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I was setting up an order on Amazon to purchase all the necessary (and some unnecessary) components for room scale VR, and I ran into a problem: The Oculus cameras are not wireless. So I threw a pile of inactive and active USB 3.0 extension cables into my cart, making up for the ~100 ft of cable I need to run all around my room (in total, the longest distance is about 30ft if I recall correctly).

I ran into one problem though: My plan was to use a longer active cable, followed by a shorter inactive cable(like this one) (like one of the cables included with the Rift). I would run these cables in series, with the active cable plugged directly into my PCI-E USB 3.0 hub. Will this work, or should I just get all active cables?

EDIT 1: I have done away with the cheap Amazon inactive cables, however the link still leads to them. The inactive cable I am talking about is the one found on the Oculus Rift's sensor cameras. I have also started using this active USB 3 cable as well as one (as opposed to the three I was planning to use prior to this edit) CableCreation cables.

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  • I've never tried more than one extension in series, but it might work. I would worry about more plugs to get unplugged or tripping hazard - better to minimize the number of cables. May 2, 2018 at 4:24
  • In a prior Q/A superuser.com/questions/64744/maximum-length-of-a-usb-cable , the answer calculated out the theoretical maximum powered distance for USB 2.0 to be about 125 meters. USB 3.0 will have tighter requirements for timing. This site suggests 18 meters. yourcablestore.com/… May 2, 2018 at 4:28
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    Well, one of the big reasons for the excessive amount of cable is actually to avoid tripping hazards. My plan is to run the cable up the wall and along the ceiling, around the edge of the room. I know that I could get away with using multiple powered cables, but I want to know if I have any use for the included -- but unpowered-- usb cable. Hence the question of using the unpowered cable in tandem with the powered one.
    – user900744
    May 2, 2018 at 6:06
  • @ChristopherHostage, USB 3 has no limit based on timing, it is fully asynchronous full-duplex protocol with deferred out-of order replies. The limitation comes from signal attenuation and cross-talks, which boils down to sheer quality of cables, which has practical limits. May 4, 2018 at 5:25

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Random combinations of active/passive parts from Amazon likely won't work. There are technical difficulties when transmitting USB 3 signals over that long distances. Two solutions exist so far:

  1. Active cables with re-timers every 4 meters, see products from Newnex. Maximum cable without a hub in between is 16 meters, with three re-drivers in between; This is mostly very new developments.

  2. More established fiber-optical converters (USB-fiber-USB), made by Corning Optical Cables. These can run for 30 meter distance.

I haven't tried any active extender cables myself yet. None of these cables, AFAIK, have USB-IF certification logo, but I personally would trust more the Corning solution.

But if your active extender ends with active Type-A receptacle,

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it is very likely that the USB 3 signal would be fully restored at this end, and extra passive cable of your device will likely work.

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  • Thank you for your suggestions. Unfortunately, while my budget is fairly loose I'm not sure if I can make the investment into the optical USB cables. From what you have said about the way the cable ends, it looks as if the cables I have selected should work, however I will update my answer as necessary.
    – user900744
    May 5, 2018 at 6:13
  • Even if I did opt for the optical USB, it would most likely only be one cable, since the second longest distance I need to run cables is about 6m but the shortest optical USB is 10m. Even running the cable to the farthest camera will only be about 9m, though I'm not going to be too fussed about an extra meter of cable.
    – user900744
    May 5, 2018 at 6:23
  • @JEBtheGamer1, USB 3.x specifications define reasonably-manufacturable cables to be no more than 2 m long for normal A-B cables, and just under 1 m with micro-B connector, and they are guaranteed to work only if they are USB-IF certified and carry out the official USB-IF logo. Use various extensions and other cable combinations at your own risk. May 5, 2018 at 20:29
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The short answer, from what I have found, is yes. A huge thanks to Christopher Hostage for linking me to a place with the answer.

Yourcablestore.com's "USB Cable Length Limitations And How To Break Them" page says the following:

You can use a regular USB cable in conjunction with an active cable as long as the regular cable is ... not more than 3 meters (9 feet and 10 inches) long for 3.0 devices.

and

[The maximum length of USB 3.0 cable] depends if you are using a regular cable with an active cable or not. If you are not using a regular cable, then ... the maximum recommended length for USB 3.0/3.1 is 18 meters (about 59 feet). If you are using a regular cable ... with an active cable, then ... the maximum recommended length for USB 3.0/3.1 is 15 meters (about 49 feet).

Therefore, you can use an unpowered USB 3.0 cable in tandem with a powered one, however, it will lower the recommended length. USB 2.0 follows a similar pattern, outlined in the parts I omitted from the quote.

EDIT 1: I found in a video review on various USB 3 extension cables that the CableCreation cable (among other 5m USB 3.0 active extension cables) is "one that you'd plug into anything, and it works" (whitedragon101).

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  • After you try it, please update the answer if it actually works or not. Theoreticals from a vendor website versus actual results :) May 2, 2018 at 18:36

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