You plan on using "UNshielded CAT 5 cable" as a 25 foot USB 2 cable? Well,
I think you'll greatly enjoy the data corruption from the noise interference
your cable will be subject to. Why bother with Standards anyway...

--

DaveW

___________
"Bennett Price" <bjpriceNOSPAM@itsa.ucsf.edu> wrote in message
news:zdcNh.2402$u03.2333@newssvr21.news.prodigy.ne t...
> My backup device is a USB 2.0 250 MB Iomega Hard Drive.I'd like to put it
> in my garage, requiring about 20 to 25 feet of wire. The official
> USB specs say 5 meters max; if further use a hub/repeater.
>
> I'm wondering how realistic the 5 meter spec is. I recall that parallel
> printer cables were supposed to be limited to 10 feet or so; 75 foot
> cables worked just fine. Same thing with the specs for RS-232 cables.
>
> Does anyone have any real world experience with long USB 2.0 cables?
> I'm thinking of building mine using unshielded CAT5 cable, one twisted
> pair for power, another for data. Wise? foolish?