Home Sign Up!

Browse Community Submit

All Art Craft Food Games Green Home Kids Life Music Offbeat Outdoors Pets Photo Ride Science Tech

How to Extend yout USB using UTP

by huang.wencong on June 30, 2008 Table of Contents How to Extend yout USB using UTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: How to Extend yout USB using UTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Gather your parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: The making of Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: The making of Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2 2 4 4 4

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Extend-yout-USB-using-UTP/

Intro: How to Extend yout USB using UTP

This is my second Instructables. This time, I'm gonna tell everyone how to extend your USB using UTP. Why do you need to do so? Because the USB extender in shops only around 1,5 meters. It's very short, if you need 50 meters for a USB WiFi antenna on your roof. So I share to you people this technique. P.S.: I will be making the Instructables of the Indonesia's style of USB WiFi antenna. The picture is below.

Step 1: Gather your parts

You need: (1)USB Cable (2)UTP Cable (3)Small PVC Pipe (4)Rubber tape (5)thermofit / heatshrink

Step 2: The making of Part 1

Open the UTP and USB cable. Put the small PVC pipe in the UTP cable. Put the thermofit in the USB cable. Then connect it like this: white orange & orange to red, white & green to white, green to green, and the rest to black. Remeber to solder it.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Extend-yout-USB-using-UTP/

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Extend-yout-USB-using-UTP/

Step 3: The making of Part 2

Fit the pipe in the connections and close it with rubber tape. You're finished! Try it. If USB is not detected, then change the USB 1.1 to USB 2.0. If it doesn't work, try the circuit below.

Related Instructables

Uni-Directional WIFI Range Extender by tm36usa

Two quicky directional wifi antennas by Computothought

How to Make Indonesia's WajanBolic or PanciBolic (USB) by huang.wencong

How to make an active wifi tetrapak antenna - fast & cheap way ... by Spajky [-Spikey]

WIFI Antenna Hack! by babblin5

How To Make A Wifi Antenna by PokemonLord1234

Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 70 comments

anjumraza says:

Nov 26, 2010. 12:48 AM REPLY i was worried after puchasing evo usb for net surfing.signals were very week i made the utp wire and connectors and found that the signals were very high even a distance of 24 feet from computer to usb..thx instructable ...i loved that Aug 25, 2010. 8:35 PM REPLY I did this with a cheap 25ft UTP cable from e-bay and it worked perfect. I try with USB and web-cam there was no lag or anything like it while watching or capturing video; webcam to backyard, I have fear phobia.

instructables_nando says:

rohit123 says:

Apr 26, 2010. 1:33 AM REPLY i want to keep my web cam 50meter away.purpose of keeping web cam far is monitoring of my small brother from my room.does it works properly.

ambo says:

Aug 26, 2008. 2:17 PM REPLY hello,i already follow your procedure for the usb extension using UTP,but i cannot make it detect as a 2.0 usb,coz ill use it with a 2.0 compatible devices.Please let me know if you have an answer for this.thank you

Derin says:
in my experience,USB 2.0 will talk USB 1.1 as well,and USB 1.1 can connect to USB 2.0 hosts.

Sep 2, 2008. 8:52 AM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Extend-yout-USB-using-UTP/

sintar says:

Mar 31, 2010. 7:59 PM REPLY in my observations a shielded 2 x 20g 2 x 28g good quality cable will do about 25 feet. but it all depends on the voltage drop or resistance of the wire test for example 20ft wire with my multi meter i read 1.1 to 1.2 ohms on the shield but 1 ohm on the vcc and gnd and 1.5 ohms on the data lines but you don't use those values to calculate your voltage drop first you need to subtract your test leads from the resistance since all wire has resistance on my meter they have a .6 ohm reading keep in mind i'm not using a cheap 10 dollar meter here so that leaves me with .6 ohms on vcc and ground and .9 ohm on the data lines but we really don't need to worry about the data to much unless your going over 35 40 feet using ohms law E = I R E being voltage drop I being current (.5 A or 500 ma) and r being resistive load (in ohms) the formula works out to be .45 volts so knowing that usb won't work below 4.4 say 4.5 to be safe then finding out my computers 5 volt line runs at 5.13 v so 5.13 - .45 = 4.68 volts after voltage drop and thats at max load and most devices don't use the full 500ma theres some room for error now as long as the signals are clean at the far end then it should work now if you lose to much voltage over your run of cable and you can place a power supply regulated +5v and MAKE SURE TO TEST THIS closer to the end of your cable and just disconnect the +5v from the computer now for those longer distance runs you need to use a larger conductor data pair single wire for each no doubling up here or you can get some nasty interference now if you have enough power larger conductor data wires and you still have a dirty data problem try using some ferrite rings on both ends they really do help with EMI traveling over wires sorry for the crudeness and no punctuation but i hope this helps somebody

bayucandra says:

