Customer Reviews

RF-Link AVS-5811 5.8GHz Audio and Video Transmission System with IR Repeater

5 star:		(177)
4 star:		(78)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

I'm a hi-tech gadget guy who is hard to please, but this far exceeded my expectations! I have it connected from a bedroom Directv Receiver(6" from a 2.4GHZ wireless PC lan) to a kitchen 15" Magnanox LCD TV sitting 12" below a micrwave oven without interference from microwave or lan! I'm even transmitting through 6 walls and a 5 gal. metal potato chip bucket and people walking in the kitchen without affecting the picture! I was getting a super picture w/o even having 1 antenna directly facing the other antenna. I thought I was going to have to run between floors for hours until everything was aligned perfectly - it only took 15 seconds because alignment is very forgiving. Picture quality is 5 star crystal clear with no lines, static, etc. All TV channels are 5 star and the HDTV stations blew me away even though I know its not sending true HDTV though the avs-5811.
What surprised me most was that I could use my bedroom Directv remote (down in the kitchen) to change channels (up in the bedroom) by simply pointing at the (kitchen)avs-5811 receiver. It sends the remote control signal upstairs to a "mouse" that you place in front of your TV receiver, cable box, etc, IR sensor. I had a spare remote so I keep 1 in kitchen and 1 in bedroom for convenience.
The owners manual iS POOR and doesn't tell you all this, but basically I can point the remote at the avs-5811 receiver in kitchen requesting a Directv channel change (or any other remote control function) in the upstairs bedroom. The avs-5811 transmitter in the bedroom receives the request and sends it through the "mouse" to the Directv Receiver which changes the channel as requested and the new channel video and sound is return to the kitchen! Pure magic and ingenious!
It is a very cost effective way, without losing picture quality and convenience, to avoid running cables and drill holes through my tiled walls or granite counters.

I have an HP Windows Media Center PC and wanted a wireless A/V solution to enjoy the media content on my PC. I wanted to send the signal from my PC in my bedroom to my living room where I could hook up the audio to my home theatre system, (to enjoy the digital music and nice sound from recorded shows), and the video to my TV, (to watch movies, pictures, home videos, and TV shows I recorded on my PC). I live in a condo and I tried (2) other 2.4GHz Wireless A/V senders, (The Radioshack model and a product I got from Best Buy), before I arrived at this gem. With the 2.4GHz A/V devices I got a lot of interference from my neighbor's wireless routers, microwave ovens, cordless phones, etc., which operate on the 2.4GHz freq. band. The results I got were unsatisfactory and I was very disappointed that my vision seemed impractical.

When I learned of this product which operates on the 5.8GHz band my hope was renewed. Going up to 5.8 GHz made all the diff. for me as this freq. band is less populated, (for the time being), then the 2.4GHz freq. This product is a great invention and works as advertised. I wouldn't be able to enjoy the media content on my PC the way that I do if I didn't have it. The sound and video is crystal clear. Not only does it do the wireless A/V thing, but it also is a remote control extender. My PC has a remote and I control my PC in my living room while sitting on my couch.

There are only a few negatives things. I do experience some interference sometimes if someone is walking around in the other room, and the audio transmission is in stereo only, not dolby 5.1 surround sound. There also is the fear that wireless products will start populating the 5.8GHz freq. band in the coming years and interfere with my product, but I'll cross that bridge later. Also, anyone wanting to buy this in a retail store is going to be hard pressed to find one. The 2.4GHz devices are out there, but it seems that this 5.8GHz A/V device is a novelty item. I only saw the one I bought on the internet, so if someone else buys this thing and it doesn't work for them it will be very cumbersome to try to return. The cost also is about $40-50 more than the 2.4GHz devices I returned, but I think the extra cost is well worth it. I never tried out how it works on differnt floors. I think these are small draw backs however. I love this thing and am well satisfied. It works great for me. I've only begun to really fully utilize what I can do with it. 5 stars and I might buy another one!

I installed this product so that I can share my High Definition Comcast DVR in the first floor familiy room with another TV (standard definition) in upstairs bedroom. I was originally thinking of getting the 2.4 GHz Radio Shack product but the local Radio Shack store recommended against it (too much interference with Wi-Fi, etc.). I have 2.4 GhZ 804.11G wireless network and a 900 Hz cordless phone. The distance between transmitter and sender is approximately 50 feet with 3 walls, a staircase and a floor beween. All construction is standard wooden - no brick walls.

