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Are you a server/network engineer like me with a laptop? Do you frequently undertake configuring, managing and troubleshooting various network infrastructure devices like switches, routers and firewalls? And have you often found yourself in a catch twenty-two situation, where you are unable to do so, just because you have all the expertise and tools, except for one? A USB to Serial Cable Converter! A GENERAL BRIEF A USB to Serial cable/converter, also known as USB to RS-232 Serial converter is a unique adapter that allows PCs/Laptops without a serial port to have one! Thereby allowing a person to undertake various activities, like transferring data from various devices like FDAs and digital cameras or connecting the legacy peripherals and communication devices, such as serial modems and ISDN terminal adapters. But, by far, its best use for network engineers is to help run terminal emulation programs like, Telnet/PuTTY/Tera Term Pro, thereby allowing us to connect to various IT/network infrastructure devices from our laptops, which hardly come with any serial ports these days. TECHNICAL DETAILS After installation, these simple low-cost, hot-swappable, easily plug and play devices; operate like a standard COM port and allow data transfer rates from 500kbps to 6Mbps, supporting detection of USB suspend condition; thus enabling us to use them without an external power adapter. The USB to Serial port converter/cable has a type A male USB connector on one end and a 9-pin DES male connector on the other end. With industry standard specification like USE v1.1(0)/USE CDC v1.1/USB 2.0 behind them; they tend to work seamlessly in all the 32 and 64-bit operating systems of Windows, Mac and Linux. Once they are installed, a person can control and modify their COM port settings and baud rates, without worrying about any resource conflict. Additionally these devices have support for over-current protection, remote wake-up and advance power management as well! AVAILABLE OPTIONS These USB to serial converters is made available in either 1ft or 6ft cable lengths in White/Blue/Grey or Black color with side connector screws or without them. Other notable variants to check-out for would be USB-to-Two Port Serial converter. It allows you to have two serial ports in your PC/Laptop if you have a requirement for that many! Also if you need to connect an older modem with female DB25 adapter, you can do so, by using a DB25 adapter connected to the DES connector of your USB to Serial converter/cable. THE BOTTOM LINE Whether you need to transfer data between devices or want to run terminal emulation programs, these USB to serial converters makes it easy to do so and thus serve as a perfect solution for data connectivity between your PC/Laptop’s USB ports and a standard RS-232 serial port, as found on a variety of legacy devices, such as modems. Other uses include connection with devices like card readers, barcode scanners and other serial devices out there! So when you are about to buy a USB to serial connector, try choosing the one with USB 2.0 specification and double check the availability of drivers for your operating system. Author Bio: David Johnson is a freelance writer and blogger. He has an excellent knowledge about all kind of Computer Peripherals like, Connector cable, DES connector, DB25 adapter, serial port and many more. He takes great delight in sharing this knowledge through his articles, which are fresh, insightful and interactive.
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Connector Cable, DB25 adapter, DES connector, female DB25 connector, RS-232 serial port, RS232 splitter, USB / serial portable adapter,
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