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<< So.. does this mean that I can stuff my computer into my huge-a$$ closet and use the computer in complete silence? My closet has a door and everything and it's essentially a mini-room. I use it to hang my clothes and as a "server room".
And I just need to get a few USB extension cables and a couple of hubs to attach the keyboard and mouse? >>
Yes, you can. Several vendors even offer products tailored exactly for this use. They offer one cable with all the generic cables (keyboard, mouse, RGB, etc) combined into a single cable. DVI cables are also available in lengths of 25 feet to 50(?) feet, if you use an LCD. If you want Firewire, repeaters are also available that will extend the length of those connections.
In the past, the main problem with such distance computing was USB. USB, as you all know, is spec'd to work over a maximum cable length of 5 meters (16 feet); it has always been possible to daisy chain up to five hubs, to act as repeaters, but this was problematic for obvious reasons.
Now, USBCable.com and a few other vendors offer USB extender products. They sell a little box that extends the USB cable distance up to 330 feet. Thus, it is now possible to use a USB mouse, USB keyboard, USB LS-120 floppy drive, and USB CDwriter...with your main PC up to 330 feet away. Basically, you'd have a monitor, mouse, keyboard, USB hub, small USB extender box, USB CD-writer, and USB LS-120 floppy drive at your workspace....with your PC as far away as you want.
If I were building a new house now, I would design my new home with the appropriate cabling to support a single computer room with all the boxes, with the appropriate connections (wall/plates with RGB or DVI output, several USB outputs, ethernet, and maybe even Firewire). That way, I could build top performance, noisy PCs, stick them all in one room away from the living space...and use them with a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and CD writer...from anywhere in the house. You could just keep your PCs on all the time in that room...or, you could use a PS/2 keyboard and the keyboard power-on function of most better motherboards. >>
Are you sure that you can shoot a hub off of this extender? It says one port only. I would suspect, as you do, that it would work, but maybe it is a fluke of the extender technology that makes it unable to add a hub.
If it does work, I think that this would be the ideal way in which to have a computer closet. You only have to wire your house for VGA or BNC, and ethernet to have a remote PC. If you still need to be close to your serial/PS2/Parrallel ports, for $99 you can buy this which you can hook to the USB hub which is in turn connected to your 330' extender.
I think that I won't do this till all is available in USB 2.0 though, so that there won't be any bandwidth limitations. Well there will be, but isn't it 480Mbs vs. 12Mbs? I guess the cat5e cable would then limit the extender. But maybe not. For the gigabit ethernet (1Gbs), don't they still use normal cat5e?
When I build my house, I will definately have a soundproof room for my computers!! Or else, I'll just put it all in the furnace room!
Just dreamin'
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