75' long usb cable

[huggytree]

I mean USB

I got a new computer and moved my office into the basement...i want to be able to print from my old computer upstairs to the printer in the basement..

its about 60' away..cant find a 75'er on the internet..

i figure one of the computer people will know exactly where to find one??

[billbenson]

How long of a cable can I use to connect my device?
A1: In practice, the USB specification limits the length of a cable between full speed devices to 5 meters (a little under 16 feet 5 inches). For a low speed device the limit is 3 meters (9 feet 10 inches).

A lot of printers have ethernet connections these days. If your's has one, you can easily run one from your router to your printer. Ebay sometimes has cheap cables.

If you have the space, you might find a second printer is the least expensive solution. Cheap printers are just that; cheap. But for occasional printing they work fine.

[vangogh]

I'd recommend a wireless solution. What I have here is my internet connection comes into the house and it's connected to a wireless router. Peripherals like a printer are plugged into the router and my computer connects wireless to the router and then to the peripherals.

Depending on how you have everything else set up you may need to wireless access points, one in your office and one near the old printer. The modem for your internet connection may already have a wireless router built in, but if not you can buy one anywhere from $50 to $100. They aren't that hard to set up and it will enable you to keep computer stuff anywhere in the house.

With cables, the longer the cable, the worse things travel along it, because of the increased resistance.

[Harold Mansfield]

I'd recommend a wireless set up as well. I've never seen a USN that long...not saying it doesn't exist. I have a 10 ft one myself..I suppose you could run a series of connectors with 3 or 4 long cables, but by the time you do that you would have been better off either purchasing a cheap $49 black and white document printer, or a $5 flash drive to just plug in and print at the other printer...since you have to walk there to get the printed docs anyway.

[billbenson]

While a wireless connection may be the best solution in Huggys situatily, it's worth mentioning that wired connections are almost always a better connection (faster, fewer data errors, not affected by concrete or steel walls - or even sheetrock). If I was building a new house I'd run ethernet or fiber everywhere.

[vangogh]

True the wired connection is going to be faster, etc. however in this case since it's only a printer a slower connection shouldn't make a difference. That would be more important if you were wirelessly connecting to a hard drive and had to move files back and forth. With a printer you send the info and may not even check the printer for awhile.

[nealrm]

If you are going with wireless - go with N-band. We are getting a rate of 250-260 Mbps with ours. That connection is line of site. When you start putting walls in the middle it does drop to around 150 Mbps. Some of the units also come with 1G hardwire connections for those who want more speed.

[huggytree]

thanks for the advice...

[Bill Slawski]

USB connections were intended to be used in a desktop environment, and because of that they were designed so that the longest cable you could use would be about 5 meters, or roughly 16 feet.

But, there are USB extension or repeater cables which allow you to string together multiple USB extension cables. These extension cables contain a small booster in them which reads and re-sends the signal. From what I've read, the maximum length that you can string together using these repeater cables is 80 feet.

That would be long enough for you, but you may want to consider a wireless approach if you can.

[Evan]

You could buy a cheap laser printer for $50... Color inkjet for about the same. I'd say buying another printer is going to be far cheaper than most of the solutions mentioned.

Or you could save ALL of that money and just move the printer. When you need to print something, just e-mail it to yourself and download it there. Figure out where you print the most.

[nighthawk]

As mentioned, USB was never intended for transmitting data over long distances, the best you will get is a few metres. Even if you did string a few together, the printer will only have a single USB port on the back, meaning it can only be connected to one machine at a time. You would need to go downstairs and swap the connection before you could print.

Your best options are to set up a network, either wired or wireless. Your printer may be able to connect directly into the network, if not, you can connect it to the PC downstairs, and then share the printer across the network. The disadvantage of this is you need to leave the PC it is connected to running all the time.

If you dont have a home network, then it is definately worth setting one up, as you will gain far more benefits other than just sharing a printer, such as being able to transfer files easily between machines, share a single network connection etc.

[Harold Mansfield]

I'm really curious as to how this turned out. Did you rig up a 75' USB cord ?
Does it work ?

[huggytree]

no one sells a 75' cord

im just going to buy a 2nd printer...its the only thing that makes sense.

[orion_joel]

If it is feasible another option is looking at a Broadband Router, that has a USB print server built in. Unsure on pricing for this sort of thing in the states. But do seem to do the job.