Connecting 2 computers via usb?

[revil]

is this possible?

[Jeffbx]

I've never done it, but here's some places that you can look:


(From http://www.usb.org/faq/ans5.html#q6)
Q6: How can I connect two PCs to each other with USB?
A6: You need a specialized USB peripheral known as a USB bridge (sometimes called a USB to USB adapter) to do this. Anchor Chips and e-Tek labs, among others, make USB bridges.

http://www.3com.com/products/usb.html
http://www.easylinkusb.com/
http://www.techadvice.com/help/Products/U/USBnetAdapters.htm

[spigidygak]

Yup, just buy the special cable that allows you to connect together. . . they're around 70 bucks at Crack USA.

[hapoo]

ohh, one word of caution DO NOT PLUG A NORMAL USB CABLE FROM ONE COMPUTER TO ANOTHER, doing this will short out the motherboard. (although i did do it once out of stupidity and walked away to tell about it)

[Startide]

Original Question posted by Reverend Evel Knievel:
Is it possible?

ANSWER: It is VERY possible. I use a USB-to-USB cable between my laptop and main PC (which houses my hard drive farm). File transfer speed is hundreds of megs in just minutes, so it is especially useful in taking your laptop with you to various friends' homes and transferring large files like a pollinating bee....

Connecting two PC's together via USB requires use of a special USB-to-USB cable. This cable has a small module containing some specialized electronics to perform the task. DO NOT ever connect two USB ports together using a regular USB cable as that will short them out. Connecting two USB ports together should only be done using a special USB-to-USB cable.

Furthermore, there are two different types of USB-to-USB cable. One type lets you transfer, copy, or delete files between machines (and that's all it does). This cable typically runs $39.95 internet mailorder, but can be less at computer trade shows. Another more advanced cable lets you network between the two machines but is more expensive.

Each type of cable has its own driver. The basic driver comes free with its respective cable, of course. In the case of the USB networking cable, some 3rd party companies have developed more advanced driver interface replacements that work in tandem with Microsoft Explorer. Those more advanced drivers are sold for $86 or so.

I posted detailed articles on the USB-to-USB cable on USENET along with explanation as to similar types along with URL to download the drivers. I did so because my original vendor (buy.com) sold to me a cable that was missing the driver diskette (must have been another infernal product return).

You can read my posts on USB-to-USB cables via Deja in the comp.sys.laptops newsgroup here (http://www.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=646475426) and here (http://www.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=647933688). Click to read these posts in a new window.

DEJA HINT: when searching for articles by author, just find any article by that author, then click on their name. This gets you a list of newsgroups they posted in and you can then click on the newsgroup corresponding to the topic. This method is faster than searching by Deja keyword because most authors don't put usable keys into their postings and so Deja returns a zillion useless articles in the search results.

If you have specific questions or problems, read my usenet posts and if they don't answer your questions, send email. Please don't send email if it is the type "I refuse to read my manual and will ask you instead to save my time in doing any research online". I'm NOT being mean, it's just that people from usenet read my posts and then send email questions to things they already had the answers to (but refused to RTFM). I'm amazed there are so many who don't RTFM!!!

FOLLOWUP:
http://www.outpost.com sells both types of USB-to-USB cables. The USB-to-USB File Transfer cable (item #63445) is $29.95 delivered overnite and the USB-to-USB Networking cable (item #22432) is $49.95 delivered overnite. If you insist on Belkin, then look up item #66009 for $69.95. Pretty good in-stock prices from an excellent vendor. I paid more at buy.com and it was used and missing its diskette too.

SUGGESTED APPLICATIONS:

1. If you don't have cable/DSL, you can download at school, library, cafe using the fast T3. Then use the USB cable to move the files into your laptop.

2. You can cross-pollinate files with friends' machines using USB... Very convenient in keeping each other up to date if one of you has a laptop.

3. You can connect machines together more safely than with true Ethernet, particularly if one of the machines is potentially infected. The file transfer cable has to handshake across the interface (read the hardware PDF description in my Deja URLs above) and so get a sort of firewall effect if you need to save files from an infected machine. Before you do so, set one side to disallow file delete.

I hope that this was not too much information and that it was all useful. Now, hopefully, this thread stays alive long enuf for other people to point similar questions to it.

-- Startide
[edited this post to remove formerly valid html formatting]

[Edited by Startide on 09-07-2000 at 01:14 AM]

[Speedfreak]

Good job, Startide. That seems to be one hell of a complete answer. I won't be doing this but it's nice to know that there is a special cable and that the wrong one will short the mobo. I have never looked into doing this so I didn't know that, but I HAVE seen a variety of USB cables while just looking for an extension for my mouse.

Good Nfo.

[Startide]

The USB-to-USB file transfer cable has a module in the middle of it as in the staples.com picture below.
http://www.staples.com/images/products/catalog/products/im1392613_01_std.jpg

You can daisy chain these USB devices.

http://www.belkin.com/support/faq/graphics/Image3.gif

[Edited by Startide on 08-06-2001 at 09:32 AM]

[Speedfreak]

Ahhh... ok. I think I have seen one like that.

