cable runs

[milly]

hello I have my pc in my loft and my equipment, is on the ground floor. This is a distance of 30-40 approx. my idea is to chop a usb cable(not the one provided with the usbuirt). and then splice a cat5 run inbetween. then connect myusbuirt to, this extended cable. Will this work???

thanks for any thoughts

[jrhees]

99% sure it won't. USB (passive) runs cannot be that long, period. If you only need the transmitter function extended then the easiest it to build a long emitter cable. If you really must extend the entire unit away from the PC, the best way is with either 'active USB extender cables', which add 15 feet and cost around $20-30 each, or use a few cheapo powered USB hubs (the active extender cables are basically a single port powered USB hub built into a cable).

-Jon

[TonyNo]

What about X-10 Powermids, or another IR-to-RF extender system? This is what I will be using.

Tony

[Guest]

I bought a non active 25ft usb cable and this was just too great a distance for it to work good. Then I bought an active 20ft usb extension cable and it worked like a charm. I guess you could do 2-20ft active extensions.

[dwoolridge]

I had a similar situation. I wanted the USB-UIRT to be placed about 35 feet from the controlling computer.

What worked for me:
1) USB Extender (IOGear GUECE50)
2) Powered USB hub (must be powered)

Connect the USB Extender to the PC
Run the CAT5 wire to the location where you want the USB-UIRT
Connect the USB Extender to the in port of the POWERED USB hub
Plug the USB-UIRT into the hub.

The powered hub was required for my setup to work. The distance was just too far for the PC to supply the power for the USB-UIRT over the extender.