Best cheap remote control extender

[wagonman76]

I got my dish all wired into the house, everything works great. Thanks to all who helped me choose wire size and type.

The wiring comes into the dry basement (man cave), control boxes reside there too. I'm going to run some cables up to the TV in the room above so the others can watch it if they want. So what I'm looking for is something to aim the remote at in the room above, send the signal down thru the floor with a wire, then broadcast the IR signal toward the boxes in the basement. It will only be about 10 feet between them, and it's only a plywood floor between them. Small house. I see a lot of cheap units on Ebay, but I'm not sure what to get. Most of them say 1 in, multiple outs, for cabinet use, but I've got the opposite thing going on. If I stick something over the equipment eye, I won't be able to use it myself in the basement.

What I did almost 20 years ago in the old house, to get satellite tv in the bedroom, was put a mini jack in the back of the satellite remote, then run a wire with a plug on one end and an extra IR LED on the other end, and have it aimed at the box. Worked great for years, but I'd want something wireless for the new fam.

 

[harshness]

It may have been useful if you had done this as part of your previous investigation as many of the wiring solutions for moving video and audio signals around also include IR signals as a side benefit.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=8008

There are also devices that will piggy-back IR over HDMI but I don't have any experience with how well they work. They use the HDMI facilities to support CEC to relay IR commands instead.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=9964

If the wiring you're going to run isn't HDMI, then there are several wireless relay solutions for under $50 on Amazon and in local consumer electronics stores.

 

[wagonman76]

Thanks, it looks like #2 should work for what I'm doing. I'll read up on it some more to make sure. My old stuff is all RCA cable but I was planning to run an HDMI cable to their TV upstairs, from the HDMI output on the Geosat.

No problems with any wire already run. Running a wire only involves poking it through an existing hole in the floor between the basement and the living room.

 

[wagonman76]

I read a lot of good reviews on it so I got one. One of the blocks was missing. Communicating with this company is next to impossible but eventually I got my replacement block after I had to pay shipping for the piece they left out. Then they asked me to pay shipping a 3rd time and I said no, then they sent it. Worked flawlessly for maybe 3 weeks. Then it up and quit the other day.

 

[wagonman76]

Got one of the Radio Shack pyramid looking units from the local resale, complete for $6. So far works great and is noticeably more powerful than the previous unit. It's also nice that it lights up when it successfully catches your remote activity.

 

[truckracer]

i have little ones from amazon. Timy little receiver and transmitter. works well 49.00

 

[truckracer]

BlastIR Wireless IR Repeater, By Sewell Amazon product ASIN B01G9IGYI8