Jan 19, 2010. 5:29 AM REPLY This man doesn't included the detail way of put the IC and the input power, if some body need more clear picture, try to visit http://www.dhegleng.or.id/qe3/?p=136. I don't know is the man who wrote this instructables article and the man who wrote the article at the link i gave is same person. But the link i gave have more clear description. The problem only that my link is in Indonesian language, but don't worry it has clear picture just to see. Sep 2, 2009. 4:44 AM REPLY Hi there. I already made up a 10M USB 2.0 cable and I thick I remember it works ok from the computer with a webcam. But I want a longer USB cable to use the webcam to take photographs about the house and outside. Can I use this telephone cable. It has 4 wires and is used for the telephone but I am not sure if it is the same as the UTP cable.

Squink81 says:

dombeef says:
You need 5 for ground wire

Jan 3, 2010. 8:34 AM REPLY

Squink81 says:
Thank you.

Jan 4, 2010. 2:16 PM REPLY

egomez18 says:
It works perfectly. Later I will give details of how that works best with the same UTP cable. Thank you very much for your idea.

Jan 3, 2010. 8:21 AM REPLY

zeefar says:

Mar 8, 2009. 2:13 PM REPLY When I connect the flash drive to the connector through the set up of USB over UTP to PC, the computer does not read the data from my flash drive device, why is that?

Dexterdoom says:

Aug 27, 2009. 7:05 AM REPLY Most USB devices won't work with an extension that long without the aid of a USB powered hub. They use 5V provided by the computer, and the voltage drop over more than about 20 feet is enough to create a "USB device not recognized" by the PC. I Use webcams for security on my home, and have to use a powered hub or it won't pick the cams up. Try it.

k_man93 says:
what if you use a USB "y" cable? that draws power from 2 ports, therefore doubling the power... am i correct on this?

Oct 18, 2009. 9:11 AM REPLY

charlie millionaire says:

Your cord must be too long then

Apr 10, 2009. 8:05 PM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Extend-yout-USB-using-UTP/

spudgunster says:

Jul 24, 2009. 6:14 PM REPLY The USB works in a way that theoretically limits any cable length to 16 feet, If I remember correctly, that includes the powered repeater cables too. I think they do have some usb to cat5 converter boxes, but thats way different from this instructable. This instructable will not work, it's not magic. with UTPs, you won't get much more than 15', thats my guess

theviper0308 says:
i was tried using 15meter utp cable.but not works coz the power is drop down.

Jun 12, 2009. 3:58 AM REPLY

cyberjoejoe says:
i've tried this a year ago... works great on my epson c59 printer..

Jun 1, 2009. 9:45 PM REPLY

matbh says:

May 27, 2009. 10:38 PM REPLY I think u should use a powered usb hub to "amplify" the signal... computer usb ports (specially usb front ports. they r 1.1 standards) can't read the data, from a flash drive or something similar... maybe a hard drive?! I'm not sure

cksiamcn says:
it's work for flash drive but i use with usb wireless 2.0 not work how can i do next ?

May 4, 2009. 8:30 AM REPLY

forkber says:

May 16, 2009. 10:19 AM REPLY It work on a 7 meters (23 feet) CAT6 cable! use a twisted pair for the D+ D- USB and another for the power (black and red on Usb cable) I use it with a HD multimedia player at full speed (USB 2) Tanks

rian elmirez says:

i m from indonesia & i have try it..................so its good

Apr 24, 2009. 7:36 PM REPLY

angtrop says:

May 9, 2009. 10:19 AM REPLY mas Rian, saya mohon petunjuknya bagaimana membuat perpanjangan kabel usb, karena setelah saya membeli kabel perpanjangan yang 5 meter, ternyata setelah saya masukkan ke komputer tidak terdeteksi......saya mohon petunjuknya untuk menyelesaikan masalah terserbut, kemudian apa saja yang harus saya lakukan, karena saya membutuhkan kabel sepanjang 50 meter

Sk8erCk4Life says:
what is UTP cable and where can I get it?

