Centralised computer with ability to control in different rooms.

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sdav

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#142721 21-Mar-2014 18:57

Hmm so I had this idea.... don't laugh!

We are building a new house and I was thinking of having my PC useable in three rooms... the office, lounge and bedroom. I was going to achieve this by simply leaving the pc (its just a mac mini) in the office (where it will get used mostly) and then mirroring the image on the different displays. I figured when not using a display (i.e. the bedroom it would just be turned off). For control I would just take the bluetooth keyboard/mouse into the room i wanted to use the pc. All the rooms are close (<10 meters)....

Am I dreaming! Would this work as I have described it or is there another solution to this?

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#1010782 21-Mar-2014 19:15

You can get KVM's with Multiple outputs..

http://www.kvmgalore.com/shopping/group.php?group_id=40

charsleysa

597 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1010784 21-Mar-2014 19:25

Yea this can work.
The way I would recommend is a bit more complex but is future proof.

Wire your house with Cat6 cabling, try having at least 2 jacks per room, more if possible. You will thank me for this.

Then at your central patch panel, designate 2 jacks for each screen you want to connect.

Then designate 2 jacks for you mac mini.

Now use HDMI over Cat6 adapters to get the signal to the patch panel, then use a HDMI splitter to split the signal.

Finally use HDMI over Cat6 to get the signal to each screen.

In conclusion, this setup may be more complex, but it's cheaper and future proof.

You also have the option of running HDMI cable along with the Cat6 cable but that becomes more expensive.
Also you may find that you want to move your mac mini and that will be more difficult if you use HDMI cabling.

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#1010803 21-Mar-2014 20:04

Yes thats a good idea as well

Use an HDMI splitter to split the the signal to multiple monitors via HDBase-T (over 1 Cat6 Cable each ) to multiple monitors and then use a BT keyboard/mouse to the computer to access them)

Better than Using a Multi KVM Switch.

raytaylor

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#1011032 22-Mar-2014 12:58

Except when the mrs changes the channel on the tv in the lounge and stumbles on what your watching on the computer in the other room

My idea to add would be run USB extenders to each room alongside the hdmi. You only need usb 1.1 to operate a mouse and keyboard, so you could have a wireless keyboard and mouse permanently in each room with a wireless reciever also in each room - it would give you much better coverage, rather than trying to bluetooth back to the computer itself.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/cables-adaptors/usb/auction-706853738.htm

Ray Taylor

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sdav

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Ultimate Geek

#1011040 22-Mar-2014 13:43

Thanks for your replies guys...

I have no issues running the cat6 like you suggest, I think it is a good idea.

Two questions - how is audio over hdmi/cat 6 conversion handled? Could I theoretically run from the mac to my receiver input like any other and keep the audio and video as if I was going straight out of my mac?

With the mention of KVM's and USB extenders, can this work over cat6 like hdmi or would it have to be a separate run with its separate wall sockets?

sdav

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1011042 22-Mar-2014 13:46

charsleysa: Yea this can work.
The way I would recommend is a bit more complex but is future proof.

Wire your house with Cat6 cabling, try having at least 2 jacks per room, more if possible. You will thank me for this.

Then at your central patch panel, designate 2 jacks for each screen you want to connect.

Then designate 2 jacks for you mac mini.

Now use HDMI over Cat6 adapters to get the signal to the patch panel, then use a HDMI splitter to split the signal.

Finally use HDMI over Cat6 to get the signal to each screen.

In conclusion, this setup may be more complex, but it's cheaper and future proof.

You also have the option of running HDMI cable along with the Cat6 cable but that becomes more expensive.
Also you may find that you want to move your mac mini and that will be more difficult if you use HDMI cabling.

I had to stick my tongue out and draw what you described to try and get it! With the HMDI splitter, would I need to go out of that with another set of hmdi/cat 6 converters to then run the signal to the rooms? Can I just convert the HDMI to cat 6 once and split from there (patching it through the patch panel)?

sdav

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1011043 22-Mar-2014 13:47

raytaylor: Except when the mrs changes the channel on the tv in the lounge and stumbles on what your watching on the computer in the other room

Why what do you mean?

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raytaylor

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#1011085 22-Mar-2014 17:14

sdav: Thanks for your replies guys...

I have no issues running the cat6 like you suggest, I think it is a good idea.

