PortaPow 3rd Gen Data Blocker (Red) - Protect Against Juice Jacking

I hate mains adapters. I have drawers full of them. So for me, it was REALLY irritating when I bought a mains plug socket adapter with lots of nice USB sockets that can supposedly handle 2.4 A per port, and yet I measured my tablet charging from it at just 300 mA. Clearly it was meant for Apple iPad, and my tablet is Google/Android. Same with my computer. I *know* its USB sockets can output 1 A to phones and tablets, but the drivers to allow it to don't work on Windows 10 - they output at 0.5 A at max, and generally around the 380 mA mark. And at work, which supplies "universal" slots that are meant for Android, not Apple, and barely charges my iPhone. Some ports, like on TVs, won't supply any power to a phone or tablet at all, not even enough to trickle charge. A whole mythology has built up around "good cables" and "bad cables" and it's not hard to see why. The little PortaPow fixes these issues for me and allows charging by devices at the same speed as the original charger (confirmed with a USB test stick), with the added benefit that my embarrassing stored pictures don't pop up on the desktop of a rather large screen the moment I plug in my device at work, thanks to its "USB condom" functionality. Yes, you can produce similar effects by shorting out the data pins on a USB cable (or buying one that does so), but this brute force method won't help you if the charger only allows full current draw when detects specific devices, as many appear to now do. The PortaPow, in "spoofing" that your device is Apple/Android/Samsung and picking the best output no matter what it really is, is a much more elegant solution. I only have two criticisms. My first, smaller one is that PortaPow could be a bit shorter if it was arranged better inside - it can be a bit awkward when added to the length of the cable going into it, like a long stick hanging out of a USB socket. My second isn't to do with the PortaPow itself, but its intended usage: by bypassing the data pin negotiation, you can potentially draw more current from a USB port than was designed for. I don't know if PortaPow is safer than any other hacky "fast charge" cable/dongle in this respect. Many devices are clever and will cut off or lower current if necessary but some may not be and could potentially blow out something inside, so I would advise using PortaPow carefully.

100% does as advertised. Worth buying to keep your data safe.

Grate what a product very well packaged smart looking and is very well made brilliant a must have.

I am amazed with this product! The delivery was next day to an Amazon Locker (£1.99) as it was cheaper and quicker than it to be posted via First Class. When it arrived, I was eager to open the package and plug it in to test its performance. I was shocked to see that when I plugged the module in between the device USB cable and the computer port, the power statistics on my device (iPhone 6 Plus) had dramatically changed. The power statistics without the block was 2 Watts @ 500mAh, after plugging the block in, the input changed to 12 Watts @ 2400mAh; a 6x improvement in Watt and almost 5x improvement in mAh into my device! My device usually takes 2 hours 30 minutes to charge, but with this module, I timed it to only take 1 hour 25 minutes. The module is no bigger than a standard USB drive, the dimensions being 450mmx120mmx100mm. The module only weighs a mere 80g! Helpfully, the 'wholly-red' design of the module means it is hard to loose at the bottom of a bag and found usually in an instant. I plan to take these on a Thomson 787 flight to Mexico next month, as the in-flight entertainment system hosts a USB port for displaying photos on the screen. Now I have this 'USB Condom' the system won't recognise my device as a phone and will only supply charging power while keeping away the risk of my data from my phone being transferred somewhere I don't want it to be. Overall, I am very very pleased with my purchase, and just under £7 for two is a steal! I WILL reccomend these to friends and family.

Ford try to be helpful. In the glove box of my Mondy they have a USB socket, but if you plug in an iPhone lead to charge the phone, the car audio treats the phone as an iPod/USB audio device and plays music out. That's all fine until you get a phone call, when it gets confused (as it doesn't pass on calls over bluetooth, as it's playing out from a USB-connected device). Nice one, Ford. This little beauty solves that problem completely. It allows the phoone to charge, while the car audio doesn't "see" the iPhone as an audio source, so allowing it to connect over bluetooth (as the idiots at Ford should have done in the first place). Result! Plugging this tiny device in line with the phone charger cable solves Ford's genius audio design fault. It's Worth its weight in good stuff.

This is an absolutely essential piece of kit to take when you are travelling anywhere with a charging cable for your Mobile phone. Why? Because when you use a public charging socket...YOU HAVE NO IDEA what is on the other side of that. Could be something to extract data while you charge. And it could. I tested mine and found that there was no data flow when in use. So 5 stars. I have got these for the whole family now.

Not sure why the devices use power from a battery pack when no phone or device is connected. But if it blocks data being transferred whilst charging that's fine But drawing power on it's own?

Just what I needed and arrived in good condition and on time

Ça marche parfaitement, cela évite les piratages des données dans des lieux publique, j'ai même acheté un autre paire pour faire cadeaux !

Essential part of Carry Kit for those who use public USB ports. Small, easy to stash out of the way.

You have to understand what this does and how it works to get the most benefit out of it. (1) Although it connects the POWER lines between the two connectors, it does not connect the DATA lines. Thus if you place this between a charging source and the device you wish to charge, there is no way for the charging source to use the data lines to install malware, etc. on your device. Given that such malware now exists, this seems like something everyone should do when charging devices from any power source, public or private, that they do not completely control: including computers at work or at friends' homes. (2) It has an integrated circuit inside that asks the power source to deliver as much current as it can. Without a chip such as this many chargers, including high powered ones, will only deliver a small amount of charging current. In these cases this product will help you get the most out of a charging source that is possible. But this device will NOT make a puny, weak charging source become a powerful one. And if your device already has the appropriate electronics inside then they will already be asking the charging source to deliver as much current as possible, so this product becomes redundant. Finally, this product consists of two connectors soldered to a PC board encapsulated in a red, rubbery material. I expect this product to be more rugged and more water resistant than similar products that have hard plastic housings.

Moim zdaniem niezbędne akcesorium w podróży, ale również w pracy czy w domu. PortaPow jest przydatny wszędzie tam, gdzie chcemy skorzystać z zasilania portu USB, ale nie chcemy wymiany danych miedzy naszym urządzeniem a nieznaną ładowarką lub obcym komputerem. Zarówno przygodne ładowarki, jak i komputery mogą być niebezpieczne ze względu na możliwość próby ataku podłączonego telefonu złośliwym oprogramowaniem. Ma to znaczenie także wszędzie tam, gdzie korzystamy z komputera np. u znajomego czy w pracy, ale nie chcemy, by rozpoczynał on synchronizację z naszym telefonem, której możemy nie być w stanie w porę anulować. Chcemy po prostu jedynie skorzystać z zasilania USB w celu doładowania. Sama koncepcja tego typu zabezpieczenia nie jest nowa, bo od dawna słyszałem o zabezpieczeniach zwanych USB condom. Jednak PortaPow jest porządnie wykonany, co budzi zaufanie i zajmuje niewiele miejsca.

Fantastic. Great for air travel/using in public places.