Thanks.

[revil]

Cool, thanks. Good details.

[Sandman]

These cables are handy especially if you wish to transfer files between computers that don't have nics, it is a hell of a lot faster than via a serial cable...

I believe there are even drivers for other OS's as well.

[pfaustino]

I use a USB to Ethernet adapter with my computer.

Theoretically you can get two of those - one for each computer - connected by an ethernet cable. It is recognized by Win9x as a 10/100 Fast Ethernet adapter although transfer rates are bottlenecked to 10mbps. The 100 is just there for compatibility with people who have 100 hubs/switches.

They only cost around $38 a piece. SMC and DLink makes them

Patrick

[Startide]

At $29.95 Delivered, USB-to-USB is a nice universal solution since almost every modern PC has it. I also have a USB-to-Ethernet D-Link adapter, but I usually use the USB-to-USB one instead due to convenience. Being a single solution item, I usually carry it in my laptop carrying case and a copy of the driver software is stored on my hard drive in case another machine needs it and doesn't have a means of downloading it from the net.

FOLLOWUP:
Hard Drive Farms are where you have a machine whose main purpose is to host a bunch of large hard drives. You can take your obsolete motherboard and old pentium CPU and put it into a case that has room for hard drives. You can have four EIDE hard drives in there. Also, you can drop in one of those SCSI cards (which is what I've also done) so that your old scsi drives can get a home for them as well.

The USB serves as a convenient connection between the machines and you can exchange/delete files as needed. The old machine doesn't need a lot of CPU speed, so as long as you have Win98 over there, you're set. USB lets me physically isolate the drive farm easily and on the fly too.

Because I have an old 7-disc Nakamichi SCSI CDROM changer drive, I also host that changer on the old machine for reading cdrom burns.... Can you say Nutella? I new you liked that chocolatey knut paste!

[Edited by Startide on 10-16-2000 at 04:02 PM]

[Startide]

Ha, did a backup for a friend using the cable. He has two PC's located at almost opposite ends of the house. Took my laptop over, copied most of the essential contents of one partition onto the laptop, took the laptop over to the other PC, then downloaded the partition into the other desktop PC. He was amazed at how convenient USB was (no configuring needed) since he is computer illiterate and treats all PCs as "appliances".

[Startide]

ComputerGeeks is selling the USB Networking cable so that you can create a LAN via USB. $39 New by Belkin.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=205-5056

I am getting really tempted. Head to head gaming between two PC's via USB? Don't know if that is possible, but it is interesting to speculate.

[Startide]

Laplink Gold has jumped on the bandwagon of transferring files between two PCs with their Laplink Gold product at $170. At that price, though, it's only for people who don't know to buy the active ingredient (the special USB cable) separately. A review of Laplink Gold is here (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134244117_revu05.html).

Does anyone know of low-cost sources of the USB networking cable? This is not the USB file-transfer cable, but is the networking one.

[Startide]

FOLLOWUP:

Well, it is about time that motherboards started to address the USB-to-USB networking issue, especially since newer motherboards all seem to have four USB ports.

The MSI K7T Turbo-R Limited Edition motherboard (reddish motherboard) has a USB-to-USB ability. It can connect to any other PC's USB port for data and file transfer. As far as I know, if you have all your machines using this motherboard, they can all see each other. This was not clear to me on the MSI website, but perhaps sending some more comments to the webmaster will get it updated.

[revil]

Dang this is an old thread. and with over a thousand views!

[Startide]

As of now, there are quite a few approaches that we can all connect different PC's together through a USB network. It is a COOL idea to be able to transfer files or run applications from one PC at one end of a house to another PC at the other end of the house.

HOW? For USB to have long wire runs, you can either buy a cheap USB repeater (they can drive a 80-foot long wire for $30 as sold at my local B&M) or you can use a lot of USB hubs (each one will renew the USB signal, but this is an expensive way to do it). There is a USB-to-phoneline networking adapter (you need two) but they are limited to a slow 1MBsec.

NOW, for choices of USB-to-USB cables, you can search for the best prices for the following products: Iogear SmartLink USB Bridge Cable
Buslink DataTransfer Cable 6ft
Aten USB to USB Networking Cable for PC & Mac
EXP USB Directlink Cable - Data Transfer for 2 USB Hosts
Aten USB to USB Networking Cable
StarTech USB to USB Direct Networking Cable
Jaton USB-to-USB Cable
SIIG USB to USB transfer cable
Xircom USBNet Instant USB Network
Belkin USB Direct Connect
Many times, this USB-to-USB approach is the cheapest practical fast solution for file exchange/storage. You can put the huge 60GB or 80GB drives in your desktop PC and then USB network the laptop over to it for $59 (usb network cable) or use the $30 (USB file-transfer cable) instead. I am amazed at how these USB-to-USB cables have dropped in price over the past six months. It's quite practical.

