A cheap 7 port Staples-branded powered hub gives my RPi problems, but a new 4 port Staples-branded powered hub works just fine.
root@raspberrypi:~# lsusb|grep -i Port
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
root@raspberrypi:~#
Just a random data point for people to find via google ;-)