Well made, works fine
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Great

By: Rick  on 2017-12-27

Smooth transaction
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Five Stars

By: cp3  on 2016-12-05

Nice product I would buy again.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Plugged it in and it works (Linux - raspian)

By: Evil Storyteller  on 2016-09-17

I am using this on a Raspberry Pi to use my Pi as a terminal server. The adapter was recognized as /dev/ttyUSB0-3 automatically. Tested with minicom, everything is working fine.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Five Stars

By: Amazon Customer  on 2016-09-15

Works well for my cisco labs on Windows 10.
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
A must have for home labs!

By: Daniel  on 2016-07-29

This was one of the best things I purchased while setting up my home lab! Each end comes labeled as to what order the ports will be assigned and I haven't had any issues with it once I got it working. That being said, I did find that the instructions were a bit dated and it took more time then I had anticipated. However, part of that was to me not reading everything through! I am still extremely happy with this purchase and would defiantly recommend to anyone needing to access several devices over serial.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Tried a bunch of different adapters; the GearMo with ...

By: Josh  on 2016-07-26

Tried a bunch of different adapters; the GearMo with FTDI chipset are the _only_ ones that worked for my application. Thanks!
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
These are by far the best USB serial adapters I've ever worked with

By: Amazon Customer  on 2016-07-18

These are by far the best USB serial adapters I've ever worked with. No driver issues like you sometimes get with 'prolific' brand/style. It just works.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Best when working with MAC/OS

By: Isy  on 2016-07-15

as soon as i learned i lost that set i turned and purchased another set (dual)... Best when working with MAC/OS
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Five Stars

By: Amazon Customer  on 2016-05-18

it worked and made my deployment run super smooth!!!!
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
... use but what testing I did do it worked fine

By: Amazon Customer  on 2016-03-09

Limited use but what testing I did do it worked fine at
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
These cables have performed flawlessly. I haven't even though ...

By: Ghostshadow  on 2016-01-11

These cables have performed flawlessly. I haven't even though about them since installing them for my Cisco lab. I installed the most current FTDI driver first so installation was painless.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Perfect for Cisco & HP network gear.

By: Ross  on 2015-12-11

Perfect for console server use or attaching to multiple Cisco devices at the same time. Carry it in my backpack all the time as a part of my standard tool kit.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Work perfectly, no drivers, high thoughput

By: Joshua M. Levine  on 2015-10-20

Works perfectly out of the box with no drivers on Windows and Linux. Shows up as 4 standard com ports. You can plug several of these into single computer for even more ports. I'm running mine at 1,000,000 baud with no problems. CTR/RTS also work as expected.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Five Stars

By: patrick bunsold  on 2015-09-07

THE PERFECT Serial port for a laptop!!!
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
A nice way to conserve USB ports and it works quite ...

By: Some_guy_in_VA  on 2015-08-08

Using for controlling ham radio gear that doesn't speak USB (2 radios and an az/el antenna rotator). A nice way to conserve USB ports and it works quite well (e.g., easily detected) on Windows 7, 8, 10, and Linux (several flavors).
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
This serial expansion does the job for computer control of ...

By: Tom  on 2015-07-29

This serial expansion does the job for computer control of my remote controlled Ham station. Amplifier, Antenna selection, and rotor control are now possible. Installation was trivial.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Does what it is supposed to do!

By: Johnny Saldana  on 2015-07-16

Does what it is supposed to do!
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Works great with Raspberry Pi 2

By: Alan C.  on 2015-06-22

This quad-port USB to Serial adaptor is literally plug and play for Raspberry Pi 2 running Raspbian. I am using it with an open-source program "ser2net" so I can telnet into my lab Cisco routers and switches. Ports are labeled 1 through 4 and the adaptor maintains the same port order after a reboot so this is a major plus. I am very satisfied with this product.
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
This suited my needs exactly. I have turned an ...

