How to make an active USB extender. Homemade USB extension cable on a stand. Attaching the USB socket to the network cable

I have to travel very often on business trips, so I try to take the Internet with me. Of course, it’s good when the hotel has wi-fi or a normal 3G signal for a USB modem, but it’s not always available in the room, then a 5-6 meter twisted-pair USB extension cable will come to the rescue.

Preparatory stage: Having looked in a pile of household rubbish, I found a burnt motherboard from which I carefully removed the USB socket with a soldering gun and a piece of cable with a USB plug at the end, left over from previous experiments.

Bad experience assembling an extension cord: At first, I tried to connect the USB connectors with a five-meter piece of audio-video cable, but when I inserted the modem, the window “said” that the device was not working properly. The most interesting thing is that the printer worked quite normally.

Attempt number 2.

USB twisted pair extension cable

To assemble an extension cord with my own hands, I decided to use twisted pair, especially since I had a lot of Ethernet cable left over from the time I installed local networks. Unfortunately, the network cables were without protective shields and had four twisted pairs in plastic insulation. To transmit signal and power according to the USB 2.0 standard, over a distance of up to five meters, you can use only two twisted pairs. However, in the case of a 10-meter extension cord, it is better to run the power over two or three twisted pairs.

You can read about the pinout of USB plugs and sockets here. To transmit data (+Data and –Data), you can take any of the available twisted pairs.

For power supply, you can take one or all of the remaining twisted pairs connected in parallel.

We attach the USB socket to a hard Ethernet cable. First, we isolate the contacts from the rear and bottom walls of the case. Then, using sewing thread, we attach a piece of PVC tube or cambric to the cable. Fix the end of the thread with molten rosin or glue. We make 2 longitudinal cuts on the cambric and insulation. The resulting “petals” should look like a cross. Solder the ends of the twisted pairs to the desired pins. We attach the “petals” to the socket body with threads. We fix the end of the thread. At the end of the operation, you can decorate the USB socket by putting on a heat-shrinkable tube.

To add more rigidity, you can wrap copper wire around the edge of the cable. Then solder its ends to the side walls of the socket and cover the joint with low-temperature hot-melt adhesive, and only then heat-shrink it.

Connecting two cables. We cut the ends of the cable and the section with the plug to different lengths to avoid shorting the wires. To reduce the load at the connection point, I put the insulation of the network cable on the section with the plug. The final connection and giving the appropriate appearance is done using heat shrink of a suitable size.

The result of the work can be seen in the top photo.

If you assemble a USB extension cable with a length of more than 10-15 meters without additional power with your own hands, the device connected through it will work unstably. Therefore, it is necessary to use a version of the extension cord circuit with external power supply. That is, to the red wire (+5V) you need to apply +5V from an external power source, to the black wire, connect “-”.

This version of the circuit is fully operational at distances up to 15 meters.

How to choose a USB extension cable?

Section: Technology and electronics

And so, we have a task - to buy a USB extension cable. Let’s say right away that choosing the right one for such a seemingly complex subject is very easy. The main thing is to know the nuances of this choice. Do you want to solve the given problem with “five” marks? Read the article to the end on TutKnow.ru!

First, let's determine why a USB extension cable is needed?

Firstly, let’s say right away that this extension cord is not just a cord, but a whole device capable of moving a port to various distances, for example, between a computer and an external HDD. Are you familiar with the situation when you need to connect a flash drive to a USB port on the back of your PC? Have you encountered a short web camera cord? In the first case, you would have to crawl under the table both when connecting and disconnecting the flash drive. I think such situations arose often.

Making a USB extension cable for a 3G/4G modem

If you use a modem to access the Network, then having a USB extension cable will allow you to strengthen the signal by placing the modem, for example, near a curtain rod. In all such cases, a USB extension cable is the solution to the problem.

I think that a USB extension cable is a really necessary thing, you are convinced. Then all that remains is determine the criteria for its selection.
The only important criterion for choosing a USB extension cable is its length. In other words, that’s all it says on the packaging. When purchasing such a device, determine in advance the required length of the extension cord. Have you determined? Choose a device model with exactly this length or something close to it, but no longer. Choosing “future-proof” will mean throwing away the extension cord you already bought and buying a new one. Why is that? There are such concepts as attenuation. The longer the wire, the higher the attenuation and the lower the data transfer rate. Simply put, in terms of data transfer speed, a meter extension cable will exceed a six and even more so an eight-meter one.

