Multi Room Connection

chrisbeeby

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Hi,

I've scoured these forums for the past few weeks and made a couple of purchases I'm really pleased with after finding the advice most helpful. THis is my first post so be gentle, I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination and think the answer to my query might be pretty basic, so here goes, any help gratefully recieved.

So, I have two plasmas in my flat, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. The living room has a DVD, XBox 360, and Sky attached. Our Sky dish is communal, so I only have on LNB, which means sky+, HD, or multiroom aren't an option. The flat is wood flooring throughout, so running cables inside is tricky. I considered wireless, but after reading reviews on here, and knowing the number of networks in the vicinity, I think that option will be a waste of time.

I have a guy coming round on Monday to drill to the outside in the living room, and back in on the bedroom, I'm up on the second floor. He came in on Saturday initially, and after talking to him, it became pretty apparent his knowledge of what cabling I required was pretty limited.

I'd like to view the SKY, and in the near future, content from a PC which will also be positioned in the living room, in the bedroom. I realise it'll be the same channel as far as SKY goes. I'm having the TV aeriel (socket located in the living room) split and sent through, but what else do I need for the sky and in future the PC?
 
I have one of these to watch Sky in the bedroom (on the same channel) but still have a working remote... Sky Magic Eye ... it just works off the RF out from the sky box.

For the PC ... if you are running cables I would get some Cat 5e or 6 (6 if its over 40m) cable and just run a couple of lengths of that through anway as its cheap, thin, easy to run and versatile. you can even run HD content with it by using a HDMI Cat 5 / 6 extender. If its HDMI output you can split the signal between (one to the living room, one to the extender then to the bedroom via the Cat 5/6) with a HDMI splitter... I have this one running a 10 cable from living sky box room to the LCD in the kitchen ... HDMI Splitter
 
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You can still have Sky HD, it's just that without the 2nd LNB you won't be able to use the Sky+ feature. You could run cat5e/cat6 cables and you can send a HD signal either using HDMI or component using a cat5 extender setup (google it. I know lindy make a component system as my mate uses one). The optical output from the Sky HD box would have to be converted to digi coax. It works for my mate as he has an AV receiver in his living room and a Yamaha YSP in his bedroom.

If you don't bother with HD, you can simply use the RF2 output from a std sky box and something like a magic-eye to control it or get a RF based universal remote such as the Harmony 895.

As for the PC, again, network cables would be an option or you could use Homeplugs (faster models as the slower ones are only suitable for music) using network over mains technology. Forget wireless for streaming video, it's not up to the job.

Are these cables going to be protected from the elements?
 
So its coax cable from RF2 output on the standard Sky box to the aeriel socket on the 2nd TV for the sky signal, plus a sky magic eye to control the sky box from the bedroom. is that right?

Those homeplugs look good, but I think a couple of lengths of Cat5e (its about 15m) won't hurt if I can potentially use them in one way or another for the PC or HD if I go down that route.

Not sure what the guy has in mind in terms of protecting the cables? They will be out in the elements.....
 
Also, the SKY engineer wouldn't be able to accesss the dish, would that make it impossible for HD?
 
Also, the SKY engineer wouldn't be able to accesss the dish, would that make it impossible for HD?

The dish is already fitted, so they would simply swap the box. On a 'normal' installation where the dish is yours and yours alone, they have to fit a new LNB and run a second cable.
 
So its coax cable from RF2 output on the standard Sky box to the aeriel socket on the 2nd TV for the sky signal, plus a sky magic eye to control the sky box from the bedroom. is that right?

Yes, but you will need to turn on the RF Power to make it work.

In quick succession press, services -4-0-1-Select on your sky remote and this will take you into the hidden service menu. You may need to bring the tv channel down from its factory set 68 as it is a bit high for some tv's and even cable. Chosing the new channel would be difficult and I normally just knock it down to between 60 and 65 as long as you have no other channels there.

Then go down to RF Power and select Yes, then save your settings. ANY tv that uses the RF outs will now need to be retuned to the new output channel.

Those homeplugs look good, but I think a couple of lengths of Cat5e (its about 15m) won't hurt if I can potentially use them in one way or another for the PC or HD if I go down that route.

You are confusing Ethernet (Homeplugs) with Cat5e, which is just a cable, we can get alot of other things down Cat5e that is not data or networking.

Not sure what the guy has in mind in terms of protecting the cables? They will be out in the elements.....

Personally the Coax should be fine, it is designed to be outdoors. But Cat5e is not. Make sure you get 'Exterior Grade' cable, it is about three times the cost or usual Cat5e but will withstand the elements better.

HTH

V.
 
You are confusing Ethernet (Homeplugs) with Cat5e, which is just a cable, we can get alot of other things down Cat5e that is not data or networking.

Yes but not using homeplugs, they are only compatible with IP network devices. They cannot be used to stream video for example unless it's from a PC to a streaming device which both have IP addresses. To this end, they can't for exmample be used to connect video extenders using cat5e up. New versions are coming but as yet are still in the development stage.

Personally the Coax should be fine, it is designed to be outdoors. But Cat5e is not. Make sure you get 'Exterior Grade' cable, it is about three times the cost or usual Cat5e but will withstand the elements better.

Agree, the DIY forum should turn up some suggestions for protecting the cable from the elements.
 

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