Really long USB cable

[Jobos]

I've been asked to fit an old Promethean Activeboard in the hall that at the moment has just got a projector and screen. Shouldn't be a problem only the computer is 14m away from were the board will be!

 

The standard USB cable limit is 5m so I've looked at using an active extension https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BLPSVZS/ref=psdc_1338421031_t1_B015LIU38Y

 

Has anyone used these successfully with an Activeboard?

[bald_pig]

We've had problems with cables more than a couple of metres long, Activboards are extremely sensitive with USB cable length.

[LeMarchand]

I've used something similar, but not with an ActivBoard. The first one I had was fine at first, but started to get erratic. The second (BlueRigger) is still fine 3 years later, but if Activ are as sensitive as @bald_pig says I'd hesitate to recommend.

 

P.S. You probably don't need USB 3, but the pics say 2 and the description 3.

[mikeprice]

Plus 1 for activ Boards being fussy about usb - I have seen that a couple of times

 

Only answer is probably to try it and see what happens

[steve]

We used to use Lindy active USB extensions without any issues:

 

https://www.lindy.co.uk/cables-adapters-c1/usb-c449/usb-extension-c1505

[Meldrew]

Agreed for these boards not wanting any extension of the USB cable.

[DSapseid]

Not activboards but in the past i have had smartboards working over cat5 usb extenders at 20m worked fine with no issues at all.

[Canters]

I've used a 3M usb extension on the original 5M cables on several boards here without issue...except a few years ago when I found a teacher had plugged it into an unpowered usb splitter.

[Katy]

We use USB1.1 extenders over cat5 for about 90% of our Promethean installs (mixture of ancient boards and 5 year old board). For some reason they seem more reliable than the USB2 ones (although if you have a newer board and want the sound to work over USB - it's awful over a USB1.1 extender)

 

Edit: When using these we keep the USB sections as short as possible - 50cm USB cable from board to adapter, then the PC end the adapter has its own 10cm cable which plugs into the PC.

Edited June 26, 2018 by Katy

[AlanD]

Timing and signal timing limitations means that usb operates up to 5m .....you could use powered usb extensions...but I have seen timing problems with promethean boards using such extensions....

[vikpaw]

Could you move the computer and use a better extension for that, e.g. power / network etc. ?

[Ozone]

We also had problems with the active extensions so in stead switched to USB over cat5 for a long runs and that's worked perfectly since.

[SamanthaD]

All of our old SMARTboards had Lindy Cat5 extenders on them, all have failed.

 

We're now installing Lindys 15m active USB A to B cable (not an extension) to our touchscreens (we've dropped SMART now) - hopefully these will last a lot longer!

[Jobos]

Thanks for the replies. We have decided to give USB over CAT5 a try over the summer then if it fails we can use the adaptors elsewhere.

[dapaulio]

Having a bit of experience with X over cat 5, I would like to offer advice based on my experience. Meter mark the cat 5 with coloured tape it makes for easy identification when clustered with all the other cables when trying to diagnose a problem, not limited to the x over cat 5. Eg you may be identifying a problem with any one of the other cat 5 cables.