Will USB 2.0 degrade through connectors?
From my experience, USB extender cables work, with caveats.


Power


A device I have draws 460mA out of the allowed 500mA. It will only work with good quality cables (ie, with enough copper in them), no extenders, and only some ports on the PC (those on the mobo, not those on the front, which go through more cables). Contact and wire resistance matters...

Less power-hungry devices will cause less problems.


Data


USB Bulk mode retransmits packets when an error is detected. 

If your device uses bulk mode, a little more bit errors will reduce throughput (slightly). If there are enough bit errors to make enumeration fail, though, it won't work at all.

I have used extenders with high speed devices without problems.

When you think about it, the USB connectors on the front of your PC go through an extender cable... and they're connected to the mobo with 0.1" headers, which I honestly doubt respect the USB impedance spec...

Why not try? I'm pretty sure it will work, as long as all connectors are USB certified.