There is also active usb extender, its advantage over the usual one is that it has a built-in USB transceiver, thanks to which it does not reduce the data transmission signal. Such a cable will cost significantly more than a regular one.

That's all! Even if very little is said, it is exactly to the point. All you have to do is find out how long this extension cord is needed and go to a specialized store and buy a USB extension cord. Good luck with your choice!

Tips to help you choose a USB extension cable. What is it for? What is this active USB extension cable and how does it differ from a regular one and what should you pay attention to when purchasing.

DIY USB extension cable made from twisted pair

High speed connections
Currently, two highly #
high-speed devices with serial bus: USB and IEEE
1394, also called i.Link
or FireWire. These high speed communication ports are different from standard ones
parallel and serial ports installed in most modern computers
Pewters, with more opportunities. The advantage of the new ports is that
they can be used as an alternative to SCSI for high-speed connections from peripherals
peripheral devices, as well as connect to them all types of external peripheral devices#
properties (i.e. in this case an attempt was made to combine input/output devices).
Why do you need a serial connection?
A new direction in the development of high-speed peripheral buses is
use of sequential architecture.

USB extension cable over twisted pair is an interesting but useless device

To transmit information in parallel
architectures where bits are transmitted simultaneously require lines having 8, 16 or more
wires It can be assumed that at the same time, through a parallel channel, #
more data is transmitted than through serial, but actually increases the throughput#
The ability of a serial connection is much easier than that of a parallel connection.

The serial bus allows 1 bit of data to be transmitted at a time. Thanks to
The absence of delays during data transfer significantly increases the clock frequency.
For example, the maximum data transfer rate of the EPP/ECP parallel port has reached#
2 MB/s, while the IEEE#1394 ports (which use high-speed
serial technology) support data transfer rates of 400 Mbit/s
(about 50 MB/s), i.e. 25 times higher. Data transfer speed of modern interfaces
IEEE#1394b (FireWire 800) reaches 800 Mbps (or about 100 MB/s), which is 50 times faster#
Increases parallel port transfer speed! Finally, interface performance
USB 2.0 reaches 480 Mbps (about 60 MB/s).
Another advantage of the serial data transfer method is the ability
using only one # or two wire channel, so the interference that occurs when
transmission are very small, which cannot be said about a parallel connection.
The cost of parallel cables is quite high, since the wires designed
for parallel transmission, are not only used in large quantities, but also specially#
carefully placed to prevent interference, which is very difficult#
intensive and expensive process. Serial data cables, on the other hand,
very cheap, as they consist of several wires and require shielding
much lower than those used for parallel connections.
That is why, and also taking into account the requirements of the external peripheral interface
Plug and Play and the need to eliminate the physical clutter of ports in a portable
computers, these two high-speed serial buses were developed,
already in use today. Despite the fact that the IEEE 1394 bus was originally intended
Designed for highly specialized use (for example, with DV video cameras),
it is currently used with other devices, such as professional
digital scanners and external hard drives.

Table 8.4. Dependence of the maximum cable length on the resistivity of the wires
Thickness, mm Resistivity, Ohm/m Length (max.), m
28 0,232 0,81
26 0,145 1,31
24 0,091 2,08
22 0,057 3,33
20 0,036 5,00

Parallel connection has a number of disadvantages, one of which is phase
New signal shift, which limits the length of parallel channels, such as SCSI
(should not exceed 3 m). The problem is that although 8# and 16#bit data are simultaneously#
but are sent by the transmitter, due to delays some bits arrive at the receiver earlier
others. Therefore, the longer the cable, the longer the delay time between the first and second #
the last bits to arrive at the receiving end.

http://www.megalib.com/books/1617/part.pdf

Good day to all DIYers. As usual, nowadays most people use personal computers, but there is one small problem: sometimes the USB connectors are awkward to reach or they are located on the back side. I thought about it and decided that the best solution would be to make a USB extender.

