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I was recently invited to watch a test at the company’s outdoor range. Among the interesting gadgets was a rolling server rack that was stuffed with all kinds of controllers for diagnostic sensors. The sensors were tied into a server which was controlled with a Rackmount Monitor that slid out of the rack on a set of rails. I have seen Rack mount Monitors before, but they were always in server rooms.

A USB extender is a device that allows you to put significant distance between a computer and the USB device. In fact, some USB over Cat5 extenders will allow you to locate a USB device in a room as far away as 330 feet from the host computer. This means you can get rid of all the clutter on your desk or secure USB devices in a separate room out of sight from curiosity. When you purchase a USB device it is packaged with a short USB cord, typically 3 feet. You can purchase longer cords, but signal transmissions degrade after 15 feet using a USB cable. You use a USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 Extender to get beyond that limitation. Some of these extenders support multiple connections as they have a built in hub on the remote receiver unit.

Different Model Types

• USB 2.0 Repeater Cable 5 Meters

• USB 2.0 Repeater Cable 12 Meters

• USB over Cat5e/6 Cable single Port up to 150ft

• Cat5 USB extension up to 150ft

• Cat5 USB extension with Four Port USB Hub on Remote Unit

• USB extender over Cat5e/6 cable four port up to 150ft

• Cat5e/Cat6 USB extension with four Port USB Hub on local unit

• Cat5e/Cat6 USB extender with four port USB Hub on Local and Remote Unit

• 4 Port USB 2.0 over IP Server

• USB 2.0 Extension up to 330ft

• USB DVI extender over Cat6 STP Cable up to 275ft

• Icron USB Ranger 2201

• Icron USB Ranger 2101 Extender

• Icron USB Ranger 2204

• Icron USB 2.0 Ranger 2104

• Icron USB 2.0 Ranger 2212

• USB KVM Extender over CAT5/6 Cable up to 984 ft

• Icron USB 2.0 Ranger 2224 Multimode Fiber Extender up to 1640 ft

• Icron USB Ranger 2244 Single-mode Fiber Extender

Benefits of Using a USB Extender

Love your USB devices, but dislike having them all over your work area. Or perhaps you have a new USB device, but have to connect and disconnect another piece of USB-based hardware because you’ve used all the USB ports on your PC. Use a USB extender to distance the USB devices from your computer and even connect multiple devices to a USB 2.0 Extender with multiple ports. • Send your USB signals up to 330 or longer using a USB 2.0 Extension solution • Use it to connect your PC, DVD player, or other video source to an HDTV, or a plasma or LCD screen • Secure USB hardware in a different location away from the work environment • USB over Cat5 extenders are compatible across all computer operating systems so you won’t have to worry about incompatibility issues • Plug and play functionality • Wide range of applications including digital home connectivity, industrial automation, medical imaging, aerospace, interactive digital signage, remote desktop extension, security and surveillance, enterprise computing, isolated USB, and point-of-sale markets, or anywhere where a PC needs to be remotely located from a display or peripheral device.

What to look for when purchasing a USB extender

There are a few things to consider and look for before you buy a USB Extension solution 1. Will you connect one device or multiple devices? A single port USB extension does not require external power. Multi-port USB extenders do require a power source. They come with a power supply, but you will need a power source near to the device. 2. How far will the target device need to be located from the host computer? 3. If you are planning on a connection further than 330 feet then you need to look at a device that supports fiber optic cable connections 4. Don’t forget to consider the support for your purchase. Will you be able to talk to someone if you have questions?

Have more Questions?

While working on my laptop today I was starting to become annoyed by the size of the screen. I decided to hook it up to the 20” LCD I have for my wife’s desktop computer, but was really frustrated trying to get the cable disconnected from the back of her computer. That’s when I started looking for something I remembered using at my last job. In the accounting department of my previous employer we had VGA Switches for the entire accounting department. Because we wanted the accounting machines to be as secure as possible, the accounting computers were sequestered on their own network with no outside access. A video switch is what we needed.