Apr 22, 2009. 6:48 PM REPLY

sameheddy says:
The wires of the Utb cable can you draw it more detalied to be connected the rightway

Apr 19, 2009. 11:43 AM REPLY

j21a2t89 says:

Mar 23, 2009. 11:54 AM REPLY Just a quick point you could use a usb hub (with all the plastic stripped off) to regenerate the signal. So using the utp as well you could extend the cable theorectically to any length. You would need to remove the power socket on the hub and have a powerful enough 5v source. hmm i should create an instructable. Mar 1, 2009. 2:00 AM REPLY A have an idea put something like MAX3003 to the middle of long extension cable. This IC is a level translator between different voltage logic levels, but is possible to connect it as fast bidirectional repeater with automatic direction control. In theory, input signal, which is "degraded" by passing long distance, should be "shaped" almost back to the original and sent to the output. Order for this ICs is already placed for another project in my job, so I will test it. Ofcourse, it will work ONLY for UBS 1.1, because bitrate limitation. Jul 18, 2008. 12:23 PM REPLY Is there a reason you bound those colors? Is red and blank on the USB - power and ground? I guess you want more copper (2 or 3 UTP wires) for power and ground than the signal wires? I did something similar with DIY PoE to my roof. Thanks- Great for USB webcams.

Danicek says:

sagewifi says:

CrudeBuster says:

Sep 7, 2008. 12:48 PM REPLY I suggest instead of using only one wire, use instead a pair for each usb pin, this will lessen the impedance, and grant good stability in connections. I know better, I did a 50-feet cable like that, testing hard and exhaustively.

Danicek says:
Using 2 Pairs for supply voltage is good idea. But do not use it for signal path.

Feb 20, 2009. 4:46 AM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Extend-yout-USB-using-UTP/

CrudeBuster says:
Um, why not? If twisted pair is good for Ethernet TX / RX, why wouldn't be good for USB D+/D-?

Feb 26, 2009. 6:14 AM REPLY

Danicek says:

Feb 26, 2009. 10:00 AM REPLY For DC supply you need lownest possible resistance in path. So it is good idea use one pait as +5V and other pair as GND, AC charakteristic is not so important. On other hand, we can almost omit currents in signal path, at least for USB, because there is no termination. For signal path parameters is important AC point of view. And in this case bigger "volume' of cable will make bigger condensator to charge/discharge -> bigger looses on higher frequencies. So.. use 1 and half pair for +5V, another 1.5 pair for gnd and 1 pair for D+ and D-. BTW. for 100Mbit ethernet 1 pair = TX+, TX1 pair = RX+, RX2 pairs unused (used for 1Gbit ethernet)

CrudeBuster says:

Feb 26, 2009. 2:07 PM REPLY But as the theoretical limit of USB data signal wiring is 5 meters, we're trading loss in high frequency for stability, lessening the impedance. Well, I'll test your suggestion anyway, because I'm having problems with different USB controllers, some do accept the extension over 10m, others don't get even 4m.

CrudeBuster says:

Feb 28, 2009. 12:15 PM REPLY The alternate wiring using 1 pair and a half for +5 and GND functioned very well, kudos for you for the tip, Danicek. Even in my EEEPc, where the pair wiring didn't worked after 2m, 10m using the alternate worked like a breeze with my mouse and mp4 player, as well as the Encore USB dongle. I used this particular wiring colors: Orange pair + White/Light Blue = +5 Maroon pair + Dark Blue = GND Dark Green = +D White/Light Green = -D The +5 measured 5.05 with the mouse working, the alternate wiring kept the loss really down.

00JAMIEJOHNSON00 says:

Feb 27, 2009. 3:08 PM REPLY THIS WORKED PERFECTLY WITH MY BELKIN F5D8053 N BAND USB WIFI ADAPTOR AND OVER 35FT OF CAT 5 CABLE!!! I DID HAVE TO PLUG IT INTO MY USB 1.0 HUB AND NOT THE USB 2.0 PORTS ON MY DESKTOP TO GET IT TO WORK RIGHT . I HAVEN'T NOTICED ANY SIGNAL LOSS AND IT SAVED ME AT LEAST $50 IN CABLES AND USB REPEATERS. THANKS A LOT. Nov 3, 2008. 11:51 PM REPLY maybe someone should check also my solution to the problem using two thin coaxial lines/cables ... sorry , posts are not in english, but everything needed is on schematics marked to reproduce the solution : Here !

Spajky [-Spikey] says:

Danicek says:

Feb 20, 2009. 4:43 AM REPLY USB data signals are diferential. They are making a pair. Idea split them into 2 coaxial cables is not good. This will rapidly incrase parasitic capacitance. I think you will get better results by using good quality twisted pair cable. Idea with separate "on place" power suply is good. This will help you compensate voltage drop on longer line.

