Electronic – Connectorless USB on a PCB

If this is for production access only, then here's a trick I used once. The PCB (standard 0.062" thickness) was designed with SMT pads along one edge (both sides) so that a 2×7 0.100" JTAG header could be soldered to it, with the pins sticking out from the edge. This was useful for debugging prototypes, which needed more or less constant access to the JTAG (and weren't in cases).

In production, the connector is omitted, and I used a slightly modified DIP clip to access the pads for the connector. I just needed to bend the contacts inward a bit to get adequate friction and contact pressure.

Instead of the DIP clip, you could use a standard card edge connector as well.

Note "bus extension" in this situation will only work if the device it's going to is purely passive (doesn't use the data lines) or you have a hub on the board.

0) Yes, it always takes absolutely ages to find the right parts and import them into your PCB tool. And there are always way too many of the wrong sort of parts.

1) "Shielded" connectors are the normal sort with a rectangular metal casing. Pick one of those. Not having a shield might give you interference problems (probably won't, but it's such a pain to diagnose). It also makes the mechanical connection more solid.

Gold plating is an affordable luxury that stops the contacts corroding. Less of an issue for contacts that are hidden away from fingers, but still nice to have if you care about longevity.

2) Through-hole is generally stronger than surface-mount. Some have extra plastic or metal mounting lugs to really lock it to the PCB.

3) The PCB-only connector requires that you get a PCB made of the required thickness. It sits a little more loosely in sockets, but it works and is very cheap. It also looks cheap. Connectorless USB on a PCB