Amazon Basics USB 2.0 Active Extension Cable Type A-Male to A-Female Long Cord – 32 Feet (9.75 Meters)

IN THE BOX: 32-foot Type A-Male to A-Female USB 2.0 active-repeater extension cable

Top Positive Review

Update Oct 2020: 17 months later, I have had zero problems with this cable and its performance. The computer it is connected to is powered on 24×7 therefore the cable has been in continuous use all this time. It has worked admirably, flawlessly, without any perceivable lag. I still see no need for USB 3, considering my use case.

As an IT engineer, I’ve known since the late 90s that USB had cable length limitations of 5 meters / 16.4 feet. Enter my 2019 challenge of needing USB cable that’s significantly longer – and without pesky USB hubs in the middle.

This cable was perfect for what I needed and it has been consistently reliable. It’s running from my Network/AV closet, into the attic, and down a wall to the living room. On that side of the cable is a Plugable USB 2.0 Hub. Attached to that Hub is an Xbox Wireless Adapter for Win10 and a Plugable Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter. This gives me the ability to do work on my PC (let’s face it, I did it so I could play PC games) from the living room while keeping the equipment out of sight in a properly ventilated closet.

I did give pause to consider a USB 3.0 extension cable, however none of the devices I’m using are USB 3.0, and I was unable to justify the jump in cost for “future proofing” .. what amounts to Bluetooth & Xbox behind a wall. 2.0 is still going to be around for a very long time and considering my use case, it was the sensible and cost-conscious way to go.

Here’s what I have attached to the cable – since it worked out great for me:

* Plugable 4-port powered USB 2.0 Hub: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P2BY5I
* Plugable Bluetooth 4.0 LE Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009ZIILLI
* Microsoft Xbox Adapter for Windows: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZB7W4QU

Top Critical Review

Despite the description stating that this is a 32ft active extension cable with a self-powered 1 port hub it’s actually just a 32ft USB 2.0 extension cable. Using a multi-meter I show no current being drawn by the cable itself which is required in order for this to be an active cable (especially a bus powered 1 port hub style, a USB hub will pull a few mA just by being connected – this cable pulls 0 mA).

The cable causes USB flash drives (both USB 2.0 and 3.0, but at 2.0 speeds) to be detected but not usable. The computer will correctly detect and allow low bandwidth navigation of the flash drive but any attempt to write the USB flash drive will cause it to drop out. These are low powered flash drives too *not* high performance SSD and such – well within the low power device range.

So what does work? Very low power devices like keyboards and mice seems to work just fine. Also if I placed a powered USB hub *before* the cable (e.g. on the computer size not the end far away) I can run the USB flash drives. When using the powered hub I was able to benchmark the flash drives and saw typical USB 2.0 speeds so the the cable is fine in that respect. Putting the powered hub on the far end of the cable (away from the computer) results in the same drop outs as without any hub.

In the end the only issue seems to be that the cable does not power itself properly but in my case I was planning on using it for a keyboard/touchpad combo device which does work so it’s functional for my needs. It just doesn’t seem to live up to it’s description of being a powered active extension cable.

In my tests the cable was plugged into USB 2.0 front ports connected via header to the motherboard, USB 3.1 ports directly on the back panel and USB 3.2 ports also on the back panel so the host port has plenty of power capacity for the cable. The powered hub mentioned was a basic USB 3.0 4 port powered hub using a dedicated DC wall plug that measures 5.2v as opposed to the 5.1v measured off the computer directly.

Customer Questions & Answers

Will it give Wi-Fi on my labtop
Answer: No, its just a cable.

Can I hook a mouse up to this cable?
Answer: Yes it worked fine even with a gaming mouse.

Will this work for extending Verizon jetpack to laptop? Is power adapter needed?
Answer: I bought the extra long plug because I needed to connect laptop and Epson printer and wifi wasn’t working. So I would say yes it should work for you too.

Can this be used with external powered usb hub? i’d like to add a small hard drive to the end.
Answer: Depends upon whether your hub and/or drive require USB 3.0 as this is a USB 2.0 cable.

Can two or these be used together without affecting function ?
Answer: Yes