Using a USB print server a USB extension?

[callisto]

i was looking at this and wondering if if can plug in anything (ie a webcam ) on this rremote usb server?

I want to be able to use cheap USB webcams farther than 10 meters away from my pc, and be able to move it around without hassle of cables in the roof

 

[RoganDawes]

i was looking at this and wondering if if can plug in anything (ie a webcam ) on this rremote usb server?

I want to be able to use cheap USB webcams farther than 10 meters away from my pc, and be able to move it around without hassle of cables in the roof

It is unlikely that this will do what you want to out of the box. As a print server, it would need drivers for the printer attached (or generically, for "a USB connected printer device"). It is unlikely that you will find appropriate kernel drivers for your webcam in the default firmware.

You MAY be able to install OpenWRT on it, and install the necessary bits to make it in to a video server, but I haven't checked if OpenWRT has been ported to that hardware.

If you can install OpenWRT on it, another option is to use the "USB over IP" support that recent kernels offer. It also requires a device driver on a PC, and I believe it is exclusively allocated to a single remote PC, but it should allow you to access any device for which PC drivers exist. I think.

FWIW, that link is massively overpriced: http://www.pricecheck.co.za/search/?search=DP-301U