Spajky [-Spikey] says:

Feb 21, 2009. 11:38 AM REPLY Yes, I know they are differential (to the gnd) & practically still are in my schematics! The differential lines are shielded, but NOT terminated to the ground on the line ... That my suggested coax is 75ohm impedance, 55pF/m, 55ohm/km DC per inner wire & 10dB attenuation at 100MHz . A tipical UTP cable has 100ohm impedance, 50pF/m, 100ohm/km DC per inner wire & 20dB attenuation at 100MHz. ... With lesser impedance (one line Usb to the gnd is even less!) , capacitance matters less, with thicker wires there is less voltage drop & if you use a multiple of half wavelenght of that coax (basic Usb clock = 48MHz), you can extend the range even more, since that mirrors the impedance from one to another end of the line. Well. I admit that using 2 coax-es is less practical than using a single cable like UTP for longer lines and popping on it a higher voltage to compensate voltage drop, but the signal will degenerate even before than using 2 coax-es. so its suggestible to use a hub after 20m of lenght anyway. Yes, using UTP cable up to 15 m of lenght is easier ...

fishought says:
the circuit doesnt work, its only a 5 volts supply,

Dec 3, 2008. 1:01 AM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Extend-yout-USB-using-UTP/

Danicek says:

Feb 20, 2009. 4:30 AM REPLY Yes it is bad designed 5V supply. 1. What is purpose in of +9V battery (supply) and D1? 2. Never put large electrolytic capacitor (100uF and more) to the output of 78xx. At the time of turn on, capacitor is empty and for some time can draw more than 1A of current. Onchip protection of 78xx will shutdown the stabilizer and restarts. This will produce oscilations in output voltage. It is better put some small tantal capacitor about 33uF to the output in parallel with ceramic 100nF decoupling capacitor, as close as possible to 78xx. Another 100nF capacitor should be connected to the input of 78xx. Another thing. Do not forget fit suitable heatsink. In full load (standart USB 500mA) there will be 3.5W power loss ( (12V - 5V) * 0.5A ).

t.rohner says:

Jul 5, 2008. 12:08 AM REPLY I don't know how usb cables look inside, the only difference i see possible, is that we have a twisted pair here. But what are they twisted with? Is it with the ground wire? In a usb connection, we have ground, 5V, Rx and Tx data lines. Since Rx and Tx are not differential signal pairs as in Ethernet, the twisting has a somewhat limited impact on the signal quality. This is only my theoretical judgement, i didn't try it. The circuit shown in the intro is just a 5V power supply. This may help with usb devices using much power like harddrives, but it won't enhance signal quality. You can get away with some usb extension, but i don't know to what extent. I once hooked a 5m extension to a 3m wifi stick holder and had no problems. This was usb 1.1 by the way. But Hunag seems to use it, so why not give it a try if you need it. It won't cost much.

Danicek says:

Feb 20, 2009. 4:01 AM REPLY You are not right. There is no Tx and Rx wire in USB. Wires are +5V, Gnd, D+ and D-. D+ and D- ARE differential signals and twisting is important.

francote6 says:

Dec 30, 2008. 5:30 AM REPLY It Works !! Although I only needed 14Mts did not work until I connected the cable UTP CAT3 (Is possible that is better with the CAT6) directly to the card of the Webcam to omit the ferrite nucleus through which the cable original passes (In my case, the image was not deteriorated). Perhaps confucin with the order of the connection of cables has appeared. They must be: White/orange + orange to red white to white green to green the rest to black

balachanderraidu says:

Oct 7, 2008. 8:41 AM REPLY I tried it out with tho UTP wires connected at da same time but still it doesn't work is there any way out i'm using USB2.0 port.........................

Sk8erCk4Life says:
I soldered the wires like it said to but put extra shrink tube on it and I used old ehernet cord..

Dec 21, 2008. 1:21 PM REPLY

Sk8erCk4Life says:
Whatever I took a used ethernet cord and did what it said to do and it works.

Dec 21, 2008. 12:39 PM REPLY

leBeau says:

Jul 28, 2008. 12:25 AM REPLY Can anybody help me? I have bought an cat5e utp cable and and usb extension cord. I soldered green to green, orange/white & orange to red, and green/white to white. The remaining cables (blue/white, blue, black/white, black) I soldered to black. I also insulated them. My usb port in the computer used usb 2.0. Both the usb and the utp had uncoloured (that is to say they were bare) copper wires, I soldered those together and insulated them aswell. Should I have soldered the bare copper wires to black aswell? Should I set my pc to usb 1? Should I not connect some wires to the black usb wire? Please help!

Sk8erCk4Life says:
How do you set your pc to usb 1 and 2?

Nov 25, 2008. 7:48 PM REPLY

Sk8erCk4Life says:

Nov 6, 2008. 4:29 PM REPLY Do you have to use all the wire in the UTP cord or can you just hook up four of them since there is only four wires in a USB cable and match the same colors on the opposite side and can you use round phone wire with the six wires in it insted of UTP?

Sk8erCk4Life says:

Oct 31, 2008. 7:54 PM REPLY Can you take the phone line that has six wires in it and take and use only four of them and solder it and hook it up the same way?

view all 70 comments

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Extend-yout-USB-using-UTP/