RF Extender

[benandchristi]

So, I now have a Verizon cable box in the laundry room and the TV will be in the living room.  How do I get the remote to talk to the cable box in the laundry room when I'm sitting in the living room? I heard I needed an "RF Extender," but the folks at Verizon say there is no such thing. 

[prisaz]

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@benandchristi wrote:

So, I now have a Verizon cable box in the laundry room and the TV will be in the living room.  How do I get the remote to talk to the cable box in the laundry room when I'm sitting in the living room? I heard I needed an "RF Extender," but the folks at Verizon say there is no such thing. 

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The hardware in the laundry room is for the incoming fiber. Your Set Top Box will be at your TV. So no extender required. Unless you intend on feeding more than one TV with a single STB. The fiber connects to what is called an ONT, and a router is also needed. If you had service installed was TV not included with the service? If it was, you should have at least one STB for TV service.

[benandchristi]

No...there's a multi-component cable.  One end is in the living room, the other in the laundry room.  The cable outlet is also in the laundry room.  The Verizon box is connected to the cable outlet in the laundry room.  The multi-component cable is connected to the Verizon box via the RCA jacks and the TV will be hanging on the wall in the living room and connected to the other end of the multi-component cable also via the RCA jacks.  I just need to figure out how the remote (in the living room) will control the Verizon box (in the laundry room).  Is the remote IR (Infra-Red) or is it RF (Radio Frequency?)

[prisaz]

Now I understand. The remote is  IR and not RF. There are some companies that make IR extenders that can plug into the STB. But the one Verizon has available is only 3 ft long.

https://teleproducts.verizon.com/fios/index.cfm/eh/DisplayProducts

The only other option is what I have heard called an IR Blaster. Not sure of cost. I did not realize you were putting the STB in another room to hide it.

Here is another I have found. But anything other than this will probably require some sort of hardware device.

http://www.irblaster.info/motorola_rx.html

This is more advanced hardware,

http://www.smarthome.com/80430/IR-to-RF-to-IR-Remote-Control-Range-Extender-Kit-418-MHz/p.aspx

[lasagna]

There are various solutions ...  this one is my favorite:

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generation-Remote-Control-Extender/dp/B000C1Z0HA/ref=dp_cp_ob_e_title_0

You place the little "space ship" in the laundry room facing the STB -or- you can set it on top of the STB and use the little LED extension cable attached near where to remote sensor is on the STB.   Then you place the little transmitter module and rechargable battery sleeve in your remote in place of a regular battery.

Sounds weird, but what happens is that the little transmitter inside the remote picks up the control commands being sent to the IR LED on the remote from the "noise" on the circuit board, converts it to RF to relay to the little saucer unit where it converts is back to IR again in order to control the box.

I use this to control a STB installed in my basement which feeds a small TV in my workshop, the TV in the kitchen, and the TV in a small bedroom upstrairs -- one STB, three rooms -- only one of which has line of sight to the STB.

[benandchristi]

Yeah, I saw that little "space ship" looking thing.  I finally confirmed with Verizon that it IS an IR remote, and they do sell the extender cables.  I just need one longer than 3 feet.  Found one that is 10 feet, but I think I need more like 20-30 feet.  Thanks for the replies.

[CapnCrunch]

lasagna has inspired me to think big!  Ok, I'm going to piggy-back off of OP's original question because I think it's the exact topic.  I'll provide my setup first and then I'll list my questions below that, which hopefully someone will be able to answer.

Home Setup:

I have 3 STBs (1 HDTV-DVR located on my main floor, 1 standard def STB in my upstairs bedroom and 1 standard def STB in my basement).  I use the basement box infrequently, however when I do use it, I'm usually watching it at the same time someone else is watching a different show on the main TV.  The bedroom TV is typically not on at the same time as the main floor TV.  That being established:

Questions:

1. Can I use the main floor HDTV-DVR STB to control Standard Def. TV's on other floors using the "spaceship"?

     a. If no, skip to question # 2, if yes, can you still watch the same program simultaneously on both TV's?

     b. Does Verizon have multi-tuner STB's?

     c. Can you buy a multi-tuner STB and connect it to FiOS and avoid having to rent one?

2.  Can I use the bedroom Standard Def STB in my upstairs room to control the TV in the basement (2 floors down)?

3.  Do you need a special remote with the IR to RF converter or can you simply use any universal remote and program it to the STB controls?

[prisaz]

Just in case no one knows. You can buy a FiOS remote for $5

https://teleproducts.verizon.com/fios/index.cfm/eh/DisplayDetails

[lasagna]

Quick answer cause on I'm my way out the door for the evening ...

1. Don't think so.   You're talking multi-tuner and you can't "split" the signal out of the box and have two different channels being rendered.     If you want the "same" channel on the other TV's then it's a possibility.

2. Yes.   I have this in reverse -- there is a catch however.  I have the FiOS Coax running into the STB in my basement.   I take the RF output of this box and use a splitter.   One side connects to the SD TV next to the box (and I watch the STB on channel 3).  The other side runs on an isolated (this is key) cable run from the basement to the TV in the bedroom (all my Coax runs into a central location in my basement, so this was easy for me) and I also watch the TV on this SD TV on channel 3.    Transmitter button is in a FiOS remote in the bedroom (I have an extra FiOS remote as I use a Logitech Harmony remote in my Living Room) and the space ship is near the STB in the basement.    Bedroom can change channels, power, etc. the STB in the basement.   TV device on this remote is set to the TV in the bedroom (so it turns that TV on/off).   A second remote in the basement, no transmitter button or anything, just directly controls the STB and it's TV device is programmed to the TV in the basement so it turns on/off.

I also do this for the TV/DVR in the living room.   HDMI out of this into TV in the Living Room.  RF out of this I run on seperate Coax run to the TV in the kitchen.  It basically always plays the same channel as the living room -- no sense for me allow two channels since they are in close proximity -- it's more for when you're cooking and stuff and can't see the living room TV.

All kinds of possibilities.

3.  Most remotes will work -- particularly the ones that take two AA or AAA batteries.   Some of the more complex remotes were reported not to work (not enough noise I guess leaking off the motherboard), but all of my remotes work like a champ -- and the FiOS remotes work great with this setup.   

When I first ordered this, I couldn't see how it was going to work -- because it's not a traditional "repeater" setup with a little transmitter brick near the source end.  It literally reads the electronic noise created by the remote sending signals to the IR LED in the source remote to pickup what needs to be transmitted to the spaceship widget.    Very cool.

Oh ... and you can get more than one transmitter widget so you can have more than one sending remote (if you have more than one room daisy chained).   They sell two models 418mhz and 433mhz so make sure you get the one that matches the setup you order -- but the two frequencies allow having two different setups in the same house controlling different boxes.

[Hubrisnxs]

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-40430-Infrared-Repeater/dp/B001BLTDZA

probably the best buy for the money.

I have heard nothing but good things about this one, I haven't had a need for it, but all my friends live and swear by this.