To make such an extension cord we will need:
* Wood saw
* Hand jigsaw
* Round file
* 2 pcs self-tapping screws
* Crosshead screwdriver
* Old USB extension cable
* Board 4 cm thick
* Thin board 1.5 cm thick
* Sandpaper
* Soldering iron.

The first step is to cut out a stand from a board 4 cm thick. Measuring 4 cm from the edge of the board, draw a straight line, making the width 8 cm. To complete the measurements at an angle of 45 degrees, draw another line connecting the previous one, as in the photo.

Armed with a wood hacksaw, we begin sawing; it is necessary to cut evenly, since the stand will be on a flat surface.

For now, the completed workpiece can be put aside.

Let's start cutting out a hole for USB in a board whose thickness is 1.5 cm.

The hole for USB is shaped like a rectangle, 1.5 cm wide and 6 mm high.

Drill a hole in the place where the USB will be.

We place a jigsaw file in this place, tighten it and cut it out according to the template.

We try on the USB, if it doesn’t match a little, then the errors can be corrected with a file.

After sharpening the hole and adjusting the USB, measure 4 cm so that the USB is in the middle.

We cut out the stand using a hacksaw.

Since our stand consists of two parts, we need to sand both.

Armed with coarse sandpaper, we begin sanding; it is better to sand the sharp edges more than the walls.
In the same way we polish the part of the stand where our USB input will be located.

To install USB, you need to unsolder it from the wire, and in order not to forget or confuse the wires, you can use my method; before unsoldering the wires, I photographed them.

We place our entrance at the installation location.

We tap a little, that's it, the seat is tight.

We bend the edges at the back so that when pulling out flash drives and any other devices, our port does not pull out of the piece of wood.

We will drill a hole for the wire in the second part of the stand.

Since I didn’t have a drill, the drilling was done with a curved screwdriver.

Since I already have the skill of drilling with a screwdriver and other objects, I was able to drill 4 cm very quickly.

The diameter of the screwdriver did not fit a little, and the extension cable did not fit, I had to drive it all out with a file, after these manipulations the cable fit through like clockwork.

Having threaded the cable into the workpiece, you need to solder its wires to the USB.

After this, we slowly tighten the extension cord wire and when the part where the port is located does not touch the other, we stop pulling the wire.

Let's say you want a powerful computer for gaming or work, but you don't want to tolerate the slightest noise.

Or you want to use one desktop computer both in the room and in the kitchen.

Or your familiar CEO, fearing a “mask show,” wants to keep the accountant’s computer not under the accountant’s desk, but on the floor above, with a third-party individual.

What to do? Take long wires and, depending on the situation:

Move the computer to the hallway, closet or balcony, where it will make noise for its own pleasure without disturbing you;
- or one floor higher to a neighbor, where he will be relatively safe from invaders;
- or put the computer in the room, and run additional wires to the kitchen (or vice versa).

The question is, where can I get long wires? And you only need two of them: HDMI and USB. A ten-meter HDMI is not a problem; you can buy it at Yulmart for 370 rubles. It is not difficult to find longer ones on sale. Next we will talk about how to make a ten-meter USB 2.0 extension cable yourself (if this is not enough and five meters are still not enough, use a wireless mouse and keyboard). Theoretically, you can buy a cable with a signal amplifier TU2-EX12, but it is sold in some unfamiliar stores; it was easier for me to make it myself.

1. The USB extension cable will be plugged into the computer at one end, and at the other end there will be a USB hub into which we will plug flash drives, mice, boxes with HDDs, a printer and other USB devices. I recommend the well-proven D-Link DUB-H7 7-port. It’s a pity that it unexpectedly increased in price, until recently it cost 640 rubles.

2. Depending on what input the hub has, we take a printer cord (AM-BM) or a simple USB extension cable (AM-AF). The required cord usually comes with the hub. Cut off the ends and throw away the rest.

3. We borrow from a system administrator friend or buy 10 meters of FTP-type twisted pair cable (in foil) and strip the ends for soldering.

