I want to put a webcam out in the garden, is there a limit to the length of a USB cable, does is loose power or performance?

Thanks

 

http://www.usb.org/about/faq/ans5

16feet 5inches without hubs.

Consider running power, then using a wireless webcam to communicate back to the house. A CANTENNA could increase your distance to a 100 feet or more if properly built.

 

http://www.usb.org/about/faq/ans5

Snip: 16feet 5inches without hubs.

Are you certain of that? I thought it was 16ft - 5.155 inches.

 

or 5M (aka 500cm)

 

I want to put a webcam out in the garden, is there a limit to the length of a USB cable, does is loose power or performance?

You've heard what the spec is. There's also the practical reality, which MIGHT allow a length of double the spec, or not. And on that ragged edge, cable and connector quality might matter.

Power loss is trivial unless the camera is a high power draw. And it would be relatively easier to get power to the camera if you needed to use something besides USB to power it. I believe what you will lose with increasing length is bandwidth, or high frequency performance. Things like cable capacitance cause a slowdown. If the camera and USB driver depend on high frequency, you may not get much past the spec distance. But if they're "tolerant" of low bandwidth, they might work. No way to know except to try.

I wouldn't expect most USB cables to last long outdoors. They're not made for it. Which raises another idea: You could run a longer distance using a heavier-duty, 4-conductor cable with USB connectors grafted to the ends.

 

Are you certain of that? I thought it was 16ft - 5.155 inches.

Well SuRE, if you S-TRE-TCH the cable the extra .115"

@wayneh, you can NO-DOUBT run them longer. The USB standard requires FULL-SPEED at 16feet 5inches.

So, you may have to change baud rate on a 50ft cable.


What about USB to cat-5 adapters on each end?