Distribution of multiple Sky boxes and IR

[CraigH]

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice or ideas on how I would best achieve distribution of Sky TV with IR control. I will have 1 x Sky HD as well as 1 x Sky+ SD.

The Sky HD box will be hard wired to a projector and HD TV (in different locations) by HDMI cables so all I would need from these would be IR control (HDMI will be switched by a new AV amp unless there are cheaper options).

The Sky+ (SD) box will be located in a different location (under stairs).

CAT5 cabling is also available to each location as I understand IR can be handled over this as well as coax.

I've seen a number of systems (Labgear for one) that suggest wiring 4 coax cables from the dish to each Sky box but I'm not entirely sure why. Is there some way of cabling the Sky boxes serially? The SD box is located first on the route from the dish and the loftbox for distribution (and various antenna) are located in the loft.

Just to confuse things slightly more, my Panasonic TV has an in-built FreeSat receiver so would also require a feed from the LNB (4 outputs).

Can anyone suggest the best wiring layout to achieve this or point me in the direction of any resources that would help?

Would the Labgear system be good for IR or should I be looking at something like Xantech?

Thanks