USB 1.1 iPhone Problems

Question

*THE SITUATION*
Well, when I first got my iPhone (about 2 weeks after it was released) I had tons of problems connecting my iPhone to my computer which only features 3 USB 1.1 ports, and no USB 2.0 ports. The phone wouldn't be recognized at all, and then it would be fully recognized and wouldn't sync, and then sometimes it would just hang iTunes, and sometimes (about 1 out of 10 times) it would actually work as expected, albeit at incredibly slow USB 1.1 speeds. Apple support said my iMac wasn't supported because it didn't have USB 2.0. Fine. that is my fault, so I will just live with it, and do what I can.
Then, because of several software updates, the iPhone got much better connecting to my computer, and for several months I had no problems at all. I could usually expect that atleast half of the time I would connect to the computer and it would work flawlessly!
However, since I recently updated to iTunes 7.5 and iPhone software 1.1.2, my connection is once again completely unreliable. For that last two nights in a row I have been connecting and disconnecting my iPhone repeatedly, only getting the most minor of progression. After spending about 8 hours on the problem, I finally got the phone restored, updated, and about 15 songs on it... anything longer than that, and the iPhone 'times out', leaving iTunes just hanging there still trying to update the phone.
*NOT THE ONLY ONE*
I started another thread, and apparently this problem is experienced by possibly everyone with USB 1.1 instead of 2.0. It is not a user-specific problem.
HELP!
Are you experienced the same thing? Please post your story so we can see if it applies to everyone or not. Can anyone help us out? Why would it work fine one day, and then they apparently kill the functionality with a software update?
Any suggestions would be most helpful!

Answer 1

I believe your complaints stems from the fact that you are attempting to use USB 1.1.
USB 1.1 has a data transfer rate between 1.5 - 12Mbp/s whilst;
USB 2.0 in contrast is markedly faster with a maximum data transfer rate up to 480Mbp/s.
Back in the day, the symptoms you're describing were reported even on the early iPods that started requiring a min. USB 2.0 requirement. You can still attempt to use these iPods or your iPhone with USB 1.1 but this sometimes results in the data feed locking up from congestion, which on screen can appear like the application or sync process has hung.
You may experience greater difficulty in syncing with each new iTunes implementation because each new version introduces new features and options that may require higher data transfer speeds.
To rule out your iPhone, its suggested that you try it with another computer that is equipped with USB 2.0. If it works fine, then most likely, you may need to upgrade to a USB 2.0 interface.