The distance limitations of USB peripheral devices with USB cables can be eliminated with the help of a USB Extender. Three categories of the extender are currently on the market and include the Cat5 extender, the wireless extender and the fiber optic extender.

The inexpensive Cat5 extension device allows USB peripheral extension up to 150 feet over Cat5e cables. Composed of a local transmitter and receiver unit, this extender works on plug and play functionality and does not require any device drivers or additional software to run it. Two models are available: a single port extender and a powered 4-port hub extender. Another Cat5 version, the USB 2.0 Extender operates over Cat 5 cables and supports USB 2.0 peripheral devices. It operates at a speeds up to 480 Mb/s and allows a distance range of up to 330 feet. It is available in a point to point version and a powered 4 port hub version that extends up to four peripheral devices.

High performance and high speed USB peripherals can be connected anywhere up to 100 feet from the computer using the Wireless USB Extender which happens to be the latest in this product category. It works by connecting the sender unit to the computer or the USB source and transmits signals wirelessly to the receiver. It gives the freedom to operate up to four USB peripherals simultaneously. One of the main advantages of using this device is that it eliminates clutter caused due to wires and saves desktop space. This product is compatible with both low and hi-speed USB peripherals and supports multi platforms like Windows XP, Vista, UNIX, Linux and Mac OS. These devices are also compliant with the USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 specifications.

The USB 2.0 Fiber extender allows for long distance transmission over single mode or multimode fiber optic cables, depending on which version is being use. They operate with the same functionality as the other extenders supporting low, full and high speed USB peripherals with plug and play functionality. These units consist of a transmitter and receiver that is power remotely.

Applications requiring the USB peripheral devices to be placed at a distance away from the host computer make use of this hardware device. The USB Extender is therefore commonly used in remote monitoring and training facilities, extension of keyboards and mice in a conference room or corporate and commercial environments using printers and scanners through the facility.