usb cat5 extenders?

A skeptic friend says these draw more current than most USB devices and should be used on a powered hub and not right into a desktop or laptop USB jack where they might blw the circuit.

FWIW.

I have WiFI on a a 25 ft USB extender cable working with into a desktop system, just fine.

I'm rather sceptic myself ;) Those extenders, lots of them apparently are the same with just minor cosmetic differences, seem to be somewhat esoteric.

I know, we're using passive 5 meter extension cables that work fine, we even used a 10 meter cable (usb spec says that won't work) that seemed to run fine too.

However, utp has some advantages compared to usb cable e.g. outdoor connectors are easily available and cheap. A usb connector isn't really "user-installable" as well.

Thanks for your input though.

I hope to get some samples to try the extender and run some tests (hopefully *not* blowing up a laptop in the process).

The USB extender I bought claims to have amplification. It shouldn't be rocket science.

Of course, but even more than a USB extender, a CAT5 long-line driver needs amplification and/or impedance matching.