Extending the USB cable

[LeapTime]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has extended there USB cable with an extension? I just moved my ShopBot and want to have the the computer a little further than the cable that is hardwired into the box will allow.. Just wondering if anyone has done this and had problems or if it works just fine with the proper extension cable in place…

Thanks for any help that you may be able to provide

Chris

[Simops]

USB signal deteriorates with distance....normally I would not go further than 10-15feet without an active hub in between.

Cheers

[jerry_stanek]

I have been running a 10 foot extension on my old PR and now my PRS standard for 6 years now with no problems.

[Chuck Keysor]

Chris, when I first set up my Shopbot, I needed a USB extension to reach my computer location. Maybe it was 5 feet..... Being as this was maybe 4 years ago, I don't recall exactly what was happening, but something was amiss. What I wound up doing was to move my silver control box, so that it was closer to the PC, and with that simple change, I was able to eliminate my USB extension. My problem, whatever it was, did go away. So if you can easily move your control box, give that a try and you may avoid a problem. Chuck

[khaos]

I have been running a 10 foot extension on my old PR and now my PRS standard for 6 years now with no problems.

Me too. Maybe, 12' without any issues on my PRS.

The USB specification limits the length of a cable between full/high speed (2.0) devices to 5 meters (16 feet 5 inches) and between low speed (1.1) devices the limit is 3 meters (9 feet 10 inches). However you may be able to go further if you need to try, but you may suffer data loss problems or no communication.

If you need to go further there are ways to do so with some active extension cables or repeater hubs.

[toolman1953]

I put a 25' on mine with no problem. The person at the computer store said it needed to be shielded cable. I have not had any problem.

[donek]

I just bought a new cable on Amazon and wrapped it around the magnetic shield do-hicky. Shopbot helped me pick it out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BCWALHM/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Brady Watson]

It needs to be an active extension: http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-U026-016-Extension-Repeater/dp/B0002D6QJO

-B

[Simops]

It needs to be an active extension: http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-U026-016-Extension-Repeater/dp/B0002D6QJO

-B

An active extension is the way to go in most cases. It has circuitry to stabilise the 5 volt rail along its length. When we do simulator installs using a lot of USB devices connected to the computer (and we even use servers with high end power supplies and motherboards) that Windows has a tendency to knock out a USB device randomly. This even more so with older systems. Invariably it's the one at the end of a long extension, even with an active extension. In these cases we add a powered USB hub with the active extension to stabilise the voltage and keep Windows happy:)

Cheers

[LeapTime]

Thanks so much everyone for the great tips! I'll be doing this soon. I want to make a curved bench top that swivels on lazy Susan style bearing wheel so I can rotate the computer towards the shopbot when making adjustments then rotate it back onto the bench area. Wasn't even close to getting it on the bench at this point though. Thanks again!
Chris.

[khaos]

An active extension is the way to go in most cases. It has circuitry to stabilise the 5 volt rail along its length. When we do simulator installs using a lot of USB devices connected to the computer (and we even use servers with high end power supplies and motherboards) that Windows has a tendency to knock out a USB device randomly. This even more so with older systems. Invariably it's the one at the end of a long extension, even with an active extension. In these cases we add a powered USB hub with the active extension to stabilise the voltage and keep Windows happy:)

Cheers

And if windows aint happy, aint nobody happy. [Nods to Mom]