TV on Wall - Ethernet and no HDMI?!

[gottabekd]

Just want to say that I used HDbaseT to run an HDMI signal from my second story to my basement and it worked perfectly. I used it for gaming, so would be very sensitive to lag, and none was perceptible. It also multiplexed 100 Mbit Ethernet and an IR transmission on the same cat 6 cable. The box says it also works with a single cat 5e. I bought it from Monoprice.

[cupofjoe]

Originally Posted by Muffins

Care to elaborate?

Sorry, should have said if he finds out the existing keystone jack had been wired for Spec A (further comment from the previous post)

[Wormius]

If you are only connecting Shaw, why don't you just leave the Shaw box hidden behind the tv? It's pretty slim.

[oilyfan]

Originally Posted by Wormius

If you are only connecting Shaw, why don't you just leave the Shaw box hidden behind the tv? It's pretty slim.

This is your easiest way. Use gorilla tape from the hardware store, tape the box to back of the TV.

[Hack&Lube]

Ethernet is great because you can run everything through it. I have modified HDMI, VGA, RCA, and even raw speaker cable to go through my ethernet ports. I don't have to mess with the ports even as I can just take some el-cheaper ethernet cables, crimp off the ends, and twist or solder wires to the them and have the other end still plug in.

I can then wire up the switch in the closet to go to any other port in the house. It's all copper and the gauge on high quality HDMI is pretty good. There's some built-in noise reduction due to twisted pair construction characteristics as well.

[BigNumbers]

Originally Posted by Wormius

If you are only connecting Shaw, why don't you just leave the Shaw box hidden behind the tv? It's pretty slim.

Thanks - I think this is what I am going to do! I have gorilla tape - is it really strong enough?!

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Thanks - I think this is what I am going to do! I have gorilla tape - is it really strong enough?!

Real gorilla tape is.

[BigNumbers]

I have the thin electrical-tape sized real gorilla tape - I guess i'll hit the store for the wider, duct-tape sized stuff!

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Thanks - I think this is what I am going to do! I have gorilla tape - is it really strong enough?!

Oh. I don't know. I don't know much about gorilla tape. I would just try to keep it clean looking, not like out of an episode of Red Green. There's hideitmounts website for some inspiration, but you could rig up something from parts from Home Depot.

[ken0042]

Wouldn't mounting the cable box behind the TV be an issue for remote control aiming? Or does Shaw have RF remotes now?

[BigNumbers]

The new gateway box - the XG1 from arris / Motorola has the ability to do RF, at least in the states, I bet it will be IR only up here though

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Wouldn't mounting the cable box behind the TV be an issue for remote control aiming? Or does Shaw have RF remotes now?

The Shaw (Motorola) boxes I used before all had IR remote extenders that plugged into the back of the box. I don't know if the Arris stuff is like that.

[Bill Bumface]

The new portals have IR tethers included.

I mounted a portal on a portal sized block of wood I screwed into the wall behind the TV and didn't even have to use the tether as the IR pickup seems great without it.

One thing to note, the main Gateway PVR does not support IR tethers, which is a pain in the rear. It also uses dual band IR, so you have to be careful what type of repeater you buy. There were some good options on Amazon that work flawlessly.

[oilyfan]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

I have the thin electrical-tape sized real gorilla tape - I guess i'll hit the store for the wider, duct-tape sized stuff!

The wide gorilla tape is absolutely strong enough. My buddy is an av installer, that's what he uses

[btimbit]

I've had luck with using velcro too

[Aegypticus]

Might not matter now, but when I was doing a whole bunch of cat5e runs in my basement I forgot to label them and was just left with a big jumble of wires. Instead of buying a tester (because I'm cheap), I made this:



It's just a small piece of cat5e with a AAA battery taped to two wires on one end. Plugged it in to the ports one at a time, then checked the same two wires at the other end with a 40 year old multimeter until I got 1.5V. Worked amazingly well.

[Bill Bumface]

^I do he same but just short two wires on one end with foil or a wire nut. Then go to the other end and measure resistance (near 0 is the shorted wire pair, infinite is not) or continuance. Works well for coax too.

[Stealth22]

Sorry, I'm a bit late to the party, but I agree with Wormius. If all you're doing is hooking up a Shaw DVR, don't bother with HDMI over CAT5. Just hook it up normally and hide the receiver behind the TV. Of course, that's assuming that the DVR is capable of RF...if its IR only, may have to get an IR blaster.

If your in-laws aren't that great with technology and using 3 different remotes for stuff, then you should consider buying one of those Logitech Harmony remotes. They're expensive, but worth it. If they come with the Smart Hub (I think thats what its called), then it's got an IR blaster built in that will control all your devices. The one I bought was the Logitech Smart Control (few years ago, though), for only $100.

All of that being said, however, I couldn't help but notice this post of yours...

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Next question - if it does indeed terminate in the utility room, then how do I figure out which wire to use?! There are over 50 ethernet cables, all un terminated, landing in the utility room in a big looped bundle.

I assume ther ei sa wire tester style thing I can buy to figure out which end is which?

The first thing I thought of when I read that was, "Are you freaking KIDDING ME?!"

Is it just me, or are electric/telecom contractors these days getting really lazy?

As you now know, yes, you can use a tester to figure out which line is which, that's not a problem.

But who the hell leaves 50 lines all unterminated, in one big loop? I got the same thing in our house, but they were all terminated, at least. But I got 25+ ethernet cables all going into one little cabinet, and all they gave me was one little 8-port switch.

I never had a chance to do anything about it until recently. But I bought a wallmount rack off Amazon, and cut all the ends off the cables, and wired them into a patch panel.

If it's not too late, make the builder do those cables right...I wouldn't accept 50 wires just sitting like that. Or if you have no faith in them, you can do it yourself pretty easily. This was the first time I had punched down my own CAT5, and it was easy. I felt a real sense of accomplishment after this...

Before...

Spoiler!

After... (taken during testing just after the job was done...cleaned up the cables and loops since then)

Spoiler!

[cupofjoe]

Originally Posted by Stealth22

All of that being said, however, I couldn't help but notice this post of yours...

the first thing I thought of when I read that was, "Are you freaking KIDDING ME?!"

Is it just me, or are electric/telecom contractors these days getting really lazy?

Unfortunately, in the last couple of years some builders / renovators don't want to pay for trimout, and the low-voltage guys don't work for free. The builders hold the cards here and some will cheap out wherever possible. The joke in our industry (system integrators) is how some spec builders will say "everything is on wifi now" to clients so little need for structured wiring (very bad advice for those not in the know).

[BigNumbers]

Thanks for all your advice everyone. As usual, occam's razor won out! I mounted it to the tv, used the existing coax install and shoved the HD box behind the TV, resting on the wall mount brackets.

I should probably tape it down, but it's only a tilting mount, so little chance of someone somehow dropping the box down, but it could happen...

The crazy part is, even though this PVR portal has a remote IR tether port, it didn't come with the cable from Shaw, even though Shaw support said it should be in the box (I tore it apart looking for it). So I shoved the box up top behind the TV, just to see how it looked, and randomly it works! even completely hidden behind the tv, for whatever reason, the remote works perfect!

So it ended up being a super quick and easy install, even though I spent some time researching best options, for HDMI over ethernet and getting your guys' great advice... Guess next time I'll refer back to the old KISS principal!

Thanks CP.