Thinking about getting the USB-UIRT

[MrGibbage]

My HT/HA PC is in a closet about 30 feet in front of the TV. In other words, if I am watching TV, the PC is behind me. I can easily get the transmitter on the outside of the wall so it can shine into the family room, and I think the UIRT should be able to transmit that far. My other remote controls easily control my AV equipment from that same spot. Would you agree? I'll be able to put the transmitter up high and it will have an excellent line of sight into the family room. Now, what I am really concerned about is the receiver. It would seem to me that the most natural place for it would be near the tv. I guess I could get used to pointing the remote over my head and behind me to do things, but... it just doesn't seem right. I can easily run any wiring from the PC to the TV area (ran conduit when building), but I know that this is well past the maximum USB cable length of roughly 16 feet. If I go the hub route, I'll probably need two of them, and I'll have to leave them in my crawlspace and figure out how to get electricity to them. Sounds like a lot of work. So, my question is, if you have your receiver behind you as I described above, how much does that suck? Or should I bite the bullet and get the receiver over to the tv where it belongs?

 

[IVB]

I've tried my USBUIRT from about 20' away and it worked fine.

For locations further away from the PC, I got an IRMan which go over serial, much hence further away. It's only an IR receiver not transmitter also like the USB-UIR(T), but given that I have all my equipment controlled by the PC that's irrelevant. I haven't actually tried it over CAT5 yet, it's on the list.

 

[eufreka]

My HT/HA PC is in a closet about 30 feet in front of the TV. In other words, if I am watching TV, the PC is behind me. I can easily get the transmitter on the outside of the wall so it can shine into the family room, and I think the UIRT should be able to transmit that far. My other remote controls easily control my AV equipment from that same spot. Would you agree? I'll be able to put the transmitter up high and it will have an excellent line of sight into the family room. Now, what I am really concerned about is the receiver. It would seem to me that the most natural place for it would be near the tv. I guess I could get used to pointing the remote over my head and behind me to do things, but... it just doesn't seem right. I can easily run any wiring from the PC to the TV area (ran conduit when building), but I know that this is well past the maximum USB cable length of roughly 16 feet. If I go the hub route, I'll probably need two of them, and I'll have to leave them in my crawlspace and figure out how to get electricity to them. Sounds like a lot of work. So, my question is, if you have your receiver behind you as I described above, how much does that suck? Or should I bite the bullet and get the receiver over to the tv where it belongs?

Technically, I guess you could always setup a separate IR receiver/connecting block with the emitter tied to the front of the UIRT...

 

[CollinR]

Snapstream firefly is RF based, I get 50-75 feet on decent batteries. IIRC it's cheaper too.

The USBIRT is good for controlling cable boxes with the server, RF works better for controlling the PC remotely IMHO.

 

[ginigma]

I'm using a USB-UIRT for "receive only" with a Harmony 880 remote. I have the UIRT connected to the PC via a USB Cat5 extender and 50 ft of cable. No problems. I can point the Harmony at the floor (carpeting) and have no issues. Point it at a side wall, no issues. I'm about 15 ft. away from the UIRT when doing this.