Getting Display and Peripherals to a Different Room

[djnutty]

I know next to nothing about networking, routers, modems etc. I'm still fuzzy on the difference between a router and a modem. I'm hoping someone will be able to direct me to some resources to learn more about it - specifically about my problem.

 

So my problem - I want to be able to use my PC (that's currently in my spare bedroom) in a different room, my living room. 

 

I have my main modem connected in my living room, and a coaxial cord ran through to my spare bedroom. Is it possible to run display (HDMI preferably) and USB through the coaxial somehow? I've heard about running display through a specific type of ethernet cord. I assume using coaxial is not possible, but I thought I'd reach out to people who know more than me before I throw the idea away.

Plan B would be to run a really long hdmi and usb from my spare bedroom to the living room. This would be my last choice because I don't want to run cable if I don't have to. If I'm going to go through the trouble of running cable, I might as well upgrade my motherboard to USB-C and do something more elegant like use one of these.

Any help is appreciated here! Thanks all

[Falcon1986]

6 hours ago, djnutty said:

Is it possible to run display (HDMI preferably) and USB through the coaxial somehow?

Like this or this? Would use ethernet, though. The coaxial alternatives can do HDMI, but I'm not finding any with USB ports.

 

Never used one so can't vouch for quality or reliability.

[Blue4130]

43 minutes ago, Falcon1986 said:

Like this or this? Would use ethernet, though. The coaxial alternatives can do HDMI, but I'm not finding any with USB ports.

 

Never used one so can't vouch for quality or reliability.

I've been tempted by those myself, but I want 4k/60. I've found a few that claim it, but no reviews that I trust. 

[djnutty]

On 10/29/2021 at 4:55 PM, Falcon1986 said:

Like this or this? Would use ethernet, though. The coaxial alternatives can do HDMI, but I'm not finding any with USB ports.

 

Never used one so can't vouch for quality or reliability.

Yeah it looks like ethernet's my best bet. Sucks because I have no attic entry so I'll have to get down in the crawlspace. I already own one of these these but it looks like USB-C has a shorter range than ethernet.

Thanks for the help! I'll keep my eye out for a coax kvm extender. If anyone reading this has one or has seen one - let me know!

 

[Blue4130]

1 hour ago, djnutty said:

Yeah it looks like ethernet's my best bet. Sucks because I have no attic entry so I'll have to get down in the crawlspace. I already own one of these these but it looks like USB-C has a shorter range than ethernet.

Thanks for the help! I'll keep my eye out for a coax kvm extender. If anyone reading this has one or has seen one - let me know!

 

Wait?!?! You have access to the crawl space to run Ethernet? Just run HDMI!

[Alex Atkin UK]

1 hour ago, Blue4130 said:

Wait?!?! You have access to the crawl space to run Ethernet? Just run HDMI!

HDMI is only really designed to go up to around 5m, so it really depends how far it is.  I've had success running HDMI 2.0 over 7m, but its very hit and miss which cables will work that far or if your TV is sensitive enough to handle it.  I've found DisplayPort somewhat more reliable and DisplayPort over USB-C worked up to 4m, trying to go 5m the USB stopped working but the picture still did.

USB is even shorter range, you're lucky to get over 1m with USB 3.0+ but can possibly manage 5m USB 2.0, but again its very hit and miss as its not designed to go that far.

 

So a device that converts it all into another protocol and sends it over Ethernet cabling is likely more reliable, though they may add latency.  AFAIK only ones that use optical can go long distances while having low latency, but they're really expensive.

[Blue4130]

2 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

HDMI is only really designed to go up to around 5m, so it really depends how far it is.  I've had success running HDMI 2.0 over 7m, but its very hit and miss which cables will work that far or if your TV is sensitive enough to handle it.  I've found DisplayPort somewhat more reliable.

USB is even shorter range, you're lucky to get over 1m with USB 3.0+ but can possibly manage 5m USB 2.0, but again its very hit and miss as its not designed to go that far.

 

So a device that converts it all into another protocol and sends it over Ethernet cabling is likely more reliable, though they may add latency.  AFAIK only ones that use optical can go long distances while having low latency, but they're really expensive.

Use Fibre hdmi. We use them at the place I work. Our runs are in the neighborhood of 20m per cable/projector. They work fine and are ranted for 4k/60. Cost isn't that high. About $100. That's less than a quality set of hdmi over eth boxes and you don't have compression or latency. 

[djnutty]

On 10/30/2021 at 7:37 PM, Blue4130 said:

Wait?!?! You have access to the crawl space to run Ethernet? Just run HDMI!

yeah, I do. Was just hoping to avoid messing around down there because I'll have to cut through insulation

[djnutty]

On 10/30/2021 at 9:02 PM, Alex Atkin UK said:

HDMI is only really designed to go up to around 5m, so it really depends how far it is.  I've had success running HDMI 2.0 over 7m, but its very hit and miss which cables will work that far or if your TV is sensitive enough to handle it.  I've found DisplayPort somewhat more reliable and DisplayPort over USB-C worked up to 4m, trying to go 5m the USB stopped working but the picture still did.

USB is even shorter range, you're lucky to get over 1m with USB 3.0+ but can possibly manage 5m USB 2.0, but again its very hit and miss as its not designed to go that far.

 

So a device that converts it all into another protocol and sends it over Ethernet cabling is likely more reliable, though they may add latency.  AFAIK only ones that use optical can go long distances while having low latency, but they're really expensive.

Yeah, I've heard HDMI and USB have pretty short ranges. At least for the inexpensive ones.. 

The whole point in running cable was to keep it inexpensive. I know there are other ways for me to be able to use my PC in another room ie another computer. If latency is going to be an issue with the ethernet solution, plus I would have to go into the crawlspace.. I wonder what the cost of another PC that can communicate with my main rig would be. I'll have to look into that as well.

 

Clearly I'm in no rush to get this project done lol.

[djnutty]

On 10/30/2021 at 9:07 PM, Blue4130 said:

Use Fibre hdmi. We use them at the place I work. Our runs are in the neighborhood of 20m per cable/projector. They work fine and are ranted for 4k/60. Cost isn't that high. About $100. That's less than a quality set of hdmi over eth boxes and you don't have compression or latency. 

If I used fibre hdmi, I would still have to tackle the issue of getting USB out to the other room. 

 

I'm not terribly worried about compression - I really just want to do all this for game nights with my wife and friends (mario party, mario kart, smash, skyrim, it takes two etc) no high fidelity games.

[Alex Atkin UK]

9 hours ago, djnutty said:

If I used fibre hdmi, I would still have to tackle the issue of getting USB out to the other room. 

 

I'm not terribly worried about compression - I really just want to do all this for game nights with my wife and friends (mario party, mario kart, smash, skyrim, it takes two etc) no high fidelity games.

One of the problems with compression though is it adds latency, that makes or breaks games like Mario Kart and Smash Bros.

I was actually pondering over the 20m Club 3D USB Gen 2 Type C Active Optical Cable between an RTX 20x0 at one end, and a monitor at the other that has a built-in KVM/USB ports.