USB Extension Cables

[21grams]

Out of curiosity? Does anyone know the ramifications of extending a usb cable too far?

[Salmon Trout]

The USB 2.0 provides for a maximum cable length of 5 metres for devices running at Hi Speed (480 Mbit/s). You can join cables together using powered hubs (maximum 5). The ramifications of just using cable joiners is signal loss and data transmission failure, and if the device is powered by the USB cable there may not be enough power to operate the device.

[Geek-9pm]

Worth repeating.

The USB 2.0 provides for a maximum cable length of 5 metres for devices running at Hi Speed (480 Mbit/s). You can join cables together using powered hubs (maximum 5). The ramifications of just using cable joiners is signal loss and data transmission failure, and if the device is powered by the USB cable there may not be enough power to operate the device.

[DaveLembke]

I have been successful with 3 hops ( repeaters ) once for a business that needed a printer out on a loading dock and there was no network drop nearby to use a Ethernet to USB device. There were outlets however along the wall to the far corner and so I bought 3 powered USB hubs and daisy chained the USB communications from the computer that needed to be in a secure room with tie wraps to the cable ends to keep them from getting unplugged from the hubs ( repeaters ).

I tried to talk the business into just upgrading to a new printer with ethernet connection and that its easier to run a cat5 drop over to it instead, but they wanted to keep the existing printer etc and this was the only method that would work at the time 8 years ago. *I suggested a Cat5 drop because Cat5 cable is cheap to run and is secure. If we put wifi in for a wifi printer then we'd have to worry about someone hacking and getting in through a back door to the company etc.

[patio]

As Salmon stated...5 metres....i'd follow that advice.
P.S. USB3 is more like 3 to 4 metres.

[Geek-9pm]

That sounds like a good solution. Presently, there  could be other ways to solve that problem. There is such a thing as running USB >> Ethernet >> USB to resolve the line loose issue. But the data speed is much lower than USB.