Printer connection - 8 metre USB cable?

daz87uk · 25 Jun 2010 at 00:14

Hi guys, at my work we are having a new office room built and I have this issue with connecting our printers. It needs to be placed away from the pc, and requires 8 metres of cable. The two printers in question are only usb, so what options do I have here regarding Cat 5 to usb. or any other means of connectivity. :confused:

Regards,

Darren

s452 · 25 Jun 2010 at 03:01

print server or a pc near the printer an option?

Tealc · 25 Jun 2010 at 09:31

I use a cat5 to USB connector that I got from the bay which does the job ok. I do have an issue sharing two printers on the line but that could be due to poundland USB hubs I use.

The max USB cable length is 5m so I'm also wondering if a hub half way would allow it to work. You'd need quite a few usb extension cables though.

K.C. Leblanc · 25 Jun 2010 at 09:53

Tealc said:
The max USB cable length is 5m so I'm also wondering if a hub half way would allow it to work. You'd need quite a few usb extension cables though.

You can get "powered" usb extensions which can be daisy chanined (they're usualy only 5 meters long). They however have chunky connectors at one end which makes putting them in trunking a pain.

The USB to Cat 5 is probably the best solution. I've used these in a couple of situations (including one where 3 daisy chained power USB extentions didn't work), and they've worked very well.

The Deuce · 25 Jun 2010 at 13:35

is a wireless printer not an option?

daz87uk · 25 Jun 2010 at 23:40

Thanks guys sorry for the late reply been busy at work

, no the boss is tight with his money lol and any option that includes some cheap cat5 and a £5 adapter will keep him happy

I wasn't sure how well or at all having one of those adapters each end into a printer would work. but if it does I think I will just make up some cat5 and use the adapters

zom247 · 17 Jul 2010 at 08:19

I need to connect my printer at home and a 5m cable is just too short to connect. I've got loads of cat5 cable so this sounds ideal but looking at the extenders both usb connections are A when I need a B to connect to the printer. Any ideas?

Tealc · 17 Jul 2010 at 10:04

You plug the printer's A to B lead into the cat5 adapter's USB female end or into a USB hub if you want to serve more than one device.

zom247 · 17 Jul 2010 at 10:27

Tealc said:
You plug the printer's A to B lead into the cat5 adapter's USB female end or into a USB hub if you want to serve more than one device.

Ok, when I had a quick look on the net the ones I saw both had male connections at the end. I'll have another look later on.