I bought this device because I wanted to be able to broadcast my cable channels, video games, and Apple TV to a TV in another room. This way I could play video games on one TV while my wife watched cable TV in the kitchen. All this, while avoiding paying Comcast for an additional set-top cable box. The options I considered were:
- Run HDMI wires through the walls to the other TV: On the plus side, there is no risk in the quality of the video signal. On the negative side, during installation the wires can break. Also, wire installation is expensive, time consuming, and messy, Even worse, HDMI technology specs change over time, so if you install HDMI version 1.3 today, and tomorrow you need HDMI v1.4 or higher to support 3D and 4K resolution, you will have to re-run cables.
- Run HDMI over existing coaxial cables to the other TVs: Coaxial cables or RG6 are the cables that connect to TVs and show cable channels . Cables 2 Go (C2G) makes such a device. It provides a range of signal close to 300 feet, and can support multiple TVs. So if you want to buy one Apple TV and take advantage of it in any room you can buy additional receivers for each TV. The cost was about the same as IOGear, and since it is not a wireless solution, it has a higher likelihood of working reliably. Also, if HDMI specs change on you, the coaxial cables should be future proof. You just have to wait for C2G to come out with devices that support the higher HDMI version. On the negative side, you have to make sure you have coaxial cables running to each room. Also, since my coaxial cables will be used for cable TV, I wasn't sure if the C2G solution would prevent my cable TV from working on the same lines.
- Use another wireless over HDMI solution like Peerless and Nyrius: Peerless is more expensive than IOGear, and I haven’t tried it. Nyrius has a lag time: the audio and video take time to reach the other TV. This is undesirable if playing video games, or if the two TVs can be heard at the same time resulting in an annoying echo sound.
Now getting to the actual review of this product! I’ll review the setup & use, audio/video quality, wireless range, and compatibility with devices.
SETUP & USE
The box comes with a transmitter, receiver, IR blaster, and remote control. Installation is easier than setting up a wireless internet. I plugged in the transmitter HDMI output into the main TV, and my devices into the HDMI input slots. This model supports a maximum of two HDMI devices. I pointed the IR blaster to my cable box (make sure it points to the front of the cable box). I then plugged in the HDMI receiver to the TV in the kitchen. The kitchen TV is at a distance of 45 feet with two walls in the way. I also have a wireless internet running in the rooms. Hopefully the wireless internet and walls do not mess up the device signal!
AUDIO/VIDEO QUALITY
I powered on the devices, walked to the kitchen, and selected the video input for cable TV. I played Justin Timberlake’s video Mirrors. The audio reception was crisp and clear, and the video to my surprise was sharp and flawless! There were no artifacts, or any other issues pointed out by other reviewers. There was no discernable lag in signal at this range.
As much as Justin is a talented singer, I am no boy-band fan. Still in the kitchen, with the cable box in the other room, I sprang for the remote control and decided to change the channel. The IR blaster came to the rescue, seamlessly letting me view the channel guide, and change the channels. Still not satisfied with the channel lineup, I decided to switch sources to the Apple TV. You can change the device by using IOGear’s provided remote control or clicking the source selector on the receiver. Apple TV worked, and in no time I was listening to my music. Finally, an easy to use tech gadget that guests, and my wife will be able to use with little to no training.
WIRELESS RANGE
IOGear advertises a distance of 100 feet. I have no doubt that it can achieve this distance, although I wonder if additional walls and additional wireless signals in the house would reduce this range. As I had mentioned, I ran my setup at a range of 45 feet. I also tried a range of 12 feet to see if there would be difference in quality. I noted no difference in quality.
COMPATIBILITY WITH DEVICES
I was happy to note that the device transmits Apple TV, cable signals, and computer output with no problem. Having said that, the transmitter and receiver only support HDMI, so if you have another type of connection like composite video found on Nintendo Wii, then you are out of luck (you have to buy additional electronics to make it work). Also, this model only supports 2 HDMI inputs. You can get around this very easily. A little trick that I tried was plugging in 5 HDMI devices and my Nintendo Wii into an Audio/Video receiver (e.g. Denon AVR-2311CI), and then sent the output of this receiver to the IOGear transmitter. The Audio/Video receiver can upconvert a non-HDMI signal to HDMI. Again, the devices worked, and I no longer had to change the source using IOGear’s provided remote control.I did notice one issue, I have an old computer monitor with a VGA port this device has an HDMI to VGA adapter on it. I was not able to send video using this IOGear device. In the end, So, I can't blame IOGear for this. I would recommend giving this product a try.
Completely happy with my IOGear purchase, I now wondered about upgrading this setup in the future. Specifically, what would happen if I wanted now to run the HDMI signals to a third room? It turns out IOGear does not sell multiple receivers for this model. A call to IOGear’s technical support was helpful in alleviating these concerns. IOGear has a discontinued model which is much more expensive than this model which allows purchasing of additional receivers. Alternatively, you can buy an additional transmitter and receiver, and just make sure the two transmitters are at least 6 feet apart from each other.
| Standing screen display size | 1 Inches |
|---|---|
| Wireless Type | Infrared |
