[Oeshon]

Hi everyone,

I'm a new poster in this forum but I have been lurking for quite a while. Something has been bothering me greatly.
I used to play with an MX518 that I connected directly to my pc. Since then Ive used an abyssus and now the KANA. The KANA I have run exclusively with a usb extension cable at 1000hz.
The cable is not too long, its about 3 meters. For some reason tonight I just decided to remove the usb extension cable and connect the mouse directly. I did this mainly because no matter
how much I have been playing around with the polling rate of the KANA, it always felt a little off. So now without the usb extension cable the mouse just feels different. I tested it quite a bit in Quake Live
and the lift off distance felt better and also the tracking felt more responsive.
I have used two usb extension cables before, and the feeling is the same with both, so I'm guessing its not the fault of the cable that is causing data loss or something to that effect.
Is it true that usb extension cables cause delay and just not the same responsiveness as connecting the mouse directly?
And is it possible that I could have damaged the mouse or the computer in any way by using the extension cable?

 

[AlphaC]

Quote:

The cable is not too long, its about 3 meters

USB 2.0 specifies a max of 5ft, 3meters is pretty long (~9ft).

The cable acts as a resistor, so you get some usually minute voltage drop. That's why sometimes when you plug in USB drives into extensions they won't read properly. (This doesn't happen with powered hubs)

There's active USB extension cables that act as a repeater for the signal but they're rather pricey.

You didn't damage either by using an extension, you just added latency / signal loss.

 

[Mattb2e]

what alpha said is correct. the resistance of the cable will increase with length. wire gauge amperage and voltage also are contributing factors. with a usb cable that has a constant voltage and amperage, added resistance will effect the performance of a peripheral. its all dependent on how long the cable is.

 

[Oeshon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaC

USB 2.0 specifies a max of 5ft, 3meters is pretty long (~9ft).

The cable acts as a resistor, so you get some usually minute voltage drop. That's why sometimes when you plug in USB drives into extensions they won't read properly. (This doesn't happen with powered hubs)

There's active USB extension cables that act as a repeater for the signal but they're rather pricey.

You didn't damage either by using an extension, you just added latency / signal loss.

Thank you for the answer.