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I am using a USB extension lead to extend the length of my usb cable and I am wondering do these slow down the transfer of data from an external hard drive to the machine.

MR T
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    If you already are using the cable (as you have stated in your question), why don't you run a benchmark test with large file or a set of files transferred with and without extension? – Art Gertner Jul 14 '14 at 14:45

1 Answers1

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As per USB interface specifications you should not experience any decrease in speed as long as you use standard, non-modified cable. Standard cables however always come in length equal or smaller than maximal allowed length for USB. These are:

  • 3m for USB 1.0
  • 5m for USB 2.0
  • 3m for USB 3.0

Any cable that exceeds this length is likely to cause malfunction or communication errors or result into performance decrease. You are not advised to use cables longer then specified in USB specs.

For more details read USB: Cabling section on wiki

Also take a look at this thread: How seriously does cable length affect USB 3.0 transfer speeds?

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Art Gertner
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