Looking for a reliable brand/model.

I've never in my life had a reliable USB hub. The main problem is that devices connected through the hub seems to disturb each other. If more than one is connected this way they often start to malfunction. Or all of a sudden the computer doesn't recognize one of them. Currently I have problems with all small devices that can be charged through USB. Mp3 player, small speaker, ebook reader... It's been this way with every hub I've ever owned, used with different computers. Some of them have worked fine to start with though, for a very limited time.

Is this a generic problem with hubs or do I just make poor choices? Does it help to pay more?

It's a generic problem in my opinion, although it probably depends more on the devices plugged into the hub than the hub itself.

That's what I suspect. I've asked in stores, but of course they've never heard of this problem, or maybe it was this way long ago but not anymore... I avoided them for many years, but now I have so many USB devices that I have to use them.

Of course, for the stuff that needs to charge through USB I could get one of those things that plugs into a wall socket, but I can't transfer files that way.

Come on, has no one ever had a working USB hub?

Well, mine is an old Inland 6-port hub. It's been reliable for me, but I have a different assortment of devices attached to it, and I'm running a different OS. And that doesn't say anything about the Inland hubs that are currently available.