USB cameras, speakerphones, touch panels, and HID devices often need to be located farther from the host than a passive USB cable can reach. Acroname makes two extenders that carry USB and power over Category cable up to 100 m. Each is intended for different applications.
R489 (left) vs USBExt3c (right)
R489 is a compact USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) single-device extender with 12 V DC power extension. USBExt3c adds USB 3 (5 Gbps) with support for host switching, local peripherals, higher power, and BYOM. USBExt3c is overall the more capable option.
| Requirement | R489 | USBExt3c |
|---|---|---|
| USB 2 peripherals | Yes | Yes |
| USB 3 peripherals | — | Yes |
| 100 m extension | Yes (Cat5e+) | Yes (Cat6A) |
| Remote power | up to 24 W | 60 W single / 90 W per unit dual |
| BYOM host switching | with USBHub3+ | Yes |
| Hosts on either end | — | Yes |
| Local peripherals on either end | — | Yes |
| Ethernet / API control | — | Yes |
R489
R489 extends USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) over Cat5e or better cabling. Compact, with remote power, it's ideal for cameras, video bars, and speakerphones where USB 2.0 bandwidth is sufficient. Mounting ears allow flexible installation. The receiver is a drop-in fit for the Logitech Rally PTZ Camera Mount and powers* the camera over one Cat cable, allowing flexible room PTZ camera installations.
R489 receiver in Logitech Rally mount
Power is up to 24 W at 12 V / 2 A over USB PD or barrel connector. The R489 offers 5 V and 12 V PD profiles only.
*Both R489 and USBExt3c support USB PD 12 V profile required by the Rally PTZ camera
USBExt3c
Fully managed, the USBExt3c is more capable: more ports, USB 3, and higher data rates. Any USB-C port on either unit can be the active host, allowing host switching from either end of the extension. Cameras, speakerphones, touch panels, capture devices, and hosts can be placed where they are needed, not where the extender dictates. Local connections run at 10 Gbps when host and device share a unit, 5 Gbps across the extension.
Power one unit and it shares up to 60 W to the remote end over the extension cable. Power both locally and each shares up to 90 W.
USBExt3c BYOM example application
USBExt3c is a good fit for USB 3 peripherals, mixed USB 2/3 rooms, multi-location layouts, and any install needing API or room-control access. It also performs auto BYOM host handoff — a guest laptop takes the room peripherals and returns them to the room PC on disconnect, out of the box. See this post for more BYOM configuration examples.
A note on 4K cameras: 4K over USB requires USB 3 bandwidth. Any USB 2.0 extension will force a 4K-capable camera to drop to HD 1080p. That is sufficient for most conferencing applications, but customers may be surprised to discover that their 4K camera is just providing HD video. USBExt3c can extend 4K cameras at full resolution.
Choosing an Extender
R489 — compact point-to-point extension where USB 2.0 / HD video is sufficient.
USBExt3c — USB 2 and USB 3 peripherals, 4K video, BYOM with auto host switching, room-control integration and management.