DIY USB Extension Cables Using Cat5/6?

TheDarkRogue asks: "Ok, I have a small USB device that I need to position a distance from my computer, more then the cable, at least 30 feet. The thing is that I don't think it can go that far very well. I looked around for a solution and found a few products I could get for a price way out of my price range, so now I'm looking at this as a doit-myselfer. How can I extend the distance using Cat5/6? Does anyone know of any schematics for something or is that in its self more then is needed?" Extending a USB cable to this length (or more) can't be this easy, can it? What's the maximum length of USB cabling one can get in a single stretch?

Comments

Larry Flynt, hero of the people

[orthogonal]

Ok, I have a small USB device that I need to position a distance from my computer, more then the cable, at least 30 feet.

Hot chick moved in next door, huh?

And you've found the perfect perch for your webcam, right outside her bathroom window?

And you don't want to get a wireless X-10 camera, for fear of being spammed and popped-under every day for the rest of your life?

Profit!

[Karma Farmer]

Here's a plan!

1. Cut ends off existing USB cable, and solder to longer cable.
2. ...
3. Profit!

But seriously -- what exactly are you asking? If want to know if a longer cable will work, then just solder up a longer cable and test it. If you want to know if twisted pair will help with electrical interference, or what wires to choose to run to which pins to give the greatest benefit from the twisted pair, then ask that instead. If you're looking for inexpensive passive or active extensions, ask that. If you want to know where to find cheap cable ends from a reliable vendor, ask that. If you want to build your own USB repeater (or whatever they're called), ask that. But I can't figure out what your current question is. If your question is "How can I extend the cable length using a longer cable," then the answer might be, umm... maybe you could use a longer cable?

viola!

[Detritus]

cello!

You'd be surprisedwhat you can do

[brink]

Stranger things have been done. Once my brother-in-law and I were SOL on finding a serial-to-rj45 cable for the management port of a router. All we could find was a cd audio cable and a cat 5 patch cable, so we stripped one end of the cat 5 and plugged it into the pinholes of the audio cable, then pulled the wires out of the plastic on the other end of the audio cable and just shoved them onto the serial port pins. Worked like a charm!

'Course, it probably helped that the total length was only like 2 feet, but still.