Longer USB cable or USB Extension Cord

[stefan.eickelberg]

I need a longer cable for the eye tracker. I tried some random extension cords I had lying around here, but they did not work (probably USB 2.0). I checked the web and found that lots of people have trouble with USB 3.0 extension cords. So I thought, I'd ask here whether anybody knows of a compatible cable before I go out buying any cable I can find. Five meters would be fantastic.

[JeffKang]

Anything on Amazon?:

There are good reviews on this one.
http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-USB- ... B008EQYRRY

[Memo]

The USB-IF compliance for USB 3.0 standards restricted A male to B male cable lengths to three meters maximum. Cables with USB 3.0 Micro B plugs are limited to one meter maximum for compliance requirement.

Check this site http://newnex.com/Golf_Article.php

Probably you will need a cable like this http://www.everythingusb.com/corning-usb-3-optical-cable-21966.html

Prepare your wallet

[stefan.eickelberg]

That was an interesting read, thanks. However, I do question the information a little, since the cable that comes with the tracker is already 2 meters long whereas the maximum length of such cables is suposedly 1 m, according to that article.

I just checked some industry camera suppliers. They all offer USB 3.0 Micro B cables up to 5 m. They HAVE to work, if they offer them there, but they might as well be some special cables, because they cost like 60 €. More than half of what the eye tracker costs.
http://www.stemmer-imaging.co.uk/en/pro ... les-usb30/

[stefan.eickelberg]

So, I ordered a couple of things to try out:

• deleyCON USB 3.0 3m extension cord: 8.99€ -> works
• CSL USB 3.0 5m extension cord with active repeater: 15.85€ -> crap!
• Inatek 5 Port USB 3.0 HUB with external powersource and a short usb cable: 22.99€ -> works, but unstable
• deleyCon 4 Port USB 3.0 Hub with external powersource and a short usb cable: 19.90€ -> works

In my tests I always used the 1.8m USB cable that came with the eye tracker.

The 5 m cable actually has a connector for an external power source, which I thought was pretty nice for this purpose since we need quite a bit of power according to Memo's measurements. I actually had it working briefly when connected to an external powersource. However, the connection soon collapsed and I actually eventually had to restart my PC in order to be able to connect the tracker. This cable also did not perform well/reliable in combination with any of the other above devices. So my advice here is: Don't buy it.

The other devices worked fine as noted above. Although, it felt a bit like the 3m extension cord induces VERY brief connection interruptions. In combination with either of the USB hubs it performed well though. I was even able to chain all these components together and still maintain a connection. I had the tracker disconnect once in like 10 minutes though, with this setup.

Correction: The Inatek Hub does seem to be pretty unstable, too.