Sending HD satellite around the house

[RockyBalboa]

I am setting up a multiswitch with a quattro LNB and larger than average dish which will allow rooms around the house to have their own Sky box. However, I also want to distribute a single Sky box HD feed around the house.

As far as I am aware, I can do this by connecting the Sky box to the multiswitch and then from the Sky box via HDMI to a HDMI modulator and then via coax to a Distribution Amp to the various rooms... but is there any other way of doing this rather than using an expensive HD modulator? e.g. having the Sky box connect to a HDMI splitter and then sending a feed from there to each room?

[VEX]

Nothing that can do it as cheap and maintain the HD type quality.

Depending on what package you are on or want for Sky, and how many boxes you want / need, have a look at Sky Q.

With the silverbox you can store all your recordings centrally and stream them out to the individual remote boxes local to the tv's

V.

[RockyBalboa]

Do you mean nothing can do it as cheaply as a HD modulator?

Alternatively, will a HDMI splitter work?

[VEX]

Yes and Yes.

Yes, there is nothing cheaper or easier than a HD Modulator.

Yes, a splitter would work but how would you get the signal from the output of the splitter to the screens. For me long hdmi's are not reliable enough and can be very expansive to bury in the wall.

V.

[mackie1]

Sky Q or maybe a Slingbox?

I used an HDMI splitter before I got Q and it worked OK (use the Sky+ app as a remote) but that was a <5m run. I now use it for the PS4 (but have controller connectivity issues through the wall).

[megaphone]

You can send the HDMI signal over CAT5 cables, these are easier to instal than HDMI cables. However, you then need HD over CAT5 extenders for each TV and HDMI splitter.

By the time you add up all the cost, it's cheaper and better to modulate the HDMI signal.

Note, you'll need to have an HD tuner in each TV to achieve a full HD signal.

[mackie1]

Not sure why you'd go to all this effort when Sky now offer an off-the-shelf solution that does pretty much what you need. Unless you need more boxes than Sky Q supports?

[kooky guy]

mackie1 said:

Not sure why you'd go to all this effort when Sky now offer an off-the-shelf solution that does pretty much what you need. Unless you need more boxes than Sky Q supports?

I was looking forward to Sky Q until they announced the pricing. Absolutely ridiculous.

I now use this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B013T603FS/ref...

over cat5e cable with two receivers. Using a gigabit switch multiple receivers can be used (as many as you want). It works really well and also carries the IR. I did try some cheap Chinese versions from ebay initially but they were not very good.

Neet's customer support is also excellent.

[mackie1]

It only cost me £1.50 more than I was paying before so it was a bit of a no brainer for a much better product. Not cheap in absolute terms though, I very much grant you that. For someone with multi-room Sky already it's not a big step up in cost.

[kooky guy]

mackie1 said:

It only cost me £1.50 more than I was paying before so it was a bit of a no brainer for a much better product. Not cheap in absolute terms though, I very much grant you that. For someone with multi-room Sky already it's not a big step up in cost.

I think my subscription would have at least doubled. Very much not worth it - it's too expensive already.

Another advantage of the method I use is that I can send anything hdmi from my AV amp to any TV in the house (Blu-ray, Sky+, computer etc).

[TartanPaint]

kooky guy said:

I was looking forward to Sky Q until they announced the pricing. Absolutely ridiculous.

I now use this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B013T603FS/ref...

over cat5e cable with two receivers. Using a gigabit switch multiple receivers can be used (as many as you want). It works really well and also carries the IR. I did try some cheap Chinese versions from ebay initially but they were not very good.

Neet's customer support is also excellent.

That.... is a nifty bit of kit!