Multi USB hub problem

[tomato]

I had an Advent 7 port powered 2.0 USB port for Christmas and tried it out last night with limited success. I plugged in the mount, guide camera and main camera, connected up the power supply and ran a single USB lead to the laptop which was back in the kitchen on about 15 metres of cable. It all worked fine for about an hour and then the mount lost comms followed by the camera.

I think the problem may be the lead back to the laptop as I had to make 3 connections to get there, using cables of varying pedigrees.

I have a couple of questions, firstly is this USB fundamentally up to this job, and secondly is joining cables together a no no? 

I was quite pleased with myself for a while but ended up out in the frost again.......

[Pompey Monkey]

15 m of passive USB cable will never work reliably, multiple connections or not. Have you tried an active repeater?

I can't comment on the repeater as I have no experience of it.

[michael8554]

Have a read of the reviews on Amazon for your hub.

When there's more negative comments than positive you have to worry.

Also as Paul says - 5M is the maximum run for a non-active USB cable.

You can buy active 15M cables, which will eliminate multiple USB connections, who knows your hub may be fine with that setup.

For long runs CAT-5 adapters are favoured by some.

Michael

[RT65CB-SWL]

Yes! - 5 meters is the maximum length on a passive USB cable, including the 'quality' ones, irrespective of the port being USB1.0/2.0/3.0 etc. I have 3 metre USB cable for my iPhone and that is not 100% reliable.

[iwols]

15m repeater cable works fine for me,with my powered 4 port hub at the scope end

[cjdawson]

My experience with USB is that anything over 5 meters on a single run starts to cause problems.  Anything longer and active repeaters would be needed to stop signal degradation.

In addition, you don't mention if you are supplying power to your hub.  If you are relying on the USB cable to supply the power, I'd also suggest that you externally power your hub.

This will mean that your camera's etc get a proper stable power supply which can also help.

 

As for daisy chaining Passive USB cables. This is pretty much a no no.  The problem is that every connection will leak signal and voltage.  And USB just isn't designed for this.

[Waldemar]

Personally i do not like to use long USB cables for reasons already mentioned. I like the Icron Ranger solution. It works great with everything you like to transfer over USB.
I have the 2304 and it works flawless. Not cheap, but without any problem and cheaper than a second laptop, and up to 100 meters...: http://www.icron.com/products/icron-brand/usb-extenders/

[iapa]

I have two x 10m Bluerigger active USB 2 cables daisy chained to my 10 port powered hub, prior to this hub I have used Amazon Basic 4 port USB 3 hubs.

Works fine - as long as I remember to plug in the power to the hub.

• BlueRigger Active Extension / Repeater Cable A Male to A Female 10 Meters (1OM) USB 2.0
• Duronic USB10BH BLACK AQUADAM High Speed 480Mbps - 10 Port USB Hub + USB cable + UK mains plug
• AmazonBasics 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub with UK Plug

[tomato]

Thanks to everyone for your replies, and a pretty clear picture of where I'm going wrong. The hub is powered so that is worth persevering with, I have had a look at these repeater/active cables, (never knew they existed, isn't SGL great?), the BlueRigger gets good reviews.

[tomato]

After a long layoff finally got to try out a BlueRigger cable with my powered multi USB hub tonight. Ran the mount, and 2 cameras for 2+ hours, never missed a beat and I get to monitor everything sitting in the kitchen!

A satisfied customer 

[iapa]

18 hours ago, tomato said:

After a long layoff finally got to try out a BlueRigger cable with my powered multi USB hub tonight. Ran the mount, and 2 cameras for 2+ hours, never missed a beat and I get to monitor everything sitting in the kitchen!

A satisfied customer 

glad to hear it worked for you.

 

I have found, since my last, that you cannot daisy chain any pair (well of the 6 that I have).

I only have two combinations (or pairs) that work

cable 1 &5 work together, as for 3&4

but no other pair seems to work satisfactorily.

Will do some more digging on that