By: Chris Finch  on 2015-06-15

This suited my needs exactly. I have turned an old P4 system into a terminal server for a fraction of the cost of solutions from vendors.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Makes things so much easier

By: Gotallofthem  on 2015-06-05

I have a home lab that I have built for my Networking Studies, and I needed a way to access each switch/router without having to constantly plug and unplug my console cable each time I needed to make changes (which is really annoying if you know what I am referring to). My choice was between buying an access server which would have cost me a lot more, or purchasing this item. I must say this has done the job perfectly, I can control 4 different units, with one connection, and not having to constantly get up out of my seat. If you have a home lab, or you need a way to access your switches and routers at the same time, at home/work, this will work great for you.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Five Stars

By: BRIAN L. DAVIS  on 2015-05-02

Works great and keeps the com port through restart of computer. Great product!
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Five Stars

By: Rich  on 2015-04-17

Plug in and has worked great
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Four Stars

By: TWarner  on 2015-04-10

Plug and play on Ubuntu 14.04, no problems
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
This 4 port cable is a nice, portable

By: Mikel Z  on 2015-03-10

These things make life SOO much easier. We often need to run several devices simultaneously and get serial logs. This 4 port cable is a nice, portable solution
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Iit will not leave you with devices that are worthless!

By: JohnG  on 2015-01-13

Most of the inexpensive serial to RS-232 converters have been bricked (made unusable) by an update to windows 7 and 8 by Prolific(FTDI) in order to punish counterfeiters of their chips and I can understand that. However, it leaves people like me with devices that are worthless! I have several converters from GearMo that have seemed to survive. Don't know if it is the drivers they send or if they are using legitimate FTDI chips. The bottom line is that so far they work fine and are well built. I know for sure that the little blue converters and a lot of cheep ARDUINO boards suffer problems from the update. There is a somewhat involved workaround to fix the problem but I don't know if it is worth it. Could be that another update from Prolific could render the fake ones inoperable again. Bottom line..... Pay a little more, buy from Amazon and one way or another your problems will be taken care of.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Perfect for a test lab

By: Amazon Prime Rocks  on 2014-12-09

I use this to access multiple Cisco switches and routers in my lab. Works like a champ! Recommend highly!
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
One is not enough.

By: Joe Conley  on 2014-11-13

I love this thing. Works perfectly on Linux systems. We probably have 30 of these at work. Best bang for the buck.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Five Stars

By: Andrea B  on 2014-10-29

Love it, works perfectly under Windows 7 and 8.1
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
SO much better than the Prolific

By: Dennis  on 2014-10-19

This USB-to-Serial adapter is SO much better than the Prolific one I have for another device. The instructions are too brief for a non-computer person, but sufficient. I've been using it for a month now to connect a ham radio's sound card and a TV tuner without a problem. Definitively recommended.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
No more guessing which of your serial devices is /dev/ttyUSB?!

By: Charles  on 2014-10-18

One killer feature: in linux, the serial ports enumerate in order. No more guessing which of your serial devices is /dev/ttyUSB?!
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Five Stars

By: John K. Hayes  on 2014-09-15

It worked fine. I would have preferred more instructions on the installation.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Very good adapters

By: Field Medic  on 2014-09-13

I love this adapter. It works flawlessly and have two of them to connect all my serial devices to USB.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Five Stars

By: Laszlo Sturmann  on 2014-09-03

Works fine under Linux as well as Windows.
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Windows 8 Hams: This is Your USB to RS-232 Serial Adapter