4. The wiring diagram is clear from the figure (pictures enlarge by clicking). In my USB cable the colors of the wires were black, green, white and red. The figure shows H, Z, B, K. That is, the FTP cable was soldered to USB using this layout:
In the picture, the white-orange wire is in error, see the table! (Thank you e_mission for the correction)

5. It’s good if you have a thin heat-shrink tube for each core of the USB connectors, so as not to bother with electrical tape. Soldered wires and finished extension cord:

Tests:

Copying files to a USB hard drive. The copying speed lasts up to 100 megabytes per second, but at the end of the file the copying process may freeze for 2-3 seconds, causing the copying speed to decrease, but then increase again:

The check showed that there were no copying errors:

Without a hub to supply power to connected devices, the voltage drop in the cable takes its toll. The old laser printer worked without problems, but the scanner, which did not have its own power supply, was detected every other time and could not scan at all.

upd: more correct tests and conclusions

Not all old tablets support the function of connecting a flash drive or modem, but I will tell you how to outsmart them and connect a flash drive, modem, or even a hard drive to them.

Today I would like to present to your attention an OTG adapter.

First, I want to tell you what OTG is? This is a way to connect to your tablet or phone that supports the OTG function, printer, flash drive and even hard drive. This connection is also called USB-host.

You can also connect a keyboard or mouse to your gadget, if the gadget supports such a function.

And so, to create this miracle cable, we need:
Old USB extension cable
Micro USB connector (you can get it from a regular USB cable for your device)
Soldering iron and soldering accessories

And so, let's go, to make such a cable, we will need to connect the 4th pin to the 5th pin of the micro USB connector

We must get to the fourth pin and connect it with a jumper to the GND wire as shown in the picture

After we connect the 4th and 5th contacts with a jumper, our gadget will perform the function of an active device and will understand that another passive device is about to be connected to it. Until we install a jumper, the gadget will continue to act as a passive device and will not see your flash drives.

But that’s not all; to connect a hard drive to a phone or tablet, this adapter will not be enough for us. To connect devices whose consumption is more than 100mA, namely 100mA can be supplied by the port of your device, we will need to connect additional power to our OTG cable, which should be enough for your hard drive to work.

Here is a diagram of such an adapter

Now it's time to start collecting
We take an old USB extension cable and cut it not too far from the 2.0 connector, since the current is only 100mA, to avoid large losses. Cut approximately in the same place as shown in the photo

Afterwards we clean our wire

I connected pins 4 and 5 with a drop of solder.

Well, here is our entire cable assembled

All that remains is to check the functionality, take the tablet, insert the “adapter” and insert the flash drive into it, everything works, as the flashing LED on the flash drive and the tablet detecting the flash drive tell us.

I have to travel very often on business trips, so I try to take the Internet with me. Of course, it’s good when the hotel has wi-fi or a normal 3g signal for a USB modem, but it’s not always available in the room, then a 5-6 meter USB extension cable from .

Attempt number 2. To assemble an extension cord with my own hands, I decided to use twisted pair, especially since I had a lot of Ethernet cable left over from the time I installed local networks. Unfortunately, the network cables were without protective shields and had four twisted pairs in plastic insulation. To transmit signal and power according to the USB 2.0 standard, over a distance of up to five meters, you can use only two twisted pairs. However, in the case of a 10-meter extension cord, it is better to run the power over two or three twisted pairs.

For power supply, you can take one or all of the remaining twisted pairs connected in parallel.

We attach the USB socket to a hard Ethernet cable. First, we isolate the contacts from the rear and bottom walls of the case. Then, using sewing thread, we attach a piece of PVC tube or cambric to the cable. Fix the end of the thread with molten rosin or glue. We make 2 longitudinal cuts on the cambric and insulation. The resulting “petals” should look like a cross. Solder the ends of the twisted pairs to the desired pins. We attach the “petals” to the socket body with threads. We fix the end of the thread. At the end of the operation, you can refine the USB socket by putting on a heat-shrinkable tube.

The result of the work can be seen in the top photo.

This version of the circuit is fully operational at distances up to 15 meters.

This video shows the process of assembling a very long twisted pair USB extension cable with your own hands. The device connected to it can operate at a distance of up to 50 meters from a PC or laptop!

5 volts = blue, orange, white-orange
-DATA (information) = white-green
+DATA = green
GND (ground) = brown, white-brown, white-blue