Long USB cable options.

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justinbyoung

54 posts

Master Geek

# 132282 15-Oct-2013 17:21

Hello,

I am in the process of moving my HTPC to a rack in my office with cables running to our living room. I need to run a 15-20m USB extension and am not completely sure the best way to do it. I have seen 20m powered extension cables, but have seen reports that these do not work that well, dropping down to USB 1.1 speeds or just not working. The other option is a USB to Cat5 adapter. Does anyone have experience using one of these. I have seen a few but the specs state they support 10/100BaseT which seems to indicate that they couldn't support USB 2.0 speeds.

I plan to use a hub at the TV end, connecting an IR receiver, XBox 360 wireless adapter, wireless keyboard adapter and a webcam.

Any advice would be appreciated.

DarthKermit

4934 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

# 915663 15-Oct-2013 19:05

Firstly, what are you planning to use this long USB cable for?

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

justinbyoung

54 posts

Master Geek

# 915686 15-Oct-2013 20:02

I plan to use a USB hub at the TV end, connecting an IR receiver, XBox 360 wireless controller adapter, wireless keyboard adapter and a webcam to the HTPC.

Inphinity

2541 posts

Uber Geek

# 915696 15-Oct-2013 20:14

You could use up to 5 hubs or active extensions to get a length up to about 30 meters. Any given length of USB can be no more than 5meters, to meet specification requirements, and you can have no more than 5 hubs in a chain (an active extension is effectively a 1-port hub).

nitrotech

1246 posts

Uber Geek

# 915698 15-Oct-2013 20:18

I've run a 7m cable and put a powered usb hub at the end of it for an hd webcam worked ok - maybe give it a go.

justinbyoung

54 posts

Master Geek

# 915706 15-Oct-2013 20:31

I just found an active 5m USB3 extension cable at jaycar. You can join up to 5 of them together. Not cheap though. The USB to Cat5 adapter they have only supports 12Mbs so thats not the best option.

Dratsab

3439 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

# 915768 15-Oct-2013 22:20

I purchased a 10m active USB cable from Cables Direct a few years back and used it in conjunction with a 3m cable I already had so I could locate a printer (Canon iP4500) in a convenient spot. Worked well - but then again, pretty basic communications.

mcraenz

1091 posts

Uber Geek

# 916279 16-Oct-2013 19:35

I use a cheap pair of CAT5 to USB adapters which I got off deal extreme. Through the structured cable in the house it must be 25M. Powered USB hub at the TV end. Only dose USB 1.1 but for my MCE IR receiver and Logitech RF receiver it's just fine.

What are you planning to do for video/audio? I use a 15M dynamix HDMI cable.

10/100 isn't relevant because it's not a USB to network adapter it's just using network cable. I think there are USB 2.0 ones out there.

Gotta say though it's great having no PC in the lounge, just AV receiver and TV. Don't have fuss around with making it quiet, small or attractive.

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