I'll spare you the gory details, but I had to rearrange my home office which now requires my printer to be 26 feet away from my PC. I haven't been able to find any 26 ft long USB cables. Does anybody know if it is possible to connect multiple USB cables. If so, how do I go about doing this? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
2007-09-21 04:12:50 · 7 answers · asked by fighting saints 6 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
you have to buy a USB repeater. if you don't, your signal degrades or is lost
see sample
http://www.usbgear.com/USB_Repeater_Cable/
2007-09-21 04:21:26 · answer #1 · answered by wcogent 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
USB works over short hauls only. Up to 5 meters (16.5 feet).
For longer distances you need to use either a repeater or a powered hub. A repeater provides a better boost to the signal, but a powered hub is cheaper. In any case, for long distance USB connections, you would need a repeater every 5 meters. In your case, at 26 feet, you would only need one.
Another alternative, if you do not need the full 480Mbps speed of USB, would be to use a WiFi network connection and a wireless USB print server. This would limit your speed to slightly less than WiFi speeds (up to 54Mbps), but extend your distance to several hundred feet. At 26 feet, a repeater would be your best solution. Your printer would appear to be local (as opposed to a network device).
You can buy repeaters as a standalone device or already built into cables. Here's an example of one already built-into the cable:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812116123&ATT=12-116-123&CMP=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Cables-_-Comtop-_-12116123
And for completeness, here's a wireless USB print server
http://www.google.com/products?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLJ,GGLJ:2006-16,GGLJ:en&q=wireless+usb+print+server
2007-09-21 11:35:41 · answer #2 · answered by JimDandy 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Just go wireless, get a wireless router and a wireless adaptor for the printer. Office will look a lot better with out all the cables going all over.
2007-09-21 11:29:34 · answer #3 · answered by ohio44903 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It can be done, you have to get adapters or extension USB cables to make the actual connections. Most electronic stores carry them. I wouldn't recommend it unless you absolutely have to, though. More cable = more chance to catch it on something or trip.
2007-09-21 11:22:44 · answer #4 · answered by vyperjeedai 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your best Idea would be to buy a USB extension chord. They are fairly cheap. Remember, the longer the cord the slow the speed is
2007-09-21 11:21:28 · answer #5 · answered by Jason D 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Use a USB extension cable. You'll have to buy 5 six footers or one huge one. Either way, its gonna cost ya.
USB cables shouldn't have any line loss.
2007-09-21 11:21:59 · answer #6 · answered by Erik H 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Use a couple of these- http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2255072&cp=&sr=1&origkw=usb+extension&kw=usb+extension&parentPage=search
2007-09-21 11:22:16 · answer #7 · answered by Madkins007 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