Streaming PC data over Cat 5 to HDMI TV?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Streaming PC data over Cat 5 to HDMI TV?

MagnoliaDown

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#136617 3-Dec-2013 14:39

Hi all,

We've recently had the gib down during out renovations and our sparky has fitted CAT cabling behind the walls throughout the house. I have two rooms connected directly by the CAT cabling, our PC room and our TV room, and I'd like to be able to stream from the PC to the TV. The distance between the rooms is only 4 metres if this matters.

The wallplate in the TV room has a connection for RJ11 (telephone) and RJ45 (ethernet) so I think I'm looking for an RJ45 to HDMI lead but these don't seem to exist. Am I missing something obvious?

Thanks in advance.

garvani

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#944758 3-Dec-2013 14:45

Possibly yes. You will need to have an ethernet enabled tv, and plug the rj45 cable into the back of the tv, then you would use the media player on the tv to stream the content from the pc via DLNA.
If your tv doesnt have one of these you will need to invest in a media player to do this that will plug into the tv (rj45 to media player, hdmi from media player to tv)

MagnoliaDown

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#944765 3-Dec-2013 14:53

Ah, I see. The TV does not have ethernet capability nor does it have a media player built in. Sounds like I need to do some research on media players then. Thanks!

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#944785 3-Dec-2013 15:09

A media player is probably your best option as most TVs are very limited in what types of file they will play. I have a similar setup here. Two CAT6 cables from PC/Office to Lounge. One connects the Tv to the Router in the PC/Office and the other connects the Media Player likewise. The MP has HDMI connection to the TV. The Freeview recorder has WiFi built-in so doesn't need a cable. The TV (Sony) will play some files but the Media Play (A C Ryan) will play everything I've tried so far.

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#944958 3-Dec-2013 20:38

You can't just "stream" data over data cabling to HDMI. What were you planning on hooking it up to at the other end? You can run a HDMI signal over cable with a balun at each end.

Are you sure that you have a RJ11 and a RJ45? Your electrician should have only installed RJ45 sockets throughout the house. RJ11 sockets are not used for voice here in NZ (and actual not legal as the PTC spec only covers BT and RJ45). If they have been installed I'd go as far as suggesting your electrician really doesn't have a clue in the world what he's doing and shouldn't be touching data cabling.

chevrolux

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#944981 3-Dec-2013 21:11

sbiddle: You can't just "stream" data over data cabling to HDMI. What were you planning on hooking it up to at the other end? You can run a HDMI signal over cable with a balun at each end.

Are you sure that you have a RJ11 and a RJ45? Your electrician should have only installed RJ45 sockets throughout the house. RJ11 sockets are not used for voice here in NZ (and actual not legal as the PTC spec only covers BT and RJ45). If they have been installed I'd go as far as suggesting your electrician really doesn't have a clue in the world what he's doing and shouldn't be touching data cabling.

+1
And he would have had to go well out of his way to find RJ11 modules.

I think you will find they are actually RJ45 and he has just left off the other 3 pairs and simply multiple'd all the 'phone' outlets at the panel end.

What you is an 'HDMI over Cat5e' adapter. They are around $100 and normally require 2 Cat5e cables.

There are Cat6 adapters available that will send HDMI over a singe cable but they are slightly more expensive and, obviously, you need Cat6.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#944989 3-Dec-2013 21:43

chevrolux:
sbiddle: You can't just "stream" data over data cabling to HDMI. What were you planning on hooking it up to at the other end? You can run a HDMI signal over cable with a balun at each end.

Are you sure that you have a RJ11 and a RJ45? Your electrician should have only installed RJ45 sockets throughout the house. RJ11 sockets are not used for voice here in NZ (and actual not legal as the PTC spec only covers BT and RJ45). If they have been installed I'd go as far as suggesting your electrician really doesn't have a clue in the world what he's doing and shouldn't be touching data cabling.

+1
And he would have had to go well out of his way to find RJ11 modules.

I think you will find they are actually RJ45 and he has just left off the other 3 pairs and simply multiple'd all the 'phone' outlets at the panel end.

What you is an 'HDMI over Cat5e' adapter. They are around $100 and normally require 2 Cat5e cables.

There are Cat6 adapters available that will send HDMI over a singe cable but they are slightly more expensive and, obviously, you need Cat6.

I would have got cat6 cable installed, instead of cat5

lchiu7

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#945006 3-Dec-2013 22:44

chevrolux:

What you is an 'HDMI over Cat5e' adapter. They are around $100 and normally require 2 Cat5e cables.

There are Cat6 adapters available that will send HDMI over a singe cable but they are slightly more expensive and, obviously, you need Cat6.

That's what I did when redoing all the cabling in our office. We had two pairs going from the server room to where we wanted the TV. And we had a HDMI over Cat5e adapter installed at the head end which requires power.

Haven't tried it out yet but if it doesn't then I will be contacting the contractor!

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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JonnyCam

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#945418 4-Dec-2013 15:17

You also need to let us know if you have HDMI out on your PC.

lchiu7

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#945544 4-Dec-2013 18:31

JonnyCam: You also need to let us know if you have HDMI out on your PC.

We didn't but the PC's (business ones) had Displayport so it was easier enough to pick up DisplayPort to HDMI adapters for a few bucks each.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

MagnoliaDown

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#945911 5-Dec-2013 09:41

Hi and thanks for the feedback. It sounds like I probably should have signed up here before I went ahead and had the cabling done, heh.

I understand that RJ11 connections are now being commonly installed in new builds and renovations and are probably the voice standard most often used worldwide so I have no concerns about this. I added it for detail only.

The PC has HDMI output through the AMD 7850 graphics card. What I'd intended to happen is PC HDMI > RJ45 wallplate in PC room > CAT cabling behind wall > RJ45 wallplate in living room > TV

This appears not to work because I hadn't factored in for baluns or a media streamer. I'd assumed I could get a RJ45/HDMI cable and things would just magically work. So that was a mistake :)

I'm primarily looking to run my own content so will pick up a WD TV Live box and use a Roku for other content. Are there any problems with this approach? I planned to connect them using the 3 empty HDMI sockets on the TV.