USB Cables
 

What is the longest USB cable that people have successfully used?

I am looking to set up a USB hub in my home office and will need to get a USB cable 25' long - is that possible or are their signal problems with that lenght?

The spec is for 5 meters. If you use a cable with a repeater or a hub you should be okay, though. Something like this connected to a 10' cable should work.

Even though the specs claim it won't work over 5 feet, I've used USB 2.0 on a 15 meter cable before, and it worked just fine.

As the previous poster said; a repeater will make a difference for really long cables. Also consider putting a powered hub in the loop to make sure you don't have any power loss.

Great suggestion!

Thanks

Also check for 16' repeater cables (make sure they support USB 2.0). You
can cascade 2 of them and they draw power from the interface so no AC adapters are required.

If you need really long distances, consider this, it's a set of adapters you can have up to 150 feet apart, connected by cat 5 cable.

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.as...1512&sku=39993

I've used extenders without any problems on some things, but others, like one of my printers, wouldn't work with anything other then a short cable on it, no hubs, no repeaters, no long cables, so the answer is it depends.

I should have asked this question early as well - I guess there shouldn't be any problem of putting 2 printers on the USB hub (only 1 laptop). . ..

No problem at all. Printers draw almost no power off USB.

If you're using USB 2.0 devices, it's a good idea to use a 2.0 powered hub. The spec for USB 2.0 devices allows for more current and un-powered hubs sometimes just can't keep up. In fact, most, if not all USB 2.0 hubs are powered by design - either from another USB 2.0 port, or from an external power pack.

With respect to cable length, just make sure it's a USB 2.0 certified cable. There is a difference. Most USB 2.0 cables have better shielding, thus yielding longer theoretical lengths. I've personally used a 15' USB 2.0 without problems.

redjr...