By: GT Rider  on 2014-08-21

This cable is essential for Windows 8 users who need RS-232 serial ports for legacy hardware interfaces. In general, I have found this adapter to be a reliable addition to my Windows 8 system where I have multiple RS-232 serial devices that I use regularly. Information for Amateur Radio Operators: I use this cable to convert one USB 3.0 port on my late 2013 iMac (OS X 10.9.x Mavericks, Windows 8.1 Professional 64-bit) to 4 RS-232 serial ports to which I have connected my amateur radio transceivers, an auto tuner and a Kenwood TH-F6A programming cable. I used to have a USB to 4-port adapter made by another, well-known manufacturer that had the Prolific chipset, which is not compatible with Windows 8. This is what I like about this adapter: It worked immediately in Mac OS X 10.9 and Windows 8.1 without needing to run any driver updates to configure the ports. Port conflicts are non-existent even when I have my SignaLink USB digital interface and MasterKeyer MK-1 in use. Where I used to have problems getting the correct rig information from a Yaesu FT-100D in my logging program, I no longer have that issue. I couldn't have asked for an easier, pain-free setup experience. Now for a nit to pick: I question the need for the dongle style adapter cable/serial ports. Since I use this in an amateur radio environment, shielding and reduction of RF overload is very important. This cable can be susceptible to RF interference that I suspect is caused by the long runs of cable with insufficient shielding between the USB port and serial port connectors. This is also the reason why I stopped short of giving this cable a 5 star rating. I will try the usual mitigation steps - install chokes, go over grounding system again - and see if that makes a difference. Otherwise, I may be limited to operation on all bands 20m and down if I want to use the rig control interface of my logging and contest software.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
awesome for connecting multiple uniden scanners to a computer for ...

By: Jason Finnigan  on 2014-08-02

awesome for connecting multiple uniden scanners to a computer for remote control and logging/recording . no problem with FTDI drives like you run into with the prolific chip based units
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Good tool!

By: MrAS  on 2014-07-15

Good tool!
Product Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
It works as advertised

By: Eric Marsh  on 2014-06-05

This unit had the best prices I found. It works as advertised. It did take me a few minutes to get the drivers working properly on a Windows XP virtual machine running under Linux.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Killer Serial with relatively small desk footprint.

By: wil blake  on 2014-04-21

Nice unit used to expand serial ports with a single USB port. Worked fine in Ubuntu to connect to multiple consoles. Great when paired with tmux and emacs serial term.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Absolutely perfect!

By: DX Victor  on 2014-03-27

After many frustrating experiences getting multiple USB to serial devices working, this one was a no-brainer. I tested it on a new, clean Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium with latest updates and Windows 8.1 also with latest updates. Plugged it in, and Windows found its own driver updates and was ready to go in a few minutes with all ports present. Can't ask for better than that!
Product Rating:
3 out of 5 stars
Good functionality but not very sturdy

By: R  on 2014-03-22

This device functions very well, and runs a standard FTDI chipset so it's compatible with pretty much everything. You can see from the other reviews that the product itself works well. The problem I have with this device is that the quality seems low. The cables connecting from the circuit board out to each of the DE9 connectors are very thin and feel pretty fragile. Also the actual DE9 connectors seem to be pretty low quality. They are small (minimal, I guess you could say) -- definitely smaller than the product photo shows. Also, the thumb screws are coated in a soft plastic that can barely hold up to light pressure from a screwdriver. The photo shows much higher quality connectors than the product actually has. For the price of this unit, I expected something much more durable.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Life savers.

By: John W.  on 2014-03-14

Thought we had to have laptops with serial ports - which are extremely rare and costly these days, but so far our technicians haven't found any serial device these cables won't communicate with.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Great design

By: Withheld  on 2014-01-26

For those Cisco techs that need to use the same computer to setup multiple switches at the same time this quad port is great. The only problem that it has is that if you connect all of the same cables at one time to the cisco console cables you will not know which cable is which comm port. So the best way to do it is to connect one at a time while establishing a console session. I also use Tera Term which allows for multiple comm port connections. It comes with a software driver disk and works well in Windows7.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Perfect for Cisco products

By: Brian J.  on 2014-01-16

I purchased this product to help study Cisco as others have already said in previous reviews. However, everyone else stated they were using the product with a Windows computer. I plugged this quad port USB to serial cable into my Ubuntu server running 12.04 and dmesg shows that it registered immediately. Quickly mapped each of the USB ports to a telnet port and it works perfectly. Plug N Play! The only gripe I have about the product is the studs aren't female, but I knew that purchasing the product just from looking at the photos. Time to sell the access server that eats up electricity since this has replaced it and doesn't consume a dime!
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Easy to install, easy to operate

By: Against chumps  on 2014-01-11

I purchase this quad port to connect my 4 switches to one computer for the Cisco CCNP exam. It works just as I had imagined. Makes life easier because all 4 switches are always accessible on the monitor. Software easily installs with the wizards.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Really excellent product - genuine FTDI chipset.