Two questions - how is audio over hdmi/cat 6 conversion handled? Could I theoretically run from the mac to my receiver input like any other and keep the audio and video as if I was going straight out of my mac?

Most computers dont output the audio over hdmi- they still use the normal green audio speaker output.
So you would need to split the audio output and feed it into the converters, or run seperate sound cables.

With the mention of KVM's and USB extenders, can this work over cat6 like hdmi or would it have to be a separate run with its separate wall sockets?

You can buy wall sockets from ideal electrical (made by PDL) that are modular. Its a wall socket with 2 to 6 mounts. Within the mounts you fit an RJ45 socket, a light switch, a tv antenna plug, a telephone plug, a vga plug, hdmi or speakers - whatever you want.
http://www.pdl.co.nz/brochures/800-Series-Brochure-April-2010-Internet-version.pdf

You take a plate, and push in whatever components you want.
The PDF is for the fancy design series, but they are also avaliable in the standard series which you see in most NZ homes.

The diagram would look like this

I have just found though that the hdmi converters I see on trademe dont support audio at all.
There is this device from jaycar which you could use to insert audio into the hdmi feed before it goes into the hdmi splitter
Doing this would mean you dont need to run long lossey audio cables to each room for a seperate speaker system - you can use the speakers within the tv

Above you were suggested to run this all through a patch panel using normal cat6 wiring. Just a side note - depending upon what converters you use, you may be limited to about 30 metres of cat6 for the hdmi or usb signal. This may not be enough length to go via the patch panel in the garage to the room you want to send the signal - you may have to run direct cables. I would also suggest running 4x cat6 cables to each of the rooms as you may need two for a single HDMI video feed and two for USB

Ray Taylor

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Batman

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#1011095 22-Mar-2014 18:06

you need a laptop. plug into Ethernet and remote desktop. bring your laptop anywhere in the house. anywhere.

Jase2985

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#1011096 22-Mar-2014 18:07

why would you not have the audio go through the HDMI cable?

Coil

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#1011105 22-Mar-2014 19:00

@raytaylor

USB wont travel that far.Use a virtual machine or remote desktop with a thin client.

Run Hyper-V server with 1 VM. Each thin client just opens the VM on boot over network. So it maybe a bit laggy. Either that or you can run VGA or HDMI and have lots of WiFi Keyboards and mice or Bluetooth logitech ones.

overkill

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#1011118 22-Mar-2014 19:52

sdav:

I had to stick my tongue out and draw what you described to try and get it! With the HMDI splitter, would I need to go out of that with another set of hmdi/cat 6 converters to then run the signal to the rooms? Can I just convert the HDMI to cat 6 once and split from there (patching it through the patch panel)?

You can look at something like this....

http://wirednz.co.nz/av/atlona/distribution-amps/at-hdcat-4.html

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chevrolux

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#1011135 22-Mar-2014 20:12

I think there is a reason this is quite hard to do. There are much better options.

I would look at using a high end desktop with VNC or remote desktop (included in Win8 Pro I think) and then a cheap as chips laptop for around the house. Remote desktop is very good in a LAN enviroment.

raytaylor

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#1011204 23-Mar-2014 00:37

TimA: @raytaylor

USB wont travel that far.Use a virtual machine or remote desktop with a thin client.

Run Hyper-V server with 1 VM. Each thin client just opens the VM on boot over network. So it maybe a bit laggy. Either that or you can run VGA or HDMI and have lots of WiFi Keyboards and mice or Bluetooth logitech ones.

@TimA
Check out these
http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/cables-adaptors/usb/auction-707495735.htm

I would love to say VNC is a great idea, but I imagine it wouldnt work very well when using google earth or similar 3d programs.

Ray Taylor

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Coil

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#1011206 23-Mar-2014 00:42

raytaylor:
TimA: @raytaylor

USB wont travel that far.Use a virtual machine or remote desktop with a thin client.

Run Hyper-V server with 1 VM. Each thin client just opens the VM on boot over network. So it maybe a bit laggy. Either that or you can run VGA or HDMI and have lots of WiFi Keyboards and mice or Bluetooth logitech ones.

@TimA
Check out these
http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/cables-adaptors/usb/auction-707495735.htm

Interesting..
HDMI wont run over 15m for 1080P? I stick to the virtual machine or running thin clients that have a network based user account.

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