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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: dotancohen on Sat, 12 May 2012, 07:28:30

Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: dotancohen on Sat, 12 May 2012, 07:28:30: I'm thinking about moving the monitor and input devices to another room for a few hours a day when I work at home. 20 meter VGA cables are reasonably priced, but USB cables seem to be more problematic. Does anywone here have experience with any type of 20 meter USB extension? I'm looking at these products right now, but I am open to other suggestions or advice:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/EXTENTION-RECEIVE-REPEATER-EXTENSION-SATISIFED/dp/B001GU0WJM
http://www.amazon.com/PTC-Meters-Extension-Repeater-Supports/dp/B0040IASMS
http://www.ramelectronics.net/audio-video/wallplates-a-v/keystone-jack-inserts-plates/keystone-jack-inserts/usb-cat5-cable-extender-72-125k-s-2/prod72125KS2.html
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030304&p_id=6042&seq=1&format=2

Thanks.
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: JoeC on Sat, 12 May 2012, 14:33:12: Input lag maybe?
Ripster's got something in his forum about USB and it's wonders and limitations. http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?29604-Ripster-Answers-Do-Gold-USB-Connectors-REALLY-Matter
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: Maarten on Sat, 12 May 2012, 15:17:40: You might wanna invest in a decent hub that has a separate power supply and use only one of those looong USB cables cuz at those lengths your voltage will get messed up on high power devices so a proper voltage supply of some sorts will not be a luxury (and i think those boosters they put in those cables will seriously limit the power you can actually draw at the working end).
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: captain on Sat, 12 May 2012, 16:25:51: You can extend your USB by running it over cat5 http://www.networktechinc.com/usbc5.html

The quality drop of running a long, analog, VGA drop is gonna kill you though. I suggest running the video over DVI/HDMI.

But really, the way to go is VNC. :-)
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: dotancohen on Sun, 13 May 2012, 03:47:34: @JoeC: I understand the issue about input lag, especially with the rodent. I can live with a bit of keyboard lag, I already spend hours per day in SSH sessions!

@Maarten: Thanks, I think that you are correct about the hub.

@captain: Thank you, you are probably right about the digital signal. Thanks. As for VNC, that would require another running computer, which I am trying to avoid.
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: captain on Sun, 13 May 2012, 05:07:55: Ok, then use that cat5-USB extender, and DVI/HDMI, and you should be golden. FYI, HDMI length specs are funky, but 15m should be doable. Check out: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/how-long-can-hdmi-run.htm
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: dotancohen on Sun, 13 May 2012, 07:14:50: Seeing how I don't have any HDMI monitors, and I don't want to screw around with an HDMI dependancy in Linux, how about these little devices:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Raritan-Paragon-II-P2CIM-PS2-KVM-Extender-Computer-Interface-Module-Adapter-NEW-/370579958959?pt=US_KVM_Switches_KVM_Cables&hash=item5648496caf
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Avocent-AMIQ-PS2-PS2-KVM-Extender-Interface-Module-NEW-CAT5-VGA-500-149-001-/120786477105?pt=UK_Computing_KVM_Switches_KVM_Cables&hash=item1c1f6f6031
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: captain on Sat, 19 May 2012, 22:41:58: Looks like the same cheap, crappy, connectors I bought from some Chinese. Life is too short to drink cheap liquor or to buy cheap crap. YMMV. Let us know how it works! :-)
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: dotancohen on Sun, 20 May 2012, 01:01:32: Thanks, captain. It seems that there is no bridge between the $10 solutions and the $200 solutions.
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: captain on Sun, 20 May 2012, 01:25:02: I don't understand why you don't want to run HDMI/DVI. Running digital video obviates most of the problems of long video runs, at least until you hit the real boundary, and then it just won't work at all. You mentioned unix drivers, but that shouldn't matter, unless you have some ancient video card that doesn't have digital out. Even so, they are cheap, and fully supported in most OSes. Just check the support in your OS before you get a new card.

I know I was kind of harsh about cheap crap, but if it's 1/20th the price, maybe it's worth a gamble. My USB-PS/2 adapters that look like they came from the same Chinese company turned out to not work, so that was a waste of $5 for me, but the blue cube delivery time was 5x as long, so it was worth a shot. What I really mean about not buying cheap crap is not to buy the stuff that seems to work, but introduces ghosts into the machine. Troubleshooting computers is the bane of my existence! ;-)
Title: USB extenders for keyboard and rodent
Post by: dotancohen on Sun, 20 May 2012, 02:14:31: I actually intend to run DVI after the point was brought up. My desktop and the monitor both support DVI.