By: AVAV  on 2013-11-16

Wow! What a great product. Like all the other reviews below have said, this product has completely solved all of my USB --> serial conversion problems. Genuine FTDI chipset sure makes the difference. Avoid the cheap Chinese clones that have either fake FTDI chips or much older versions... nothing but trouble.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
This ROCKS for network engineers!

By: Bob  on 2013-11-03

In short, the GearMo 4-port serial adapter ROCKS! I am a professional network engineer and often need to connect to serial console ports on routers, switches, firewalls and more. An RS232 serial connection is pretty much the industry standard for a local console connection to these devices. Since it's common for me to be working on several devices at once -- often trying to make coordinated changes on 2 or 4 devices that must be executed with relatively precise timing -- this product seemed like a better option than moving my console cable back and forth between devices. The 36" cables are a bit bulky when coiled up but the spare length for connections is great when working in a data center rack. The FTDI chipset retains its COM port assignment on Windows after reboots and regardless of which USB port the adapter is connected to -- an enormous improvement over the PL2303 chipset which always changes its COM port assignment. Each RS232 port is embossed with a number (1-4) that indicates which port it is. I mapped these to COM11-14 on my system so I could make an easy mental association with the COM port to the physical connector. This item also works reliably in Mac and Linux OSes. I've been strongly considering building a battery-powered RaspberryPi terminal server with one or two of these to provide an easy-to-access WiFi-connected terminal server.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Exactly what I needed

By: Ian  on 2013-11-02

Nothing comes close to the value. I've connected this to a raspberry pi in order to use it as a terminal server for my cisco lab equipment. I will be buying another one of these in the near future. I love that the connectors are numbered and that the cables are of a good length.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Finally a serial cable that works!

By: W4JLE  on 2013-10-25

I guess you get what you pay for, this was more than similar items found on auction sites cheaper. The big difference is this one works!. As a ham radio operator we have all lamented the loss of the once ubiquitous serial port. While there are a bunch of cheap Chinese cables they used cloned chips that may or may not work with drivers and software. I plugged this in, installed the drivers and it assigned 16, 17,18 and 19 as serial ports. I am running a Navigator interface that uses a number of ports below that. I could have reassigned any of them via the control panel but left them as is. I Have a serial to CT converter for my Icom on 16, a Harris modem on 17, a GPS disciplined Oscillator on 18 and a homebrew antenna patch panel on 19 and they all work with all my various software. HRD, MARS ALE, Comm terminal, 110A both hardware via the Harris and Software. ETC. I am no longer tearing my hair out every time a windows update reboots me! What a difference real FTDI chips and non Chinese bootleg drivers makes.- Fred W4JLE
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Excellent multi-port USB COM device

By: Fred P.  on 2013-10-25

I bought this specifically because it had the FTDI chipset in it. I wasn't disappointed. FTDI has a very long history providing USB to serial chips. I figured if I was going to get something offbeat like a 4 port USB to serial device, I should go with the best silicon. It works exactly as advertised. I have used 3 of the 4 ports simultaneously (haven't needed all 4 yet) without any problems, and on two different computers. Price is great, and the product is excellent. Buy it.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Works great!! Tested on WIN7, WIN XP, CentOS and VMWare ESXi 5.1.

By: Douglas  on 2013-10-20

I ordered this to be installed in my HAM Radio go-box. Works great with a constant GPS feed, DRATS & RMS Express. During my initial testing, I tested this adapter with Windows 7 (64-bit), Windows XP (32-bit), CentOS 6.4 (64-bit) and VMWare ESXi 5.1 with Update 1. They all recognized the adapter and installed the COM Ports. I will definately be ordering another one of these adapters!
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Perfect for multiple consoles

By: LO  on 2013-10-09

I purchased 2 of these to use in my lab (4 switches and 4 routers). They work perfectly in Windows and Linux and it is so much better than constantly swapping console cables (I had a single port adapter previously). I haven't tried them on my phone, so I don't know if it works in Android (the single adapter does).
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
great product

