Centralized computing (computer in office, play from living room)

Have any of you guys resolved this issue yet, what are your best experiences?

I've got my office upstairs but I'd like to play games at living room and I just realized that I don't want another console because there's nothing on the console I like playing or if there is then I'd also have to buy the console and a more expensive copy of the game so I can play at lower graphics and so.

In any case, it's like 15m (less than 50ft) and I suppose the way to go is to get a piece that transfers the HDMI signal over Cat6 and controller's USB signals also over Cat6 with a USB-Cat6 extender.

Notice that I don't like using Steam in-house streaming because.. it's not very good and there's very noticeable latency so even if I were to go with it I'd still need to figure out better cabling and Cat6 cables or something along those lines so I figured I might simply turn the living room TV to a remote terminal with ability to use all the controllers and such.

Note - another thing about consoles would have been having to have new set of controllers and sticks for it as well so I figure that even if it costs couple hundred to set up I'll still easily save over a thousand € this way and get better games.

 

AFAIK you can't transmit video directly with Cat6. You're going to need a really long HDMI cable for that. You *might* be able to use wireless mouse and keyboard, depending on distance, the material your home is constructed from, and the strength of the transmitter. The other option would be a USB hub on a long cord. Just carry the mouse and keyboard with you and plug the dongles in at whichever location.

 

You can use a Cat6 extender that takes HDMI and sends it over Cat6.

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/Tr...P&cm_sp=Product-_-Session&ProgramIdentifier=3

You can do the same with USB

http://www.amazon.com/CAT-5E-CAT-6-Extender-Power-Adapter/dp/B0026RKUBY

 

I was looking over HDMI-Cat6 extenders that turn it back to HDMI at the other end, usually they use 2-3 cables to transmit the HDMI signal.

There are also similar ones for transmitting USB over long distance by using USB-Cat6-USB pieces though some people say that the USB requires a powered hub at the living room end.

Also it appears that if the distance is along 15m or 50ft then some people report serious trouble getting it to work. Others had it going immediately without issues and others had to try out several cables and cat6 adapter extenders etc. and still had issues.

And further I'm reading that Cat6 can take interference from power cables which doesn't exactly make the issue easier. I don't even know for sure which outlets are connected with each other inside the wall and if I need to route the cables externally along the walls which would add to length and make everything more miserable.

But yea, I could move the desktop out of the office and try wireless through the floor with the desktop unit directly above. It might work, otoh if I need extra pieces to amplify the signal then they will likely add some latency but at the same time might have less issues than Cat6 installation.

 

Yea this was what I was thinking initially but I'm a little spooked by some people having so much trouble. Just wanted to hear if anyone else had done this and if there had been any serious issues. I can't seem to find any real hard tips about what to do and what to avoid etc. Don't even know the difference between cable types and quality.

But if I can get it working,

 

We have used USB to Ethernet extenders at work with no issue, but I have not use the HDMI extender. You should use Cat6 cable, and as far as they HDMI, it does not really matter. You will need to make sure you are using the Audio output on your video card to send the audio and video over the HDMI link.

You basically need those 2 boxes, 2 Cat6 cables and something on the other end, like a hub and a TV or better an HDMI connected amplifier then run that to your TV. That should allow you to send your audio, video and your USB devices to that remote location. I would assume you want to make sure you avoid running your cabling near a lot of electrical or machinery (HVAC or other motors) just to limit your interference. If you want to be really safe get Cat6 STP instead of UTP to give you the shielding, but that would cost more.

Here is 300 feet of Cat6 STP:

http://cables4sure.com/300ft-cat6-s...8aApRd7pXQTcjZcc1R3a5TQyGwcLcKZO5ihoC3-nw_wcB

 

What do you have against HDMI? Amazon has 50ft sections on sale right now for 23$ (sorry, can't seem to get the link to copy on my phone).

 

If you only need to go 50 feet it should work.

 

Mainly that there's a high chance that I can't run the HDMI directly through floor and that the boxes in both floors aren't directly connected vertically forcing me to use a longer route in which case it goes over 50ft in which case the longer HDMI cables could get tricky I suppose.

I don't need any cables from motherboard to video card right?

 

No, if you have an HDMI out on your video card you will have an audio device that is an output on that HDMI port through your video card.

 

Wow, some of the HDMI-Cat6-HDMI pieces can carry not just HDMI but also USB with it through a single Cat6 cable by having amplifier and a power input at each end - and they're promising 40m(1080p) distance. Sure it costs 170€ but if it works like that - DAYUM!


*Shit!

I just checked and we've already got Cat6 cables pulled from upstairs to the electric box and from there to living room!

