5 m USB 2.0 extension cable - ferrite cores - 480 mbps - over 65 percent coverage braided shield - USB A (f) to USB A (m) - outer diameter 4.5 mm - 28+24 awg - black

Product Overview

AI-generated summary

For £14.21 ex-VAT, this looks like a fairly standard USB 2.0 A-to-A extension lead with decent shielding for the money. The braided shield and ferrite cores are the bit that actually matter in real life—if you’re running a USB device around a bit of office “noise” (think hubs, power bricks, some UPS/PSU clutter), they’ll help keep annoying disconnects and signal glitches down. At 5m, it’s also a sensible length for typical desks-to-cabinet / desk-to-server-room-rack cable runs without getting into the “USB gets flaky” zone that longer runs can hit.

That said, I wouldn’t buy this if you need fast/clean transfers or if the device is picky. USB 2.0 is fine for keyboards, mice, some barcode scanners, and many peripherals, but for high-bandwidth stuff (external drives, cameras, high-speed dongles) you’re better off using a proper short run directly to the host, or a better-quality extension rated for your use case. Also, A-to-A extensions are sometimes a kludge—if you can avoid an extra joint in the chain, do.

Who should buy: companies fitting out general-purpose USB peripherals where signal integrity in a mildly noisy environment matters, and where 5m is the practical distance. Who shouldn’t: anyone extending for storage/data-heavy devices, or those who routinely see “USB dropouts” and are already fighting power/grounding issues—this cable helps, but it can’t fix a fundamentally unsuitable setup.