USB Network Hub / Network to USB products - An Introduction:
Do you need to access a hard disk, printer or memory drive located in another room or even in another building? Or do you want to extend your USB cable to the living room while having your computer in your office? Or how about accessing your camera or hard disk at home over the Internet while on vacation in Bahamas? If you have a LAN network or Internet connection available its a piece of cake!A USB network hub, also called a network to USB unit, USB network hub server or extender, is an easy and effective way to remotely access your USB device anywhere over a LAN network. We will here refer to these devices as a USB network hub.
A USB network hub device is often underestimated as a way to extend a USB port or connect USB ports remotely, but actually it is a very effective, easy and fast way to connect a printer, hard disk, scanner or similar to a computer.
Typically there are two different versions of USB network devices: a USB network hub and a USB CAT5 extender. The difference between a USB CAT5 extender and a USB network hub is that the extender can be seen as a simple USB extension cord, where the LAN cable (CAT5) is the actual cord. A small 1-port USB network hub is placed at both ends of the (LAN) cord and converts the USB network hub signal to LAN and back again to the USB network hub at the other end of the cord. The typical range for a USB CAT5 extender is 100 to 150 feet, and offers only one additional USB network hub port per extension cord.
The USB network hub is a more complex than the USB CAT5 extender. It is placed anywhere in your LAN network and acts like a small USB network hub server with its own IP address. The USB network hub can be used with almost any type of devices including printers, scanners, fax machines, cameras, mass storage drives, hard disks and similar. The USB network hub needs software drivers installed in order to work; this is however usually a simple automated process.
The USB network hub typically comes in 2 port, 4 port or 8 port versions.
When using a USB network hub an additional USB network hub port will appear in Windows Device Manager which can be used almost like any standard USB network hub port. Most USB network hubs works well with most printers, scanners, fax machines and other complex devices.
