Description
With this professional 4 port RS232 to USB FTDI chip adapter with power LED you can easily add 4 standard serial ports to your desktop, laptop or other mobile device. The Professional 4 Port RS232 USB to Serial outputs are automatically configured as additional COM ports with Windows, Linux, and Mac. This device also offers protection against static electricity, high voltage spikes and other dangerous electrical shocks which can damage your equipment or data signaling.
The 4 Port RS232 USB to Serial Adapter is compatible with most GPS and PDA devices such as Garmin, Magellan, and Palm. Office equipment such as modems, printers, scanners, and digital cameras are also compatible. With protection against static electricity and surges up to 15KV, the Professional 4 Port RS232 USB to Serial converter cable gives you reliable data transfers and protects the converter and your equipment from damage due to over voltages.
Package Contents:
- 4 Port RS232 USB to Serial Adapter
- CD For Drivers (also available for download)
- USA-FTDI4X Product Manual (also available for download)
The USB Plug and Play feature allows easy installation and requires no configuration for IRQ, DMA, or I/O port resources, meaning more devices can be attached to your system without the hassles of device and resource conflicts. The converter is suitable for general office, commercial and industrial use. Just like most of our other converters, this adapter is using the high quality FTDI chip which makes it fully compatible with all versions of Windows, Linux, and Mac.
OS Support:
- Windows 7, 8, 10, & 11
- Linux
- Mac OS 10.X
Features & Specifications:
- Easy Plug and Play installation
- USB interface: standard Type A female
- Automatic handshake support
- Baud rates up to 921.600bps
- No power supply needed
- Dual 16 Byte hardware data buffer (up/down stream)
- Cable Length 3 feet
- Supported in Windows 11
Charles Darwin –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Would be 5 stars except for this:
The DB9 connector hardware doesn’t have the needed nuts to allow one to use the thumbscrews from connecting a cable to the connector. In other words, this is fine if you have four devices with DB9 serial port connections right next to each other, but if you are like most people, and have perhaps an HF radio in one place, and an oscilloscope in another, and a GPS in another place, and want to use this serial adapter for all of them, you’ll be needing separate DB9 M-F or DB9 to DB25 cables between that device and this adapter. Problem is, there’s no way to securely screw that cable into the DB9 connectors of this adapter without purchasing the long nuts which are fastened to this adapter’s thumb screws. This is a poor oversight in my opinion, and at this price, these nuts should have been included with the adapter. Otherwise, Windows 10 recognized and installed an OEM driver without issue – it didn’t even need the CD which came with this adapter.
trainboy –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works on Linux
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?
Amazon Customer –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gearmo 4 Port USB to Serial
used this product for work
JG –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works as expected
Works perfectly and has decent cable length
Benjamin Nemec –
works well
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.
Dave S. –
Plugged it in, loaded the driver, and it worked right out of the box
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.
joe –
Exceeded my expectations
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
Kindle Customer –
It works very well for my job.
Very well made and works for my job
KenD –
USB to Serial Converter
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.
David Michael Murray –
Worked as expected
Easy to install and download the drivers with limited tech knowledge. Worked flawlessly.
Smalldog –
Using physical COM ports instead of virtual COM ports
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.
Ryan W –
Works great
It works great! I run 2 sessions at 115k and 2 at 9600, and it handles it fine.
Gift Ideas –
Works perfectly with a Pi Zero W
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.
Michael –
Saves USB ports on my Raspberry Pi
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).
Keith –
Fits notebook spacing
Well made, works fine
Jorge Zendejas –
works on linux and w10
great to increase serial ports capacity using only one usb port
Jared –
Cisco Console Perfection
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.
SU –
works. no dead port or pin
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
Fred P. –
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.
Fred –
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.
Bob –
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.
Brian J. –
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!
A. Lawson –
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.
A. Lawson –
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 detection’s are fast.
All 4 serial adapters can be used simultaneously.
Overall I am satisfied with the quality of this device.
*Reviewed at Amazon.com
H. Stratton “cstulsa” –
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).
Tom Murray –
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.
William Bowen “Engineer & Radio Collector” –
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.
John Abit –
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!