By: azoz  on 2013-07-07

It is awesome . All cables are labeled . That is make it easy for use . And driver works with Windows 7 Thanks
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Works well, includes XP software, and is a great value

By: Amazon Customer  on 2013-05-20

This 4-port serial adapter works equally well with Win7 and WinXP. Win7 does not require installation of the device driver; it is supported natively. WinXP requires installing the included CD_ROM device driver. Because the XP-based instrument does not have a CD-ROM, I copied the contents of the CD-ROM to a flash drive and installed from there. Documentation is provided on the CD-ROM. I have had no problems at all with the adapter under heavy, albeit standard, use. Unfortunately, I have not used it with Win8 but will augment this review once I do. This 4-port adapter is roughly the same price as the 1-port adapter at my local electronics hobby store. I am really glad that I found it at a great price because I was anticipating having to use four 1-port adapters and a hub, which would have been very messy, cost five times as much, and required storing lots of stuff after my project is over. It's a cool solution.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
The answer for a Cisco Rack

By: John T. Zigmont  on 2013-05-19

This products works with Windows 8 x64 plug N play no needed drivers and is idea for a Cisco Rack configuration. There is no need for an Cisco Access Server with this product.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
just plain awesome

By: IssaquahWA1979  on 2013-02-18

I am a HAM radio operator that has been fighting with Serial converters for years this one just plain works on XP, Win7 and Win8.
Product Rating:
2 out of 5 stars
so far I have been unable to get it to work

By: Fair review  on 2012-12-05

have tried this adapter on two different computers: a new dell running windows 7 and new mac running windows 7 professional in parallels (my machines only work with windows). While the drivers successfully install the rs232 port does not show my machine connected to it. This is the second usb to serial port adapter that hasn't worked for me. the normal old style rs232 works fine. As the other reviews have been glowing, it may be specific to my machine. The adapter is a nicely constructed item that has a professional look and feel to it with what appear to be good quality cables. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to get it to work. I've tried for a total of about 3 hours. That's about my limit for this particular item. If I manage to get it to work I'll update and reevaluate.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Works as designed on Windows 7

By: Holly  on 2012-08-06

This USB to serial port adapter has 4 separate serial cables that connect to a single USB 2.0 plug. Each of the 4 serial cable ends is slightly more than 3 feet long. The USB cable end is one foot long. Total end-to-end length is a little bit more than 4 feet long. Each serial cable is labeled "1", "2", "3", or "4" which makes it easy to track your connections. The connections always retain the same com port, so you won't need to reconfigure you software after restarting you computer. The adapter has 3 separate LEDs: red = power, green = TX, yellow = RX. The adapter comes with a CD-ROM that contains USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 drivers for many operating systems including Linux, Mac, Windows, and more. The release notes on the CD-ROM mention that newer drivers can be found at [...] No paper instruction manual is included which might cause inexperienced computer users to have moderate difficulty with the setup. Experienced users will find the setup straight forward and simple. Installation on Windows 7 was easy for me. I found the appropriate installer on the CD-ROM. I had to right-click the installer and select run-as-administrator. The first time I plugged the adapter in it took several minutes for the device to be detected, so be patient. Subsequent detections are fast. All 4 serial adapters can be used simultaneously. Overall I am satisfied with the quality of this device.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Best USB to serial adapter I've used

By: A. M. Williams  on 2012-06-04

This four port adapter has been absolutely rock solid under Linux. I just plugged it in and it worked. I have been using this non-stop for a couple of months now and have had absolutely zero problems. I usually run it at 115,200 baud but have had no problems when pushing it as high as 460,800 baud. I have used a number of different USB to serial cables in order to work with numerous embedded devices and I always seem to have problems. I have seen adapters suddenly stop working, requiring me to disconnect and reconnect them or having their baudrate suddenly change or just start spewing garbage. Not this one. The transmit and receive LEDs are also nice to have since they can indicate that something is happening on another serial line I am not currently looking at. The cables are nicely molded with the serial port number molded into each connector. I am saddened to see that it is listed as no longer available since this is such a great adapter.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Works Fine On My Ham Radio Applications

