Sky HD over CAT5e or powerline?

jonboy83

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ok, i've tried searching for a solution for this for quite a while and there just isnt enough information out there. so apologies if this is repeating old posts but i dont think my questions have been answered elsewhere.

I am about to move into a 3 storey house and the current owners have their sky box (SD) in a cupboard with the signal distributed the old school way to aerial points throughout the house. this was done by the builder so done by scratch, all hidden in the caveties. When i move in i will be bringing SKY HD with me and want to distribute the HD content to 4 points throughout the house. 1 x groundfloor, 2x middle, and 1x top where the cupboard will be. Im assuning i can keep the magic eyes in each room to control the SKY HD box so dont need to worry about controlling the box over the cat5 or powerline....right?

i have been told about installing cat5e cables throughout the house and then using baluns at each end to convert the signal back to hdmi so the cable can plug into the TV. the up side to this is that it is, imo, a standard setup and reliable. downside is that it is looking to be expensive with around £300 to install the cables (i would employ someone to do it) and another £200 for the baluns and hdmi cables. this is in my opinion very expensive but feel free to reset my pricing expectations! priority for me is ease of installation/setup and cost second.

Questions...what balun/adaptor would you recommend and has anyone got a picture walkthrough of their experience doing this? do i need a switch in the cupboard to split the signal down?

another option, which from a setup/installation point of view is my preference, is to use the powerlines/cat5e to send the hd signal. i dont have to mess around with an installer but i do, from what i have seen, have to spend more on the components! what i dont know is what combinations of powerline adaptors to purchase and what baluns will be compatible. how do i set them up in the cupboard?...do i need a swich for the hdmi output to go to the switch which splits the signal to 4 adaptors that send the signal to their "pair" in the room with the TV?

this is a major headache for me now and im going blind writing this! advice is eagerly sought after aswell as a holding hand!!

Thanks
Jon
Leeds, UK.
 
Hi there,

I think that what you are after isn't related to networking as such but to the use of Cat5 (networking cable) to distribute a HDMI signal. That kind of thing is covered in this section.

Have a look and check. Pop back if I've got the wrong end of the stick but to put Sky HD over a network you'd need special cards in a PC and software to turn the PC into a HTPC and then a player in each room.

Cheers,

Kris.
 

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