USB Extension cable for external drives & KBM switch

[Justnotsleeping]

Hi,

I've been reorganising my PC gaming and home working setup room, so I have moved my desk & monitor to the other side of the room to where the PC tower is on a shelf. I have a 10m display port cable so that side of things is file, but the other thing to consider are my USB devices.

I have a powered 7 port USB hub on the desk which I plan to use to plug in any USB sticks or external storage drives in, as well as the USB cableb for my KBM switch and desktop speakers. So in theory fairly straightforward but I have a quick question about the USB extension cable I need to buy.

I need between 7-8m USB cable, so if I just buy a standard 10m USB 3.0/3.1 extension cable to run from the PC to the powered hub on my desk, will that do the job ok?

Thanks

 

[LuckyBenski]

This is a big YMMV:

- Maximum recommended length for USB 3 is 2-3 metres
- A passive keyboard or mouse won't need much power so is likely to be tolerant of long cables but anything needing power, less simple
- USB hard drives draw serious power (relative to a flash drive or mouse)
- If the speakers are not powered they'll draw a lot of current too. Is this a USB sound device or actual speaker power?
- Multiple devices just adds to the overall risk of power issues with cable length

I'd suggest a couple of solutions, try in this order:

1. A powered hub on the end of the USB extension. This way you're only reliant on USB data working over long cables, but power isn't the issue. This will require a mains power source wherever your hub will be i.e. where you sit.

2. Active USB cable. Will cost more and not guaranteed to solve the problem, but might be your only option.

7-8 metres is a long distance for USB 3. If you only need USB 2 for keyboards and mice etc then that's more likely to work.

Edit: Just seen you already have a powered hub. So it's more or less down t how reliable the long USB 3 cable is. Still YMMV, give yourself a chance by buying the best cable you can. Again though, is USB 2 an option?

 

[Justnotsleeping]

Thanks for the suggestions,
I suppose USB 2 could be an option, the only downside to this would be the data transfer rate from 5Gbits to 480Mbs, but in reality for backing up things USB sticks and hardware drives, i guess that's not going to be big concern.

The speakers are just a pair of little Creative Pebble with subwoofer under desk. Not great and I guess they don't use much power but i use when I dont want to use a headset.