PCs cable length

[jackpilot]

My experience is that the back of the computers has to be easily accessible.
Right now my PC setting is a mid-nightmare (see pic), having to tiptoe between the cables.

I'm planning to have them on a low shelf ,facing backwards, but away from the cockpit.
Cables length (VGA, network and USB) should be 15 feet.
Any (signal) problem with that?

[Bob Reed]

No Jack, that should be fine I have run VGA over 100'.

[ETomlin]

Yep, I have a 25' cable and no issue here. VGA can be ran for quite a while. Ethernet cable too.

[NeoMorph]

Two things about the VGA cable... (but I'm probably teaching gran to suck eggs)...

1. Make sure it is good quality cable... thin cable is easier to lay but it picks up EMF like a bitch (I have a VGA cable of around 20ft that ghosts the image something awful... Was a Belkin one I picked up at my local PC shop when I needed to have a secondary screen for my server that was hidden away in a cupboard.)

2. Try to keep the cable as far away from any mains cable as possible. EMF is your worst enemy for long VGA cables. If you have a decently shielded cables though it doesn't make of an impact... I have a really thick one that replaced the Belkin one and you could sit it right next to the mains without it affecting it.

Actually it's the USB cables that get a bit iffy when they get longer. Some USB products refuse to work over 10ft without a repeater... Your 15ft is nearing the limit for full speed devices. The full info you need to read is here... http://www.usb.org/about/faq/ans5. The only reason is I tried this with my home automation setup running USB interface panels and failed dismally for a while... the system just wouldn't recognise that the USB device was attached and threw up the dreaded "USB Device not Recognized. One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it."... all because the cable was too long.

Now there is a way to extend the USB cables longer than normal... I have one that goes from one side of the house to the other.
Something like this... http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-Cat5-e-Cat6-RJ45-Convert-Cord-EXTENDER-CABLE-Laptop-/360292536074?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e31bcf0a

[jackpilot]

Thanks for the info and the links.
Never too much data when making any change to a working system!!
JP

[NeoMorph]

One thing I forgot to mention... the annoying thing about the Belkin cable is that it was in a sealed pack (ie I couldn't see how thick the cable was. It said  it was shielded on the pack but was probably using bacofoil (and the thinnest they could get away with at that).

I would have taken it back as unfit for use but I lost the darn receipt.