I need a reliable USB over Ethernet solution to remotely access a USB device from another PC on my network. I’ve tried a couple of free tools, but they keep dropping connections and sometimes the device isn’t recognized at all. I’m looking for stable, preferably affordable software that works well on Windows and doesn’t require a complex setup. What tools or setups are you using that have been dependable for you?
If the free tools are dropping connections and randomly losing the device, you’re basically experiencing the “classic” cheap USB over network problem: no proper traffic handling, no reconnection logic, and terrible driver hooks.
For a more stable setup, you want something that treats “share USB over LAN” like a proper virtual USB bus, not a half-baked file stream.
A couple of points from my own trial-and-error:
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Avoid most random freeware for serious devices
They’re fine for a thumb drive, but if you’re forwarding anything picky like a USB dongle, industrial controller, audio interface, or even some printers, they just fall apart. The disconnects you’re seeing are usually:- No heartbeat or keepalive between host and client
- Bad handling of power state changes (sleep / hibernate)
- Broken isochronous transfer support for certain devices
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USB Network Gate is actually usable long term
Not saying it’s magic, but in my case it’s the first one that didn’t crap out mid‑session. The “share USB over Ethernet” feature is built like a virtual USB hub on the host, and the remote machine installs a client that mounts it as if it were local hardware.
Key things that made it worth paying for instead of wrestling with other stuff:- Keeps the connection alive for days without silent dropouts
- Handles USB license dongles and weird proprietary gear properly
- Works fine across regular LAN, Wi Fi, and even VPN if you open the ports
- Decent control over who can access what
If you want more detail, this breakdown of real world use with USB Network Gate is worth a skim:
reliable ways to share USB devices across your network -
Network and system tweaks that help stability
Even with good software, a flaky network will still hurt you:- Use wired Ethernet for the host if the device is critical
- Disable power saving on USB controllers in Device Manager
- Turn off “allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” on your network adapter
- If you use VPN, make sure it doesn’t aggressively drop idle connections
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Alternatives if you really want free
You can mess with open source tools and some DIY combos, but:- They often lag on Windows updates
- Support for special USB classes is inconsistent
- Debugging random disconnects will eat more of your life than a paid license ever will
So if this is just for a casual USB stick, then fine, keep hunting free options. If it’s for anything mission critical or you’re tired of re plugging and rebooting because “device not recognized” keeps showing up, a solid commercial tool like USB Network Gate is pretty much the path of least frustration.
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You’re basically in the same boat most of us hit the moment we try to use “free USB over Ethernet” tools for anything more serious than a flash drive. They work great right up until you actually need them.
@cazadordeestrellas already covered a lot of the connection‑stability stuff, and I agree with most of it, but I’ll add a slightly different angle and a couple alternatives so you’re not locked into a single option.
1. First question: what kind of USB device is this?
This changes everything:
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License dongle / proprietary hardware
You want something that does real USB bus virtualization, not just mass‑storage tunneling. This is where a tool like USB Network Gate shines. It hooks deep at the driver level so the remote PC genuinely thinks the device is local.
In real use, it:- Tends to keep sessions up for days without random DCs
- Behaves well with fussy dongles and some industrial stuff
- Plays nice over LAN, WiFi, and VPN if the ports are open
Where I slightly disagree with @cazadordeestrellas is that “most freeware is useless.” It’s not totally useless, but for dongles and special hardware, yeah, 90% of the time it’s pain.
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Simple stuff like USB sticks, basic printers, barcode scanners
You can get away with free or open source if you tolerate the occasional reconnect. It’s just that you’ve already hit the classic problems: dropped sessions, device missing after reconnect, flaky detection after sleep.
2. Other commercial options worth at least checking
Not saying these are better than USB Network Gate, but you asked for options:
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Hardware USB over IP hubs
Instead of software, you buy a small box that you plug the USB device into, and it exports it over the network. Advantages:- Offloads the USB handling from your PC
- Often more stable for 24/7 stuff
- Less drama with OS updates
Downsides: - More expensive up front
- Not all handle isochronous audio / video well
- Management interfaces can be… from 2008
If your use case is “this USB thing lives in a closet/server room and clients connect to it,” hardware is underrated.
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RDP or remote desktop instead of USB over Ethernet
If the device can do its job on the “host” machine directly, sometimes the simplest fix is:- Plug USB device into PC A
- Remote into PC A from PC B (RDP, AnyDesk, etc.)
Now you’re not virtualizing USB at all. You’re just controlling the machine that has it.
This dodges a ton of protocol pain, but obviously only works if your workflow allows it.
3. Stability tweaks people forget about
Some overlap with what was already mentioned, but I’ll lean into the stuff that actually made a difference for me with remote USB DACs and dongles:
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Kill aggressive power saving
- In Device Manager, for USB root hubs and your network adapter, uncheck “allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.
- In advanced power plan settings, disable USB selective suspend.
These alone fix a lot of random “device not recognized” issues after idle.
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Avoid double‑NAT and trash WiFi
USB over IP is chatty. If your device is going over budget mesh WiFi + VPN + ISP router weirdness, you’re basically asking for it to flake.
Use wired on at least the host side whenever possible. -
Static IPs for the host
Nothing fancy, just makes reconnects more predictable when the client software expects the same endpoint.
