...

[Acejam]

...

[Moshi]

I've had a 50 foot USB cable for an open external hard disk before (worst setup ever). Transfer speeds seemed to be about standard for USB 2.0, so I doubt a 20 foot cable for ASICs will be an issue.

[Blazr]

USB speeds won't affect the hashing performance of the ASIC's.

[01BTC10]

USB 2.0 provides for a maximum cable length of 5 meters for devices running at Hi Speed (480 Mbit/s).

The USB 3.0 standard does not directly specify a maximum cable length, requiring only that all cables meet an electrical specification: for copper cabling with AWG 26 wires the maximum practical length is 3 meters (9.8 ft).

5 meters = 16.4042 feet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus

[BlackPrapor]

active USB cable is essentially a USB hub, with 5m cable. You can extend the cable with those multiple times, but not all devices support that kind of setup.

[panda1]

You should be fine with a 15ft/25ft cable.

[SgtSpike]

USB 2.0 provides for a maximum cable length of 5 meters for devices running at Hi Speed (480 Mbit/s).

The USB 3.0 standard does not directly specify a maximum cable length, requiring only that all cables meet an electrical specification: for copper cabling with AWG 26 wires the maximum practical length is 3 meters (9.8 ft).

5 meters = 16.4042 feet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus

Interesting... I always KNEW the limit was 24 feet?

Regardless, I have a little USB webcam I use as a "security camera", and it's on two 10-foot USB extensions without trouble.  I'd say 15-20 feet of USB will be just fine.

[SgtSpike]

Excellent, thanks all for the great replies! Any suggestions on where to buy a longer USB cable? (Online)

monoprice.com

Or, heck, check out bitcoinstore.com and see what they've got?

[Richy_T]

Sounds like the long cable will work for you but if not, there's a few wired solutions you could check out too. My reading on wireless solutions indicated that they were often less-than-satisfactory.

[firefop]

Honestly - anything over 10 or 12 feet isn't going to be ideal.

I don't know if the amount of data being sent between the pc and asic is large enough or time dependent enough to make it "not work"... but I'd go with a wired solution like this:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?seq=1&format=2&p_id=6042&CAWELAID=1329452178&cagpspn=pla&gclid=COmvktrjpLUCFc9_QgodLFEAcQ

usb over cat5.

Now you just need a long network cable and you're done.

[SgtSpike]

Honestly - anything over 10 or 12 feet isn't going to be ideal.

I don't know if the amount of data being sent between the pc and asic is large enough or time dependent enough to make it "not work"... but I'd go with a wired solution like this:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?seq=1&format=2&p_id=6042&CAWELAID=1329452178&cagpspn=pla&gclid=COmvktrjpLUCFc9_QgodLFEAcQ

usb over cat5.

Now you just need a long network cable and you're done.

"Does not support USB 2.0 high speed connections."

Nonetheless, probably a good call.  I'd buy both a long USB cable AND USB over CAT5 adapters.  It's a pittance compared to the money lost if the miner is down for a few days while you wait for a new cable to come in.

[Richy_T]

I was kinda thinking something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/SIIG-ID-DS0512-S1-USB-Over-1PORT/dp/B002C6J9ZW/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_3

But maybe not that actual one. It seems like a reasonable price though.

[Bogart]

I'd go with an active USB repeater cable, and then add a powered hub on the end.

I'm using a setup like that now for my HTPC with a 50ft cable, along with 50ft HDMI, and it's been working great for months now.

I got both the repeater cable and the hub from Newegg.  Rosewill brand, both.

My friend tried the USB-over-cat5 solution and did not have good results.

[Richy_T]

My friend tried the USB-over-cat5 solution and did not have good results.

Agreed. I'm not sure why changing the cable type would increase the range (unless USB is designed to use spectacularly craptacular cables). Though it does knock things down to USB1 levels presumably because of that. The USB over IP avoids that issue but is a little more expensive and requires drivers etc. However, it might mean that you can run the control from anywhere in the world (though you could do the same with VNC or RDP in any case). I don't recall if Mac drivers were available either...

[firefop]

My friend tried the USB-over-cat5 solution and did not have good results.

Agreed. I'm not sure why changing the cable type would increase the range (unless USB is designed to use spectacularly craptacular cables). Though it does knock things down to USB1 levels presumably because of that. The USB over IP avoids that issue but is a little more expensive and requires drivers etc. However, it might mean that you can run the control from anywhere in the world (though you could do the same with VNC or RDP in any case). I don't recall if Mac drivers were available either...

There are some usb 2 solutions that run over cat5/6 - but those run in the $200 range and I'd wonder if it's really needed for this application. I was unable to find any usb3 extenders - as far as future proofing, I'm thinking that the over-ip might be the way to go... at least from a 'reduce the points of failure' perspective.

[Richy_T]

I'm not sure what the details of the controlling software are but one of those Android mini-pcs can be had for $50. Built in wifi. If the control software could be ported to that, you'd be laughing since it could be powered from the USB hub.

[Bogart]

I'm not sure what the details of the controlling software are but one of those Android mini-pcs can be had for $50. Built in wifi. If the control software could be ported to that, you'd be laughing since it could be powered from the USB hub.

At that point you may as well use a WR703N for $25.  I believe you can run cgminer right on it, and connect back to the internets via wifi (or ethernet).  With a USB hub you can connect multiple mining devices.

You can also power the WR703N itself with the USB hub, assuming it's a powered hub.

[Richy_T]

I'm not sure what the details of the controlling software are but one of those Android mini-pcs can be had for $50. Built in wifi. If the control software could be ported to that, you'd be laughing since it could be powered from the USB hub.

At that point you may as well use a WR703N for $25.  I believe you can run cgminer right on it, and connect back to the internets via wifi (or ethernet).  With a USB hub you can connect multiple mining devices.

You can also power the WR703N itself with the USB hub, assuming it's a powered hub.

That's pretty sweet. And following a few links...

http://www.madox.net/blog/2013/01/04/tl-wr703n-example-project-3-wireless-3d-printing-or-2d-printing-or-just-simply-wireless-usb/

I have been searching for things that are similar (but a bit different from this) recently so don't know why I didn't run across it. I guess sometimes, Google-fu can be a little bit too sharp.