So I guess I just need a short piece and transmitter in the office and receiver piece to living room. Nice!

The only 'if' is because I need a short cable in the electric box in the entrance to link office to living room - whether I need a second amplifier there in the box or if the amplification on both ends is sufficient. It does make an extra loop but apparently I can't go directly to floor below as there's no corridor inside the wall for that that I'm aware of.

The downside is that my router is in office and there's only one slot for ethernet so I need to plan this well. Currently the office computer has been on wireless despite the router being in adjacent room but if I get this right I can get it on a cable too so there's less latency and less wifi traffic.

Just have to plan it carefully. Now I'd really benefit if there was some kind of corridor from upstairs to downstairs inside the wall. Need to check with the guy who designed and had this place built.

 

One of these HDMI by Ethernet extenders is called Aten.

And oops! It's not one Cat6 cable. I was wondering because I earlier read that two cables are required to transmit the signal - one for audio and one for everything else.

And only one power adapter is used. Silly me.

http://www.aten.com/products/productItem.php?model_no=VE810#.VaYd-_ntluA
http://www.aten.com/products/productItem.php?model_no=VE803#.VaYddvntluA

The first one even carries IR with it so it's possible to use a remote with it if I should want to switch TV to it when I go upstairs.

The latter one has USB with it so it allows touch screens or possibly USB devices to be carried over.

 

Shit, of course upstairs and downstairs are not connected directly but only through the electric box by the entrance. This of course doubles the required length of cable to excess of 20m and even close to 30m and requires 3 separate cables due to the way it's built to be used which I suppose is far from ideal. And since there's only one Cat6 currently going each way 2 extra cables would need to be pulled in through the cable corridor thingy.

So a lot of work and no way of knowing if it will even run well. I'm fearing that since each of the two cables required hops over 3 separate pieces it might make the HDMI simply not work over that 20-30m distance even with an amplifier.

Electrician's going to come and have a look at the cable setup we have but I'm afraid that it's not going to work and also that it would be one very expensive thing to 'try out', requiring something like 300€ worth of stuff just to try it. Also the packages are usually always such that they cannot be opened without cutting them apart.

Total of 6 Cat6 pieces to carry HDMI for like up to 30m.. Doesn't sound very good. Unless someone knows about what sort of signal loss there is when you use a connecter piece to extend the cable - twice.

 

Ok, no such luck.

The guys who built this house didn't put in place cable tubes for installing new cables. Also they only pulled 1 per room so if I place the router anywhere but the electric box there's only that one cable bringing the ADSL line to it so it can't share connection to other rooms since the only cable will be taken.

They also said that their company always installs dual cables for every room as a standard. Nice. This house was built by Bargain Contractors.

I will need to investigate if wireless HDMI extenders will offer low enough latencies to allow gaming. In the simplest case I only need to jump 1 meter for HDMI or Ethernet, essentially both transmitters can be at opposite sides of the floor (on on roof behind curtain and another on floor behind a curtain).

Now I worry mostly that this will create like 200-500ms of latency and I can't play downstairs and if this wireless thing won't work.. then there's just no way to centralize it and I'm screwed. Can't afford to buy another desktop and dragging it with me through stairs twice a day is not what it was built for.

:Edit:
http://www.optomaeurope.com/accessorydetail.aspx?PC=WHD200

This device promises 1ms latency and 20m range (in room) which I suppose goes just as well for punching through a soft spot on floor. And it only costs 300€ so no problem!

:edit2:
http://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-GW3DHD...953&creativeASIN=B00630WKGI&ascsubtag=WC15048

This is 200$ but with my luck Amazon won't sell this to Europe. They never sell any of the good stuff to here.

(and there it is.. it probably only has US power plugs.)

 

http://www.asus.com/Wireless-Kit/WAVI/



All in one, 200€

 

US power plugs is nothing to worry about, unless your country is running 220 instead of 110 you can just use an adapter if you don't want to replace the end permanently. Even if it is running 22o if you're looking at burning $200 anyway a 220-110 transformer is fairly inexpensive, and can often be found with adapters as part of the package.

 

A lot of US electronics will operate on 110 or 220. Especially the stuff with separate power supplies (laptops, cellphones, etc).

 

this is true, however, make sure you know for a fact that they will, some of them require you to actively change a physical switch which can be somewhat hidden depending on the device. Computer power supplies usually do have a switch to toggle between voltages.

 

I would like to update you on how it all worked out..

But I'm all out of cash! So long Grand Central Computer!

It's now all about a workout every night, haul my desktop downstairs, plug to tv and play. Then haul it back to office. Not only saves a bunch of money, it works 100% perfectly without any extra latency and is healthy.