Ok what exactly is the deal with USB cables’ length limitations? My printer manual says, in the section talking about connecting it with USB, that I will “need to buy a USB 1.1 compliant cable that is within 3m in length.” (It didn’t come w/ any cables other than power.) Ok, why within 3m?? 3m translates to 9.8 feet if u wanna be exact. But they sell printer AM/BM USB cables up to 15 feet, maybe 16, like this one, for instance. Does that mean I should stay away from it and go with a 10-footer instead? Or is the manual kinda dumb?
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Why is it that usb cables in general can’t be longer than like 16-ish feet, and after that u need those special extension thingies?
The signal can only go so far before needing a kick to get going again. The USB standard is not meant for long runs between equipment like ethernet and fiber optic networking equipment is.
The maximum length for a USB cable is 5 meters, or about 16 ½ feet. In contrast, the maximum length for an ethernet cable is 100 meters, or just under 330 feet. If your printer is going to be a substantial distance from your PC or if you want to share the printer with multiple PCs, you might consider buying an inexpensive print server.
I see. Well my printer is not going to be really far so it’s not a problem. I was just wondering.
So does the signal get noticeably weaker as the cable gets closer to the 15 feet limit? Does that mean that if I get a 15 foot usb cable it’ll be slower than a 10 footer? Will that actually slow down my printer??
[QUOTE=DaRuSsIaMaN]
So does the signal get noticeably weaker as the cable gets closer to the 15 feet limit?
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Yes, that’s why there is a limit.
[QUOTE=DaRuSsIaMaN]
Does that mean that if I get a 15 foot usb cable it’ll be slower than a 10 footer?
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Nope. 15 feet is within USB 1.1 specifications, so it can support the full capacity of the standard.
[QUOTE=DaRuSsIaMaN]
Will that actually slow down my printer??
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Nope. As long as the cable is within technical specifications, it can be up to 5 meters without losing bandwidth.
[QUOTE=sabashuali]
Could a USB hub/switch act as a booster?
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Depends on the hub/switch, but sometimes yeah. Of course, if you want a USB connection longer than spec I recommend using a different technology altogether which is made for such distances, as I suggested earlier.