Next Generation Remote Control Extender
I had a bit of a dilemma when I moved into my new place. I have a TV up in the bedroom area of my loft and I wanted to be able to share one cable box between all the TV’s that way I could watch stuff I recorded on my DVR either upstairs or downstairs and I didn’t want to have to pay for a second cable box either. Running the signal up to the upstairs TV was easy enough, but how do I deal with the remote?
While I was looking for a solution I came across the Next Generation Remote Control Extender and it almost seemed to good to be true and I had a hard time believing that it actually worked. Here is why, the Next Generation Remote Control Extender works like this, you replace one of the batteries in your remote control with their included battery transmitter and it turns your remote into a RF remote, I have no idea how it does it. For those of you unfamiliar with RF remotes most remote controls work via IR which requires line of site, RF remotes use radio frequencies which do not require line of site and can even work through walls. I read lots of reviews on the the Next Generation Remote Control Extender and people seemed to love it. It’s fairly inexpensive so I figured it was worth a shot so I ordered one and I also got myself a cheap, but nice, Sony universal remote (Sony RM-VL600).
The Next Generation Remote Control Extender consists of three parts. The transmitter/battery that you place in your remote, the receiver (which looks like a UFO) and a IR emitter to place on the device you want to control. When my Next Generation Remote Control Extender arrived I placed the transmitter/battery into my remote, plugged in the receiver and put the IR emitter onto my cable box. I tried it out and it works absolutely flawlessly! Another nice feature is that they actually give you two of the transmitter/batteries, you keep one in the receiver unit which charges it and the other stays in your remote, this is great because it means you always have a fully charged transmitter/battery.
I can’t get over how well this thing works, the remote is just as responsive as if I was using a traditional remote, it works flawlessly upstairs in my apartment regardless of where I point the remote (that’s the beauty of RF). I would get one for my Harmony One but the Harmony uses a proprietary battery and to use the Next Generation Remote Control Extender your remote needs to either use AA or AAA batteries. If you need to control a device that is out of line of site or even in another room I highly suggest the Next Generation Remote Control Extender, it has performed absolutely flawlessly for me.
You can get the Next Generation Remote Control Extender at Smarthome.com
Filed Under Equipment | 2 Questions/Comments |
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November 27, 2011 7:31 am
How do I KNOW IF I NEED A 433 mhz OR 418 mhz
November 28, 2011 12:45 pm
Brian, to be totally honest, I don’t know.
Check out their FAQ http://www.nextgen.us/Articles.asp?ID=136