Mobile hubs are usually made to be compact and self-contained, so they draw all their power from the USB A port they're plugged into. On a laptop, you're not likely to see much juice coming out of the laptop port. So a hub that draws 100% of its power from the laptop will 1.) be using a weak power supply, and 2.) be dividing up that power among the USB devices that you plug into it. You're much better off buying a hub with its own "wall wart" to supply power. I'd look for one that says it's specifically made to give high charging current, 1A per port is ideal. The "wall wart" gives more power, but makes things cumbersome.
What I've been doing is buying combo AC surge protector / USB charging devices for at home and on the road. I have a APC P4WUSB wall mount unit in an AC outlet over my kitchen counter, where I use the AC outlets to plug in battery chargers for my NiMH cells and big lithium power packs. The USB ports can be used to recharge anything else that doesn't have a dedicated AC charger. On the road I have some CyberPower TRVL918 units that travel well because the 3-prong plug folds out of the way for travel, and they into a backpack easily. And I have another (a Belkin I think) at my bedside table to power my phone stand. None of them say what charging current they give, but the APC seems to do well.