These things are getting so common that even Staples.com sells it (in their USB cables section) for $49 before you apply one of their coupons. Many cables are rebadged versions. For example, the SIIG and Buslink cables are identical (and the USB driver software is usable on either, so pick the software that gives you the best features). In general, "rebadgers" are unable to make their own driver software, so you get stuck with what the original manufacturer gives you.

The LOWEST-PRICED SOURCES are the sellers at eBay where USB transfer cables are about $11 shipped ($1 min bid plus $10 atrocious shipping; if no one bids against you). CLICK HERE (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=usb+transfer) for a list of eBay sellers of USB transfer cables.

[Edited by Startide on 08-06-2001 at 09:10 AM]

[Startide]

Originally posted by Reverend Evil
Dang this is an old thread. and with over a thousand views! Hopefully, this thread will continue to be updated as USB 2.0 continues it roll out. USB 2.0 is genuinely seriously fast, but needs new hardware, hubs, and well-shielded USB cables. With USB 2.0, the concept is possible where you have several PC hooked together via USB and a standalone USB 2.0 80GB hard drive is hooked to the common hub.

[Edited by Startide on 08-06-2001 at 09:17 AM]

[Startide]

Although my laptop only has USB 1.1, the desktop is able to host a PCI card for USB 2.0. So, I am now tempted to buy some of the extra fast USB hard drives now sold at stores like CompUSA and BestBuy. Maxtor, Buslink, and Western Digital have come out with external USB 2.0 drives that I've already seen for sale at BestBuy and CompUSA. The Buslink even comes with a PCI card to give your desktop USB 2.0 capability, so that is very good!

[attgig]

WOW startide.
I don't think I've ever seen you in any other thread/forum...
but, he he, seems like you're keeping this one updated quite well!

nice job :D

[Cheesypuff]

Originally posted by Sandman
These cables are handy especially if you wish to transfer files between computers that don't have nics, it is a hell of a lot faster than via a serial cable...

I believe there are even drivers for other OS's as well.

I didn't know that you can connect 2 computers by serial...I thought only parellel, usb, or network cord(wireless also) but didn't konw you can do it by serial.

[TommyBoomfiger]

Originally posted by Cheesypuff
I didn't know that you can connect 2 computers by serial...I thought only parellel, usb, or network cord(wireless also) but didn't konw you can do it by serial.

ive connected computers with serial cable, parallel, both serial and parallel (makes it faster, one sends one recieves), and even a crossed over phone cable. i did this once before a long time ago to play doom deathmatch. dont remember how i did it though, cause i dont remember crimping any cables and i didnt have any nics back then.

[Startide]

Originally posted by Cheesypuff:
I didn't know that you can connect 2 computers by serial...I thought only parellel, usb, or network cord(wireless also) but didn't konw you can do it by serial.If things come to worse, you can simply use a nullmodem connector between the serial ports of two computers and transfer files using modem programs on the two machines. This would be essentially the same as downloading files from a FIDO BBS (for those who remember the good old days) only it would be a lot faster.

Typically, you have direct connections between PC's such as:

SERIAL --> setup one PC as a BBS to serve the files
SERIAL WITH NULLMODEM --> each PC runs a terminal program
PARALLEL --> either DCC or the "laplink" approach
USB --> filetransfer cable or the network cable approaches

As TommyBoomfiger indicated in the prior post, you can use more than one method at a time. For example, there's nothing wrong about using both the serial and parallel methods at once or in tandem with USB other than confusion from clicking all the different windows...

[Startide]

If you network more than two computers, you can actually use a HUB as shown in the picture below:

http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/gifs/usb4pc.gif

[Startide]

*sniffle* After all this time I am still a lowly lieutenant. Will I ever get a promotion? Stay tuned. Don't switch the channel.

[DaFunkyUnit]

Originally posted by Startide
*sniffle* After all this time I am still a lowly lieutenant. Will I ever get a promotion? Stay tuned. Don't switch the channel.

maybe your rank should be "USB Guy" or something...

[Startide]

The best price I've seen in a retail shop so far is at Fry's Electronics. It is $14.90 for the cable. Fry's had quite a few brands of these cables. My favourite of the bunch was the BAFO brand. Good price and the software driver was not written in Engrish.

[revil]

holy carp. this is old.

[kei2]

So old in fact that the original user Reverend Evil doesn't seem to exist any longer... ;-P Before my time...

[Startide]

Wow, I'm a mere Lieutenant and I've managed to outlast any number of my superiors (including Admirals). I don't know if that is a good thing though.

Anyways, I still use USB 2.0 networking and file transfer. The use of file transfer only cables seems to be immune to virus infection, so even if one side was totally infected, your files on the other side would be immune unless that virus knew how to create a set of USB drivers on BOTH sides of the hardware connection.

[revil]

holy carp! this thread won't die! Damn you reverend evil!