Home internet setup

[Snowreap]

correct, a USB->Ethernet adapter won't work backwards. there are two reasons why: first, you need special software to translate USB signals into something that can be carried in Ethernet packets, and software at the other end to convert things back again. second, there is a big difference between a USB host port (the socket you plug devices into) and a USB device plug (the plug that goes into a hub socket). devices can only connect to host ports, host ports can't connect to each other and devices can't connect to each other (unless you have a special dual-mode device that can act as either a host or a device, but even in that case it can never act as both at once).

USB is designed to work without bus terminators. but without bus terminators, when the electrical pulse representing a bit hits the end of the cable, the energy of the pulse will be reflected back the way it came. the length limits for USB cables are calculated so that the reflected signal won't cause electrical problems or data corruption. all this to make the wires easy to manage, and to make it ok to leave loose cables plugged in with nothing connected to them. it makes things easy for the user, but it also results in these kinds of engineering restrictions.

by powered hub I mean a hub that gets power from its own AC adapter, rather than getting its power from the PC. USB cables do two things -- they supply power to connected devices, and they also provide a data connection that allows those devices to communicate with your PC. a repeater cable is optimized for data, not power delivery (and it may use so much power itself that there's little left to run your downstream devices anyway). it works best when you leave the job of power delivery to another device (a powered hub).

-ken