USB extension

I have a DWL-122 in the garage, and to get a good signal I made a 20 foot
extension from cat5 cable, using 1 pair for power and another pair for data,
Anytime I switch on a light or whatever, I lose the connection for a while.
Does the extension need to be shielded? Also, after about 20 minutes, the
little screen icon in the task bar lights up with one screen lit, and is
unresponsive until I unplug and replug the USB connection. Again, is this
because of thr unshielded extension?
Thanks in advance,
Rob



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On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 05:17:39 GMT, "MrSmiley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I have a DWL-122 in the garage, and to get a good signal I made a 20 foot
>extension from cat5 cable, using 1 pair for power and another pair for data,
>Anytime I switch on a light or whatever, I lose the connection for a while.
>Does the extension need to be shielded? Also, after about 20 minutes, the
>little screen icon in the task bar lights up with one screen lit, and is
>unresponsive until I unplug and replug the USB connection. Again, is this
>because of thr unshielded extension?

Maybe. The problem is the DC resistance of your CAT5 extension cable.
If you inspect the official USB cable, the outer two wires are
typically #20 awg. Your single pair of CAT5 is #24 awg or about twice
the DC resistance per ft. Even so, the maximum length for USB,
without repeaters, is about 16ft.

I think you can make this CAT5 kludge work if you use one pair for
data, and parallel the remaining 3 pairs to supply the DC power.

Once you have 5.0VDC delivered to the DWL-122, then start thinking
about shielding. You may not need it.


--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831.336.2558 voice http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
# (E-Mail Removed)
# 831.421.6491 digital_pager (E-Mail Removed) AE6KS

I never thought about the 5V, makes sense, I'll try using 3 pairs in
parallel for power and see if that fixes the problem. I've read a little
about POE, but didn't think it applied to a 20' wire.
Thanks!
Rob

"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 05:17:39 GMT, "MrSmiley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >I have a DWL-122 in the garage, and to get a good signal I made a 20 foot
> >extension from cat5 cable, using 1 pair for power and another pair for
data,
> >Anytime I switch on a light or whatever, I lose the connection for a
while.
> >Does the extension need to be shielded? Also, after about 20 minutes, the
> >little screen icon in the task bar lights up with one screen lit, and is
> >unresponsive until I unplug and replug the USB connection. Again, is this
> >because of thr unshielded extension?
>
> Maybe. The problem is the DC resistance of your CAT5 extension cable.
> If you inspect the official USB cable, the outer two wires are
> typically #20 awg. Your single pair of CAT5 is #24 awg or about twice
> the DC resistance per ft. Even so, the maximum length for USB,
> without repeaters, is about 16ft.
>
> I think you can make this CAT5 kludge work if you use one pair for
> data, and parallel the remaining 3 pairs to supply the DC power.
>
> Once you have 5.0VDC delivered to the DWL-122, then start thinking
> about shielding. You may not need it.
>
>
> --
> # Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
> # 831.336.2558 voice http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> # (E-Mail Removed)
> # 831.421.6491 digital_pager (E-Mail Removed) AE6KS


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"MrSmiley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>I have a DWL-122 in the garage, and to get a good signal I made a 20 foot
>extension from cat5 cable, using 1 pair for power and another pair for data,

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/s...sp?T1=131+0947 claims
USB extension over 150 feet of Cat5 cable to a self-powered USB
device, so maybe Jeff's suggestion to bulk up the power leads is a
good one. You could even test it with a powered hub on the end f your
existing cable.

OTOH, I thought the 16-foot limit on USB was due to timing, and I've
had several nightmares trying to make HP AllInOne devices work on
"active extensions" (16-foot cables with bus-powered 1-port hubs
molded into the ends), so I'd proceed with caution.

Maybe placement of your USB WiFi adapter on a legal-length 16-foot
cable (up instead of over, etc) would work better...

MrSmiley <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I have a DWL-122 in the garage, and to get a good signal I made a 20 foot
> extension from cat5 cable, using 1 pair for power and another pair for data,
> Anytime I switch on a light or whatever, I lose the connection for a while.
> Does the extension need to be shielded? Also, after about 20 minutes, the
> little screen icon in the task bar lights up with one screen lit, and is
> unresponsive until I unplug and replug the USB connection. Again, is this
> because of thr unshielded extension?

I might think so. A 5 meter USB cable is about $10 or less around here.
That works quite well with my DWL-122. Shielding or power loss (I know the
DWL gets warm, so it's drawing more power than you might think), or just
bad connections.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

MrSmiley wrote:
> I have a DWL-122 in the garage, and to get a good signal I made a 20 foot
> extension from cat5 cable, using 1 pair for power and another pair for data,
> Anytime I switch on a light or whatever, I lose the connection for a while.
> Does the extension need to be shielded? Also, after about 20 minutes, the
> little screen icon in the task bar lights up with one screen lit, and is
> unresponsive until I unplug and replug the USB connection. Again, is this
> because of thr unshielded extension?
> Thanks in advance,
> Rob
>
Where is the router? Since you have a 20 ft cable, wouldn't it be eaiser
just connect the PC to the router with cat 5 cable directly?

No, can't easily run a cable. The garage is detached, about 150 feet from
the house, the router, hubs and and WAP (Dlink DWL-800AP+) are in the house.
I was using a Phone Line network to get out there, but when it rains, I lose
the connection for a day or two (bad buried phone line). The 20 foot
extension is to get the DWL-122 closer to the front of the garage (better
shot at a window in the house where the WAP sits)
Thanks,
Rob

"No e-mail" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> MrSmiley wrote:
> > I have a DWL-122 in the garage, and to get a good signal I made a 20
foot
> > extension from cat5 cable, using 1 pair for power and another pair for
data,
> > Anytime I switch on a light or whatever, I lose the connection for a
while.
> > Does the extension need to be shielded? Also, after about 20 minutes,
the
> > little screen icon in the task bar lights up with one screen lit, and is
> > unresponsive until I unplug and replug the USB connection. Again, is
this
> > because of thr unshielded extension?
> > Thanks in advance,
> > Rob
> >
> Where is the router? Since you have a 20 ft cable, wouldn't it be eaiser
> just connect the PC to the router with cat 5 cable directly?
>


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"MrSmiley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>The 20 foot
>extension is to get the DWL-122 closer to the front of the garage (better
>shot at a window in the house where the WAP sits)

Again, try going up 10 feet instead of over 20 feet...