The Best USB Extension Cables & USB Couplers:


Sometimes you need to plug in a USB device like a keyboard or mouse several feet away from your computer itself. This might be because your computer is on the floor and you want your keyboard on your desk and the original USB cable it came with isn’t long enough. Luckily, USB extension cables and USB cord extenders can help bridge that gap.

The Best USB Extension Cables & USB Couplers:

Cable Matters SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type A Male to Female Extension Cable in Black 3 Feet
Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 Adapter

Here’s a three foot long (1 meter) USB extension cable. It works with USB 3.0 meaning it’s perfect for keyboards, mice, external hard drives, and other peripherals. It plugs directly into your computer on one end and provides a female USB port to plug your peripheral device into on the other end. If you need more than one USB port at the end though, you may want to consider adding a multiport USB 3.0 hub to the end of your cable.




Cable Matters 2 Pack, SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type A Male to Female Extension Cable in Black 6 Feet
Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 Adapter

Here’s the six foot (1.5 meter) version of the same very well reviewed USB extender cable. Like its sister cables, it offers a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 data transfer rate at up to 5 Gbps, 10x faster than USB 2.0. Again, if you need more than one USB port at the end though, you may want to consider adding a multiport USB 3.0 hub to the end of your cable.

Cable Matters SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type A Male to Female Active Extension Cable 5 Meters/16.4 Feet
Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 Adapter

Need an even longer USB extension cable? Here’s a 16 foot USB 3.0 extension cord. And if that’s not enough, there’s a 32 foot version you can pick up instead. But this is really stretching the maximum length of USB cables. If you need a longer USB extension cable, check out the next option in this list.

Monoprice USB Extender over CAT5E or CAT6 Connection up to 150ft
Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 Adapter

USB cables do have a maximum length limit but if you really need a USB cable that reaches longer than about 30 feet, you’re in luck. You can use this USB to Cat5 or Cat6 ethernet converter device to extend your USB cable up to 150 feet. How does it work? It temporarily converts the “middle section” of your USB cable from normal USB to ethernet– the wired networking cable type. So on one end you’ll have a USB transmitter which you can plug your USB mouse or keyboard or other device into, then you’ll plug in a Cat-6 ethernet cable which you’ll need to buy separately, and then you’ll plug in the ethernet to USB receiver, which you can plug into your computer’s normal USB port.