USB 3 cable length with HDD

[Digby]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this. It seems that max recommended cable length for USB3 is 3 metres, beyond you need hubs and things like that. I want to use a USB HDD on a 3 metre cable, has anyone had problems doing this and maintaining consistent USB3 speeds. Are there better and worse cables (quality wise for this)? I understand it might be more to do with cable gauge, than length, so just wondering how to ensure buying a quality cable and others experiences, if any.

 

[maverickronin]

I've used 3m Amazon Basics USB3 cables with external hard drives and never had a problem with keeping a connection or speed in general.

Any longer and you'll probably need hub/active repeater because of timing issues.

 

[DVDdoug]

This is from Wikipedia:

Unlike previous standards, the USB 3.0 standard does not specify a maximum cable length, requiring only that all cables meet an electrical specification: for copper cabling with AWG 26 wires, the maximum practical length is 3 meters (10 ft).

So as long as the cable is from a legitimate manufacturer and USB3 certified, it should be fine.

 

[Dunring]

I've had several of the 10ft Amazon Basics USB cables and never had a hard drive slowdown or playback problems with a DAC. They really have good house brand cables there.