By: Dan Z  on 2012-03-14

I installed this cable on a machine running XP Pro/SP3. I did a Windows Update prior to the installation. I let the OS find the driver on the provided CD ROM, rebooted, and the new COM ports were there. I redefined the ports using the Hardware Manager and the designations have "stuck" so far after about a dozen re-boots. FWIW, I tried the cable with CTWin, Logger32, and N1MM. All worked fine, correctly communicating with two radios on two different COM ports and a Rotor-EZ equipped rotator on a third COM port. I have not tried it with WinKey as my LPT keying works fine (ergo, I do not use WinKey). I experienced no RF susceptability problems on 160m-10m at 100W and 700W power power levels. The "octopus" cables are conveniently long so that I do not need any extensions from the compuer which sits to the side of the radios. The price of this quad converter is about half of another alternative that was recommended as being proven with Ham applications.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Simply works with FTDI drivers on MacOS X

By: edbarnard  on 2012-02-10

Just works with the FTDI drivers. Tested on MacOS X 10.7 Lion and the four ports show up as /dev/tty.usbserial-FTUJPJ7ZA through /dev/tty.usbserial-FTUJPJ7ZD . Cables are quite long.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Works Great!

By: H. Stratton  on 2012-02-10

Nice product, works just fine on my 64 bit Vista notebook, letting me use 4 serial devices simultaneously. I did have to force the drivers to use com port assignments that my computer says were already in use (though they really weren't).
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
includes Microsoft "signed" driver!

By: Tom  on 2012-02-08

I was upset when I first tried to install it on windows XP as the included drivers did not work properly. But MS Update fixed it automatically . A good proper product. Very satisfied.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
EXCELLENT Product!!

By: William Bowen  on 2011-10-16

The USB "jungle" under my desk was becoming a nightmare & I was quickly running out of ports on my USB hub to connect my ham radio equipment to, so I went looking for a good multi-port USB~RS-232 adaptor. Between my 2 main ham transceivers, the packet TNC and the internal TNC I needed 4 RS-232 ports that did RTS/CTS handshake correctly (Kenwood radios are kinda picky in this regard {especially the TM-D710A in EchoLink sysop mode}, as is my TNC). I had been told by numerous fellow hams that USB~RS-232 adaptors that used the FTDI ICs where the only way to go, so I limited my search to these. I saw this item on Amazon & read a review from a fellow ham that had dealt with this same issue, and he praised this unit highly, so I decided to purchase it. I'm VERY pleased with the results. I've hooked up the adaptor to my Toshiba laptop PC (my "shack computer") and to the Kenwoods and everything works just like it is supposed to. There where no issues with the adaptor operating correctly with the radios running full power output (100W on the HF bands & 50W on 2M/70CM) - no "glitches" at all. One thing that had concerned me was possible interaction between the 4 ports when 2 or 3 of them are active (actually passing data) at the same time, which is the situation when running packet. However, no such interaction had been observed. I would HIGHLY recommend this USB~RS-232 adaptor to any ham that is running multiple radios and/or aux. items like a TNC that wants reliable data transfer when you've got a bunch of RF floating around the shack on multiple bands. Gearmo makes a fine product in this item & I WILL personally recommend it to my ham friends. NOTE: I would recommend that anyone that uses this product go to FTDI's web site & download the ComPort Reassign utility - it makes Com Port assignment of the ports on this device much easier than using Device Manager in Windows.
Product Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Money well spent!

By: jabit  on 2011-04-21

I was using a couple of individual usb-serial converters in my ham shack, and acquired two more pieces of equipment that needed serial ports. I ran across this item and decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did. Installation was a breeze on my Win 7 Pro 32-bit system, and the product functions extremely well, even in a strong RF environment. Each serial connector in the octopus cable is marked (A,B,C,D) and windows assigned Com8,Com9,Com10,Com11 respectively. These assignments remain across reboots, so there is no reconfiguring of application software. No muss, no fuss. This product uses the latest ultra-reliable FTDI-4232 chipset, and the drivers are Microsoft certified. As the title states, money well spent!