USB 2 cables faster?

Hi

I have been getting conflicting advice from different specialist
dealers on whether I should use a USB 2 cable with my Toucam ProII
840K/20 webcam. The first sold me an active 5 metre Sandberg cable with
only USB 1.0, USB 1.1 spec and told me that the cable doesn't matter at
all whether for USB 1.0 or USB 2.0. I had already installed a new USB
2.0 card because the Toucam ProII didn't seem happy on USB 1.

The next dealer sold me a 5 metre passive USB2 cable and insisted that
a USB 2 cable was essential to work with USB2 devices and cards because
of the high speed requirements.

Both cables seem to work independantly or chained together and I'm
getting 30FPS in reasonable light with both linked if that's any
indicator of speed.

Your usual expert advice would be most gratefully received in this
matter. Even browsing doesn't seem to offer clear answers. If this USB
1.1 cable should be returned as inadequate for USB 2 it ought to be
fairly soon.

Thanks
Chris.B

"Chris.B" wrote:

I have been getting conflicting advice from different specialist
dealers on whether I should use a USB 2 cable with my Toucam ProII
840K/20 webcam. The first sold me an active 5 metre Sandberg cable with
only USB 1.0, USB 1.1 spec and told me that the cable doesn't matter at
all whether for USB 1.0 or USB 2.0. I had already installed a new USB
2.0 card because the Toucam ProII didn't seem happy on USB 1.

The next dealer sold me a 5 metre passive USB2 cable and insisted that
a USB 2 cable was essential to work with USB2 devices and cards because
of the high speed requirements.

I seem to recall from actually reading the USB spec that there is no
difference between USB1 and USB2 cables.

If what you've got works it's fine, keep it. I'd expect to see errors
(not just performance degradation) if the cable wasn't up to the job.


Tim
--
Today's message was brought to you by Mary, Jane and a big number two.

On or about 2005-08-04,
Tim Auton illuminated us with:
"Chris.B" wrote:

I have been getting conflicting advice from different specialist
dealers on whether I should use a USB 2 cable with my Toucam ProII
840K/20 webcam. The first sold me an active 5 metre Sandberg cable with
only USB 1.0, USB 1.1 spec and told me that the cable doesn't matter at
all whether for USB 1.0 or USB 2.0. I had already installed a new USB
2.0 card because the Toucam ProII didn't seem happy on USB 1.

The next dealer sold me a 5 metre passive USB2 cable and insisted that
a USB 2 cable was essential to work with USB2 devices and cards because
of the high speed requirements.

I seem to recall from actually reading the USB spec that there is no
difference between USB1 and USB2 cables.

If what you've got works it's fine, keep it. I'd expect to see errors
(not just performance degradation) if the cable wasn't up to the job.

Hmm, a passive USB cable would surely not distinguish between USB 1 and 2.
But at 5m you're on the edge of needing an active cable or extra hub anyway.
It might help if you can place a decent quality hub at the camera end of the
cable, if you're having problems. In theory you can chain the active cables
up to around 25m (according to Maplin).

--
Mark
Real email address | "Did you sleep well?"
is mark at | "No, I made a couple of mistakes."
ayliffe dot org |

"Mark Ayliffe" wrote in message
...
On or about 2005-08-04,
Tim Auton illuminated us with:
"Chris.B" wrote:

I have been getting conflicting advice from different specialist
dealers on whether I should use a USB 2 cable with my Toucam ProII
840K/20 webcam. The first sold me an active 5 metre Sandberg cable with
only USB 1.0, USB 1.1 spec and told me that the cable doesn't matter at
all whether for USB 1.0 or USB 2.0. I had already installed a new USB
2.0 card because the Toucam ProII didn't seem happy on USB 1.

The next dealer sold me a 5 metre passive USB2 cable and insisted that
a USB 2 cable was essential to work with USB2 devices and cards because
of the high speed requirements.

I seem to recall from actually reading the USB spec that there is no
difference between USB1 and USB2 cables.

If what you've got works it's fine, keep it. I'd expect to see errors
(not just performance degradation) if the cable wasn't up to the job.

Hmm, a passive USB cable would surely not distinguish between USB 1 and 2.
But at 5m you're on the edge of needing an active cable or extra hub
anyway.
It might help if you can place a decent quality hub at the camera end of
the
cable, if you're having problems. In theory you can chain the active
cables
up to around 25m (according to Maplin).



If its passive there is no difference ... if you need to power up the device
from the USB2 h/w then use USB2

At the end of the day USB1 is obsolete so why pay money for an obsolete
cable if you have a USB2 card.. you might neet this expensive cable for
something else in the future.

"Mark Ayliffe" wrote in message
...
In theory you can chain the active cables up to around 25m (according to
Maplin).


Last time I looked at Maplin's active extenders they were USB1.1. For USB2.0
Active extenders try www.expansys.co.uk

Regards


Chris

"Chris.B" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi

I have been getting conflicting advice from different specialist
dealers on whether I should use a USB 2 cable with my Toucam ProII
840K/20 webcam. The first sold me an active 5 metre Sandberg cable with
only USB 1.0, USB 1.1 spec and told me that the cable doesn't matter at
all whether for USB 1.0 or USB 2.0. I had already installed a new USB
2.0 card because the Toucam ProII didn't seem happy on USB 1.
Provided the cable genuinely met the USB specs, then it will work fine for
either speed. However there was a lot of 'substandard' stuff being sold,
and the higher speeds 'weeded these out'.

The next dealer sold me a 5 metre passive USB2 cable and insisted that
a USB 2 cable was essential to work with USB2 devices and cards because
of the high speed requirements.

Both cables seem to work independantly or chained together and I'm
getting 30FPS in reasonable light with both linked if that's any
indicator of speed.
Chaining passive cables, actually breaks the USB specs. Basically the
idea was that the longest cable you'd be able to buy, would be 'in spec',
and the two plugs were designed to be incompatible, so that you could not
'extend' a cable. This is an area where there is a huge amount of 'bending
of the rules'.
5m is the maximum length allowed on a single USB segment. Working beyond
this without a hub (an 'active cable', is effectively a single port hub),
is just luck.

Your usual expert advice would be most gratefully received in this
matter. Even browsing doesn't seem to offer clear answers. If this USB
1.1 cable should be returned as inadequate for USB 2 it ought to be
fairly soon.
The cable should be fine, however what you are doing with it, is 'out of
spec'.

Best Wishes

I admit I couldn't see how a few strands of copper could be faster or
slower. Unless there was a skin-effect from many more finer strands in
the USB 2? An active (amplified) cable is a different matter of course.

It seemed odd that both these shops were small independant computer
outlets. One might have expected more expertise than a typical
white-goods/electronics chainstore assistant. Though the independant's
cable prices were lower than the chainstores!

Thanks for the responses
Chris.B