In wall wiring options.

[HoosierDadE]

Hi, I'm a complete amateur at this so have some questions about running wires in walls and relocating sources to another room.

For years we have had a 67" Samsung LED DLP on a console that contained a full tower HTPC, a Blu-Ray player, a DISH satellite box and two large UPSs, one for the satellite box and the other for the rest.

We just bought a Vizio 80" LCD and mounted it on the wall with a recessed mount (from Monoprice). So it is flush against the wall other than the thickness of the power cord and HDMI cables running to the console.

Now I want to remove the console and put everything on it in a nearby office. The cable runs will be close to 40'. The only cabling options I'm aware of are either redmere HDMI cables or HDMI over Cat6 and am trying to decide which is best. The HDMI over cat6 solutions I'm looking at have a wall outlet at each end with 2 Cat6 sockets inside the wall and an HDMI and IR extender socket on the outside. Since it takes two cat6 per device, I would need to run six Cat6 (or 7) cables for 3 HDMI outlets. It would be "nice" to have HDMI and IR outlets but those would have to be recessed into the wall just like the TV mount to keep the plugs from keeping the TV from going all the way back to the wall. I don't want them to the side of the TV because I don't want any visible wires. My concerns are will having so many Cat6/7 cables run (in addition to AC) make it a nightmare to run them in the walls and also the additional connections between source and TV because of the patch cables between the outlets and devices.

With the redmere HDMI cables, I would need to string fewer but would need another solution for the IR. I can't find any wired IR extenders that are rated for the distance other than some very expensive powered stuff. On the plus sides, in addition to fewer cables to run there would be less connections since the cables would run directly between the devices. BUT in the room with the HTPC, Satellite, etc it would be considerably messier with cables coming straight out of the wall. At the TV end that doesn't matter because the three HDMI cables will come out f the recessed mount and thru its built in cable management system.

There are IR extenders that can piggy back on the HDMIs but that would seem to result in the same number of connections as with wall sockets since the piggyback devices are basically a very short extension to the ends of the HDMI cables with a place to plug an audio type cable in for the IR.

The places that sell these things can't provide information that would tell me how stiff they are which would certainly affect which are easier to run.

If it matters, I have the wall behind the TV open. Its a bathroom that's being remodeling. The rest of the runs will be straight shots beside other existing wires.

What do you think of these options or other options I'm not aware of.

Cost is always important but not a major factor unless an option is 2 or more times as expensive as the alternative.

TIA

 

[DesiPower]

Is WiFi remote an option? if so then that along with redmere would be the most efficient option. I have read that hdmi over cat5\6 can be a pita...

 

[HoosierDadE]

Is WiFi remote an option? if so then that along with redmere would be the most efficient option. I have read that hdmi over cat5\6 can be a pita...

I don't think I want a wireless extender for the IR remotes, if that's what you mean. I read stories about problems with interference with other wireless. Since the walls are open and I'm stinging either HDMI or cat6/7, I'd like to hard wire the extenders. I have found what I think is a reasonably priced wired extender. It has a zillion top ratings on Amazon. But since "there is always something" in this case its that the device isn't dual band so I have to track down what my particular devices use. I THINK my devices don't need dual band.

Someone told me it doesn't make sense to run cable for each device and that I should use an HDMI switch in the equipment room and just have a single run to the TV. Of course that adds yet another device that needs to be controlled remotely. I understand there is something called CEC that will automatically switch to whatever device is sending HDMI out. But since one of them is an HTPC that is on all the time, I need to be able to manually control the switch.

I'm in over my head on a lot of this. For example if HDMI is uncompressed how does 2 cat6s (for HDMI over cat6) even have the bandwidth for a full HD signal? I read some stuff that implies it compresses the signal so what you get out the other end isn't exactly what went in. I definitely don't want that. On the other hand, the redmere chipped HDMI cables are something that could fail and lead to expensive rewiring. Its not easy to weigh the tradeoffs. LoL

And since my first post, someone recommended HD base-T (sp?) and it supposedly can transmit even 4k video over a single cat6 cable of incredibly long distances. My head is spinning.

 

[whoiswes]

What about an in-wall rack in the same room? Since you have the wall open on the far side already, provided you had the space, might it be a workable option?

Personally, I think that was the single best upgrade to my semi-dedicated theater.

 

[HoosierDadE]

What about an in-wall rack in the same room? Since you have the wall open on the far side already, provided you had the space, might it be a workable option?

Personally, I think that was the single best upgrade to my semi-dedicated theater.

Makes sense for a theater room. But its a family room and we are going for a no wires, no device, no "what is that door in the wall for" look. All wires including AC should come out of the recessed mount and travel thru the mount's cable management in the extension arms to the back of the TV. So no wires showing and the TV flush against the wall. And even when/if the TV is pulled a few feet from the wall, you wouldn't see wires except where they enter and leave the cable management.