4. About USB Network Gate specifically
Since you already know the free tools are letting you down, USB Network Gate is honestly the path of least aggravation if you want software only:
- Treats devices as if they’re plugged in locally on the remote PC
- Decent control over who can access which port
- Handles a surprisingly wide range of weird devices without drama
If you decide to try it, grab it from here:
download the latest USB Network Gate version
That’s the easiest way to test if it actually fixes your disconnect issue in your specific setup.
5. When it’s not the software at all
It’s worth saying out loud: sometimes the “USB over Ethernet” tool gets blamed, but the actual culprits are:
- A flaky USB cable or hub on the host side
- Front‑panel case ports that brown out under load
- An underpowered USB device that hates long cables and adapters
Test the device locally on the host PC for a while with no virtualization and no hubs. If it’s not 100% solid there, nothing over Ethernet is going to magically fix it.
If this is for something important like a license dongle or production gear, I’d personally:
- Fix power settings and USB cabling.
- Try USB Network Gate from the link above.
- If it still needs to be rock‑solid and 24/7, seriously consider a hardware USB‑over‑IP box and be done fighting drivers.
The “cheap and free” phase is fun right until you’ve replugged the device for the 15th time in a week 
Since @jeff and @cazadordeestrellas already covered the “use something serious, not random freeware” angle, I’ll zoom in on choosing among the paid / robust options and where USB Network Gate actually fits.
1. When USB over Ethernet is the right tool (and when it is not)
Before picking software, check if you really need USB over IP at all:
- If the device only needs to run on one box and you just need remote access, a solid Remote Desktop setup is often cleaner.
- If the device must appear as local USB on multiple client machines (license dongle, lab gear, custom HID), then USB over Ethernet / IP is the right category and you can ignore “remote desktop instead” advice.
You sound like the second case, since you already tried multiple tools and hit disconnects and “device not recognized”.
2. Where USB Network Gate makes sense
I agree with both replies that USB Network Gate is one of the few “it usually just works” options, but I would not treat it as automatic for every scenario.
Pros of USB Network Gate
- Proper USB bus virtualization, not just storage tunneling
- Surprisingly good with quirky dongles and specialized hardware
- Cross platform support, so you can mix Windows, Linux, sometimes macOS
- Works reasonably over LAN, Wi Fi and VPN as long as latency and packet loss are sane
- Straightforward UI to map specific ports or devices, plus simple access control
Cons of USB Network Gate
- Per seat / per host licensing can get pricey if you scale out
- Closed source, so you rely completely on their update schedule and support
- Not ideal for super high bandwidth isochronous audio / video in low latency scenarios
- Needs a reasonably clean network; it does not magically fix a bad Wi Fi or power saving mess
- Adds another driver layer, which in rare edge cases can interact badly with very old or exotic USB drivers
So: for a small number of important devices where uptime matters more than squeezing every cent, USB Network Gate is a strong candidate. For a big lab full of cheap scanners, it can feel expensive.
3. How it compares to other realistic options
Without rehashing what @jeff and @cazadordeestrellas said, here is the high level positioning:
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Software USB over IP (like USB Network Gate)
- Best fit: a few critical devices, flexible clients, mixed OS environments.
- Main tradeoff: you pay in licenses, but you save time debugging.
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Hardware USB over IP hubs / device servers
- Best fit: data center / server room setups or “this device lives in a closet 24/7”.
- Pros: decoupled from OS updates, very stable once configured.
- Cons: higher upfront hardware cost, clunky management, some models hate isochronous streams.
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Open source stacks (like generic USB over IP implementations)
- Best fit: labs, homelabs, or Linux heavy environments where you accept tinkering.
- Pros: free, scriptable, you can dig under the hood.
- Cons: inconsistent Windows support, slower adjustment to new OS versions, more manual troubleshooting.
You already hit the problems typical of the third group using free tools: no reconnection logic, poor handling of suspend/resume, bad handling of edge case transfer types.
4. Where I slightly differ from the other replies
- I would not rule out some open source solutions if your device is simple (like HID, basic mass storage) and you are on Linux. They can be very stable once tuned.
- I am more skeptical about running any USB over IP stack over flaky Wi Fi, even with “tweaks”. If your use is mission critical, I would treat wired Ethernet on both ends as a requirement, not a suggestion. The software can be perfect and still look broken on a bad link.
- If your device is a high throughput camera, audio interface or similar, I would benchmark before committing to USB Network Gate. It is good for most business hardware, but low latency AV gear can still choke.
5. Practical way to decide
- Verify the USB device is 100% reliable when plugged in locally with a short, good quality cable and no hub. If it misbehaves there, no software will fix that.
- Lock down OS power settings: disable USB selective suspend and the “turn off device to save power” options for both USB controllers and NICs.
- Put host and client on wired Ethernet if at all possible.
- If your use case involves a small number of important devices (license dongles, proprietary instruments, industrial gear), test with USB Network Gate first.
- If you need to share many low value devices to many clients, run a quick comparison: one USB Network Gate license vs a small hardware USB over IP box. Sometimes the box is cleaner long term.
In short: your experience with free tools is typical, not bad luck. USB Network Gate is a reasonable “pay once, stop babysitting connections” step, with the cost and closed source nature being the real tradeoffs. If wired network and power settings are under control, it should solve the random disconnects you are seeing.