USB connections, lead length?

[Jem Berkes]

I'm in the process of building some custom hardware (personal, nothing
industrial) and need to locate some USB ports in various spots. Does anyone
know who short I should keep the data- and data+ leads for each port? I
recall that even the PC parallel port did at least 60 feet, so the serial
bus can probably handle longer?

 

[Ian Stirling]

I'm in the process of building some custom hardware (personal, nothing
industrial) and need to locate some USB ports in various spots. Does anyone
know who short I should keep the data- and data+ leads for each port? I
recall that even the PC parallel port did at least 60 feet, so the serial
bus can probably handle longer?

Nope.
5m or so is around the longest that is specified.
A little longer will probably work, but for significantly longer
you need an active cable.

 

[Peter Bennett]

I'm in the process of building some custom hardware (personal, nothing
industrial) and need to locate some USB ports in various spots. Does anyone
know who short I should keep the data- and data+ leads for each port? I
recall that even the PC parallel port did at least 60 feet, so the serial
bus can probably handle longer?

The official maximum length for USB is 5 metres (16.5 ft). This can
be extended somewhat by placing a hub every 5 metres. (I don't know
the maximum number of segments.)

 

[Rob Judd]

If you want those sorts of lengths, use RS-485.

Rob

 

[Chris Hodges]

The official maximum length for USB is 5 metres (16.5 ft). This can
be extended somewhat by placing a hub every 5 metres. (I don't know
the maximum number of segments.)

6 segments leading to 30m (5 hubs). This then gives a logical
structure of 8 devices in the chain: Host controller-Root
Hub-[Hub*5]-Device. 8 tends to suggest a hard limit to me.

Chris