HDMI over CAT6 did work, doesn't now

[kinghell]

I'm building a cat6 network, 4xcat6 to each of 6 rooms and 8xcat6 to lounge. For my initial test I ran my 4xcat6 from my room down to the patch box, a 20m run, through loft and along waste pipe down 2 floors to patch box. Using a cheap HDMI to cat6 box (states 30m over cat5) I successfully ran my Xbox 360 by connecting 2 of the ports in my room to the other 2 creating a 40m run. This worked faultlessly even without the 5v supply to the HDMI receiver.

Since then I think I've run another 4x 20m run and added the 8x 7m run to the lounge. Even without any of the new cables connected to anything my original setup doesn't work anymore. Worse still, if I put my 360 next to the patch box creating a 20m run and use the 5v supply to the HDMI receiver I only get a brief glimpse of a picture every now and then.

So, how to I deduce where the problem is? It's unshielded cat6 and although it's not near any mains I wonder if the new cables I've laid are interfering with the signal? The 4x ports in my room have passed the cable test and can run a gigabit network on each of them.

My last test was from patch box to lounge, around 7m, and that worked so I know the HDMI extender is working.

Where do I go from here?

Forgot to add : I've wired up my ports and patch box in 568A configuration but the HDMI extender has 568B written on it. The fact I've wired both ends the same and that it was working I presumed wouldn't make a difference. Thinking about it I'm wondering if wiring it up this way means that there's two pairs of wires in the cable that are running next to each other rather than adjacent to each other and that's causing more interference. Hmmm, maybe I'm talking bullcrap and it's time to go to bed.

 

[Black Noir]

If your devices are using 568B then I'd wire everything else 568B, to be safe.

Technically, as long as the pins on each end of the cable are the same it shouldn't matter, but as the patch panel and ports are only IDC punchdown you could easily change the configuration and re-test. I would.

The CAT6 will have a seperator so I wouldn't imagine it's an interference issue, but you'll know soon enough if you do re-wire to 568B.

Then again, it may well be the cheap HDMI to CAT6 box, are you able to buy another more expensive box to test? You could always send it back under the distance selling act. Try before you buy, as it were

 

[kinghell]

I tried the 568B configuration and that didn't work. I did have success at 1080i rather than 1080p at 27m so I guess I'll have to get the more expensive HDMI extender and hopefully that'll do the job. Can't understand why it worked first time I tried it though and it hasn't worked since.

 

[Drag0nFly]

This is exactly the problem I have experienced. You hook it up once--it works. Then you disconnect and re-wire to another location and it doesn't! It seems some of these extenders are extremely picky when it comes to whether they actually want to transfer your signal or not ("planets incorrectly aligned", etc.)

 

[Joe Fernand]

Even with a point to point connection and pre tested cables we do seem similar results with many of the Balun sets available - long term stability gets even more critical in complex systems.

Cat 5 & 6: Why Do We Need Two for HDMI? - CE Pro Magazine Article from CE Pro

HDMI: The Importance of Termination - CE Pro Magazine Article from CE Pro

Media Factory - Octava HDMICAT-UK, HDMI over CAT5 extender

+:+:+ RT COM USA . COM +:+:+

Joe