Best Way To Extend USB Device Distance

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User101

User101

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Sep 16, 2016
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I need to move my outboard Disk drives to about 6-7' from the computer, which is beyond the length of the devices' 2 1/2' cables which came with them. I know there are two ways of doing this and would appreciate recommendations of which is the better way. The devices are mostly USB 2, with a couple of USB 3, but the computer ports are only USB 2.

#1) Replace the standard USB cables with 10' cables
#2) Get Active Repeater extension cables and connect them to the standard USB cables (e.g.https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=AX65BNDSEQJBTGK7ZW45 for USB 2.0 and https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matter...439106&sr=1-4&keywords=usb+3.0+extender+cable for 3.0 cables)

The advantage to #2 is that I would have only three cables across the 6' of floor from the device shelf - there are only three free USB ports on the computer - and I would just connect and disconnect the individual devices' standard USB cables on the shelf from the extenders as needed. The disadvantage may be loss of signal quality and/or data speed because of the cable-to-cable connection.

The advantage to #1 is that there isn't any possibility of signal quality and/or data speed loss because of the cable-to-cable connection. The disadvantage may be that the quality of these 10' cables are inferior to the standard cables that came with the disk drives and on their own introduce signal quality and/or data speed loss.

I expect that in either option I would need cables with gold-plated connectors.

Any recommendation (or alternatives) will be most appreciated.
Thank you.
 
Hello

You could use an usb multi port,with external power. This would take out the need to plug and un-plug your cables. This may even let you use shorter cables.
 
Thank you, vger, for your suggestion. I did a quick search and could not find any that would increase my length issue. Also seemed that these hubs would probably change the characteristics of what's connected to them so they may not be recognized for what they are (e.g. the Z-Disk may not be recognized as the Z-Disk because the hub changes its appearance)

But the main issue here is the device-to-computer length so it does not seem that the hub would accomplsih that.
 
Ok...i am using one now and have been for years never had any issue's with these hubs,these usb hubs are just an extension of you main usb port from your pc. Also the one i am use is using a 2 foot cable and that can be increased in length.
 
The signal limit to USB cables are 5 meters or just over 16 feet for full speed devices and 3 meters or just under 10 feet for low speed devices. For USB powered devices the limit is much lower. The following link does a good job of trying to explain how to get around these limits. Keep in mind the site hosting the article is trying to sell you something but I have read thru it and find it is accurate. :)

USB Cable Length Limitations And How To Break Them
 
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Thank you, vger. Would you tell me the brand & model that you are using which has worked well for you?

Lord Chance - thank you for the link. I had actually seen that website, which is how I knew how to pose my questions in a way that (I hope) made sense. That page , however, doesn't answer my questions as to which method is less likely introduce signal quality and/or data speed loss.
 
Ah...Forgive old LC for being slow. Your answer is simple. USB over ethernet will give you the most distance with little or no signal loss. Here is another option you might consider.

USB over Wi Fi
 
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