USB Extender? USB over Ethernet/cat5/cat5e/cat6?

[bob4432]

well, since the tile project is complete i was getting ready to update my home camera setup w/ the usual industrial analog cameras i have used for quite some time along w/ dalums to transmit the video over cat5/5e into a security dvr. the cameras, being analog and a bit on the older side work ok, but they are still limited to about 480p resolution, plus i run b/w mixed w/ color, but b/w mostly since they do so much better at night w/out the need for the annoying 800-850nm "glowing" led array as ambient light does them justice.

well, today a friend had asked if he could use my laptop to log into his place to check on some stuff and he was using a cheap 720p usb2 camera, i think it was one of the microsoft webcams. i was impressed w/ the quality but mostly amazed at the video quality. for me to move everything over to digital and go hd ip cameras and get a new dvr, i am talking multi-thousands of dollars.

i did a bit of research and the one snag in me moving to these hd "webcams"(amazing quality, good color, decent low light, etc) is the fact that i need a longer cable run than usb allows - therein lies the problem. is there anyway to possibly do usb over ethernet, even if it is 1 ethernet pull per usb device? i already have a computer that can handle the data and the "dvr" software price is not something i would be worried about when you compare it to a ip camera setup.

i have no problem running powered usb ports on both ends, can run cat5/5e or 6 - whatever is necessary since if this could be done, it would be pennies to the alternative of going even cheap hd ip cameras.

please advise if this is an option, if anybody has done this and if so what software they have had good luck w/.

just as another bit of info, i would have the cameras set to probably 1-5fps in "normal" mode then jump to 10-15fps when movement was noticed. can encode into whatever is needed and can have a quad doing the encoding if necessary. would probably review via a rdp connection when away but when at home just have the vga going into my home 40" lcd as i already have this setup w/ my current thousand $$ dvr.

bob

 

[Blain]

I've used the extenders with Cat5e for a printer.
They should work for your situation.
Make sure and buy quality adapters rated for USB 2.0 speed.

 

[Modelworks]

Here is the thing they don't tell you about USB. You can run it much much longer than the spec states. The requirement is that you use good quality twisted pair wiring. USB has the limit it has because most cables are not twisted pair and are stranded . They use an external shield instead to lower cost.

A lot of the cheaper cat5 adapters are just sockets internally to make the transition.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Extend-yout-USB-using-UTP/

You have to pay upwards of $20 per adapter to get ones that actually do some type of conversion,so about $40 per device to do both ends.

 

[bob4432]

could anybody link me to the adapters that will alllow the longer reach and be reliable? even @ $40 per camera for the adapters, the low cost and higher quality of the cameras will offset the difference since i only need to run 4 or 5 cameras. w/ cheap ip cameras, 4 or 5 would be $1k easy, w/ the hd webcams that is only $300 then another $200 for adapters, plus the multi-thousand $$ savings on a ip/ethernet/network based dvr?, or is the instructables setup a good way to go?

i can make my own cables and verify them via a fluke meter a buddy has, and the cat5e cable i have is solid core, plenum cable. i can look up the gauge if necessary if that would be of any assistance regarding this.

 

[Modelworks]

You could run the cable and try the instructable method, if it fails then spend the money for the converters.

These have the proper chips internally.
http://www.apccables.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=APC-4902&eq=&Tp=