Getting the Video was a snap - did not require any precise alignment of antennas. Excellent picture. Getting the remote working was a bit of a hassle. After a lot of experimentation, I found out that the IR signal is too strong and it was temporarily "blinding" my DVR. After moving the unit a bit away from the DVR, the remote works perfectly. (Product manual does not have any info on this).

I also changed my DVR setting from 16x9 to 4x3 - does not affect my HDTV but gives full screen on my regular TV for HD channels.

I highly recommend this product.

If you read some of the reviews you will find that this unit has a problem "finding the sweet spot" as one reviewer put it. I have found the solution, it appears that the power supplies shipped with the unit don't have enough current capacity. Specically the transmitter unit needs at least a 1.0 Amp power supply (12V) or high brightness video sucks the supply dry and the video quality suffers.
I substituted a 1.0A power supply (wall wart) and the unit went from unusable at 10 feet to perfect video, you can even stand between the transmitter and receiver and you can't block the signal. If you buy this unit, go to Radio Shack and get a 12V 1Amp supply for the transmitter and you'll be very happy with the performance.

For those wondering, the package did include both the transmitter and the receiver. However, the product did not work at my house. I live in a townhome with houses on either side. No way to know what kind of wireless electronics my neighbors are using. There was so much interference that the product would not be usable in my house. It did transmit picture and sound, but with lots of noise and picture disturbance. We even tried the initial setup with both transmitter and receiver in the same room. I can see that the product has a lot of potential, but it isn't quite there yet. If you have no interference where you live, it might work for you.

I tried this and AngelTrax side-by-side, and the AngelTrax (not for sale at Amazon but you can find it on eBay) is a much more versatile system. The RF Link will only broadcast the signal selected on another device, so you can't watch different programs on the primary TV and the wirelessly-connected set. AngelTrax, on the other hand, has its own TV tuner so it will broadcast any cable channel and, at the push of a button, a signal from an AV device (like digital cable or a DVD Player). The remote for the RF Link is barely functional, relying on an infrared "mouse" to send a channel change to the primary device, while the AngelTrax very effectively controls channel, power, and volume on its own tuner. Both worked fine (minimal interference) in my home in the presence of a 5.8 ghz phone and a wireless network.

The RF Link is really quite inferior to the AngelTrax, and it costs more. Choose the AngelTrax.

I was nervous about buying this product aftering reading previous reviews. However, I needed something that would work in my home's wireless computer network and 2.4 GHz cordless phone system. The 5.8 GHz A/V Transmission System was easy to set-up. I connected the cables, turn the system on, and it worked! I was up and running within a few minutes. The unit transmits my remote control's signals with no programming to the transmitter located on another floor of my home. I would have given this product a 5-star rating but if someone walks between two units it causes moment of static.
Feel confident when you order this product. It works great!

I had previously purchased a 2.4 Ghz cordless video transmitter system and it did not work with our 2.4 Ghz cordless phones or microwave oven. This device transmits our living room Dish Network satellite picture and stereo sound to the kitchen TV about 50' away with one intervening wall perfectly. Picture sometimes breaks up when you walk thru the "Beam" between transmitter and receiver antennas but otherwise it seems to work flawlessly. Your source TV or tuner must have RCA type video and audio outputs and the TV you are transmitting to needs to have at least one set RCA type video and stereo audio inputs. Unit comes with two RCA type video/stereo audio cables.

Note: I did order mine from Amazon and DID get both units-transmitter and receiver so previous comments about receiving only one of the two units in the set from Amazon apparently have been resolved.

I bought this unit to replace a 2.4Ghz setup that interefered with a new 2.4 Ghz phone I bought. I got it hooked up and it looked like it was working and then noticed a horizontal hold problem where the picture would randomly flip top to bottom, especially with a mostly white image. Other than that, picture and sound were great. I used the tech support link on the manufacturers website to ask about this problem. No reply for a week. Send it again, still no reply. Emailed them, no reply. Wondering if this company still exists.

Instructions mentioned to aim the antennae directly at each other. We adjusted for a week and still were not satisfied. The units were no more than 8'- 10' apart and the sound still cracked and popped. When anyone walked between the units, the picture quality was bad.