USB printer cable...how long can I go?

[Appleby]

I've got a customer who has a very cluttered home office and he had cobbled together several USB cords connecting them via 1 or 2 USB hubs and it connects his desktop pc to his large plotter (big HP printer for printing blueprints). He wants to get rid of all the cords dangling from desk to desk and go with one long USB cable and run it around the outside edge of his office. We need a 25+ft cable. I've used a 15ft cable with no problems before and I've found a 33ft cable on Monoprice.com but from what I've read, the max a USB cable should be is between 9 and 16ft depending on the device.

Any thoughts here? Should I buy the long cable and give it a whirl? Would using a hub in the middle of the run and just connecting two 15ft cables solve this problem? Thoughts?

 

[Avgsmoe]

5 meters is standard. They make extenders for non-powered devices that I've used without complaint, but they are expensive.

 

[AdamsAPlus]

Are you talking about running a 25ft cable and then putting a hub on the end of it?

If that is what you are saying then I would recommend against it. I would think it would be way to long. Maybe a 25ft cable for one non-powered device would work but other than that I wouldn't use a USB cable that long. Is there any way to get his computer closer to the devices or can the plotter be hooked up through a network? If the plotter can be hooked up with a CAT5 cable then that is the way to go.

 

[Martyn]

Are you talking about running a 25ft cable and then putting a hub on the end of it?

If that is what you are saying then I would recommend against it. I would think it would be way to long. Maybe a 25ft cable for one non-powered device would work but other than that I wouldn't use a USB cable that long. Is there any way to get his computer closer to the devices or can the plotter be hooked up through a network? If the plotter can be hooked up with a CAT5 cable then that is the way to go.

Yes correct most plotters have Ethernet built in. Ive seen the same, people struggling with USB and trying to share it when all along it had an unused Ethernet port

 

[Onouris]

Wireless print server? (if it doesn't have Ethernet port)

 

[Avgsmoe]

The problem with long USB cables isn't the power. It's the timing...

 

[Appleby]

It's an older plotter with no network jack. USB is the only option.

It's not "powering" anything (like a card reader etc), it's just a communication cable. And the timing as AVG mentioned is what I figured was the concern.

Currently it's working perfectly with about 15-20ft of cables but like I said they are daisy chained together with a couple hubs. My thoughts were either 1 long cable or two 15ft cables with a hub in the middle.

The wireless print server would work but this guy is older, has cancer and can't get around that well. He needs everything to work flawlessly and as easily as possible. I have print servers in both my home and office and they work well most of the time but I have had some glitches before and I'm trying to avoid that with his setup.

Also, he has no easy way to get an ethernet cable over to the plotter either, so I'd have to make a long run around the room and still buy a print server for him. He doesn't have wireless, so a true wireless print server would mean changing out the router also. That is alot of expense just to eliminate a few cords. That's why I was hoping one long USB cable would solve the problem or if not, two cables connected in the middle with a hub.

 

[ekrizon]

I am 99% sure that if you went with that outrageously long usb cable you will have all sorts of communication issues. The hubs are whats enabling him to get such distance at the moment.

 

[Appleby]

I am 99% sure that if you went with that outrageously long usb cable you will have all sorts of communication issues. The hubs are whats enabling him to get such distance at the moment.

But what if I use a hub in the middle of my run and keep the 2 cables to 15ft or under?

 

[Bryce W]

Your best bet is a USB Network/print server. They are usually little devices with USB on one end and RJ-45 on the other. Google for "usb network server" or "USB over network" or "usb print server". There are wireless versions of these if getting a cable over the the plotter is problem.

It would also be possible to get a crappy PC, plug the USB into that and share the printer over the network, but that way is a little more rough. Do not daisy chain USB cables or try to get a really long one.

 

[mkeathley]

Using the hub may work yes. If your only options are that long cable or daisy chain go with the daisy.
But I like the others can just see that being a problem. I think the print server would be a much better solution. I understand you need realibility and I think it would be more reliable than the hub in the middle approach.

If yoru worried about reliablity on the print server, try using the Parallel port print server. a lot less to go wrong there and dont need special software.

 

[NeutronTech]

Getting an ethernet cable over to the printer can't be that difficult if your going to be running a USB cable over there. If your wrapping the room anyways, might as well wrap it in cat5 and get a wired printserver.

 

[red12049]

Using the hub may work yes. If your only options are that long cable or daisy chain go with the daisy.
But I like the others can just see that being a problem. I think the print server would be a much better solution. I understand you need realibility and I think it would be more reliable than the hub in the middle approach.

If yoru worried about reliablity on the print server, try using the Parallel port print server. a lot less to go wrong there and dont need special software.

What good would a PP print server do for a printer that has no PP?

Rick

 

[NeutronTech]

What good would a PP print server do for a printer that has no PP?

Rick

It's an older plotter. It's got a fair chance at having one.

 

[Appleby]

Thanks guy, I guess I'll go with the print server. As I said, I use them myself, but I've had a few hiccups here and there with them and I was just trying to make this 100% reliable for the customer because of his age, health and lack of pc knowledge.

I'll stay away from the long cables and hubs I guess. Thanks for the help.

 

[Appleby]

Oh wait...why can't I just use a long parallel cable, assuming his pc has a parallel port on it? I just did a quick search and saw info saying that 30ft parallel cables and under are not a problem.

Bad idea too?

 

[ZenTree]

You can get usb to ethernet converters, we have used them to bypass this in the past.



Printer --- Usb --- ethernet adapter --- LONG ethernet cable --- ethernet adapter to usb -- usb -- computer


And they were pretty cheap as well.

 

[Kitten Kong]

If you cannot get the network cable over to the plotter etc, how about a powerline adapter?

They go straight into the mains plug socket, with a ca5 cable into that, and then into the pc, and or printer.

I never heard of them before a few weeks ago, when a client mentioned it to me. He didnt want a cat5 all over the house, drilled through walls etc, so bought the powerline adapter, and I have to say it works flawlessly.

 

[ZenTree]

If you cannot get the network cable over to the plotter etc, how about a powerline adapter?

They go straight into the mains plug socket, with a ca5 cable into that, and then into the pc, and or printer.

I never heard of them before a few weeks ago, when a client mentioned it to me. He didnt want a cat5 all over the house, drilled through walls etc, so bought the powerline adapter, and I have to say it works flawlessly.

They rock and are incredibly cheap now as well.

 

[Graystar]

My experience with long USB cables has been very bad in a couple of different instances.

Last year I had a long USB run to a Laser Printer in an Attorney's home office driving me nuts! I had bought a 16ft USB cable and it appeared to work. till one evening when he desperately needed to print a 30 page document. it would print a few pages and then would fail.

I tried a lot of the above listed USB options, a powered hub etc... none of which gave me a long term viable solution. it would work during testing and then fail at some random point.

The final answer was the most expensive one (isn't it always the case) install a switch and run a dedicated Ethernet cable to the Printer, use a good quality print server (the cheap-o's lose their IP addressing for some unknown reason) and set it on the network.
Never heard a peep out of him since then.