Free PC Support

[Goldenballs]

Hi,

really hoping someone can help, this is doing my head in...

I bought 2 identical USB repeater extension cables last week, both 5m long, with the purpose of using them to get my Belkin G wi-fi dongle closer to the router to get a better signal.

When I try and use the cables, individually or together, on my home PC (about 18 months old, running Vista Home), I get the message 'Unrecognised Device' for ANY device I plug into the end of the cable - whether it's the Belkin dongle, SD card reader, digital camera etc. There is a light at the socket end of the cable, so power is definitely getting there. I've tried using all the USB sockets on my PC including the ones on the back, but no joy. The only other USB devices I have connected to the PC are the mouse and keyboard.

I've tried exactly the same set-up on my laptop (Windows 7) and work PC (Vista Home) and it works fine.

I'm wondering if there isn't enough power from the PC USB sockets to power both the repeater cable and the device... if so, would using a powered USB hub solve the problem?

Any ideas?

Cheers!
Martin

[JonS]

not something I know much of... but an obvious question: you're sure they are repeater cables and not simply extension cables? Any chance the shop sold you the wrong item?

when you plug them in, is any other USB device connected? If so, remove it and try again
Try clearing all USB device entries using [USBdeview and then redetect them
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html


as to your suggested solution, possibly, but it shouldn't need it - unless the USB on the PC is failing