Next Generation Remote Control Extender
by Next Generation
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List Price: Our Price: $39.59 You Save: $25.36 (39%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Speakers See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Next Generation Remote Control Extender
Customer Review: Better than I could have expected
Summary: 5 Stars
This product is great. I had opened up my wall to run my cables and mount my TV. I ran all of my cables 20 feet away to a cabinet that is around a corner near my laundry room. I started researching IR extenders and had decided on purchasing the Niles IR extender for my system. This system was going to cost me at least $250.00. I have a friend that had used a similar system and he said the system worked "okay". I didn't want to spend that kind of money on a product that only works okay. During my research I found the Next Gen Remote Control Extender for $42.00. Given the number of positive reviews, I decided to give it a try and if it didn't work I would go with the Niles system (I ran the cables in the wall in case I needed them.)
I received the Next Gen Remote Extender and had my system ready to go. I plugged the UFO into the wall and let the transmitters/batteries charge. After 24 hours I put the battery/transmitter into my Comcast remote and BINGO! It works. I was worried about lag time when I started, but as soon as I hit any button the component I am running responds. I have a habit of pointing the remote at the TV, but there is no need. I can run my receiver, TV, cablebox or Blu-ray from my kitchen which is at least 25 feet from the TV. The product says you have to place the UFO in front of the components, but I found this isn't necessary. When I first plugged the UFO in I set it on the shelf below where the components are to let the batteries/transmitter charge. In my haste to try the Next Gen out I forgot to put the UFO in front of the components. All of them worked flawlessly. I went back to the cabinet and found that the UFO was on the lower shelf. Now that is where I keep it. My remote works whether or not the doors are open and my shelf sits flush with the closed cabinet doors.
I have removed the battery/transmitter from my cable remote and placed it in my other remotes to see if they work. No problems at all. My friend came over and saw how seamless the remote worked. He has ordered the Next Gen and is scrapping his old IR extender.
In my system I am running a Motorola Comcast cablebox, Denon receiver, Samsung 46" TV and a Samsung Blu-ray player. The receiver can only be turned on and off by the Comcast remote, but that is a problem with the remote not the Next Gen.
My only complaint is that the Next Gen only comes with one battery sleeve. My Comcast remote runs 3 components, so I need another to run my Blu-ray player. Not a big deal since this saved me a lot of money.
Customer Review: Perfect solution for hidden components
Summary: 5 Stars
I was not sure this was what I had been looking for, but it was and it works perfectly!! Basically, this allows you to hide your components (cable box, receiver, DVD, etc) and still allow them to work. It turns an existing (not supplied) integrated remote that works on Infrared (IR) into a Radio Frequency (RF) remote. Thus, line of sight is not required to control the components. 2 easy steps!
1) You simply replace one of the remote's batteries with the tiny battery/RF transmitter. Your remote is now both an IR and an RF remote!
2) Set up the "flying saucer" inside the cabinet with the components. The little IR Repeater Transmitter gets placed near the IR receiver on your components.
You are in business! Press a button on your remote, the battery/RF transmitter sends the RF signal to the flying saucer which converts it back to an IR signal for your component with little to no delay. Very slick!! You do not need "line of sight" with the RF setup.
A few caveats:
1) This system comes with only 1 IR Repeater. Therefore, all your components must have IR receiver windows fairly close to one another (in my case the components are stacked and the receiving windows are all in a 6 inch diameter area. I taped mine to the inside of the cabinet door that transmits to all the components). If your components are spread apart horizontally, in different locations or (perhaps) even on different shelves, this system may not work for you UNLESS you also buy the 3-way IR Repeater. This three-headed repeater can be positioned to relay the signal to 3 components that are not close to each other.
2) The IR in your remote still works like normal...the RF is simply an added way of transmitting the signal. This is very helpful if one component (like a TV) is not in the cabinet. In my setup, the IR signal from my remote operates the wall mounted TV while the RF signal from my remote operates the DVD, Receiver and Cable Box (all located in a cabinet). This is seamless and invisible to the user as long as you remember to point the remote at the IR controlled component (in my case, the TV).
3) The flying saucer also works as an IR Repeater Transmitter, but is pretty big. I could not get it in front of my components with my cabinet door shut.
4) Not sure how long the remote battery (used in conjunction with the transmitter) lasts in my Remote. Had the system running for 4 months and it still is functioning. The Saucer recharges the remote battery.
Customer Review: Great for two cable boxes
Summary: 5 Stars
I have both Comcast and Verizon FiOS to provide TV programming. For those of you who may not know, both use Motorola set-top boxes to provide the programming.
Though the remotes for each look different, they both use the exact same IR codes. So attempting to use a remote to control one box, will also control the other box. So what to do?
For devices like TiVo, the problem was anticipated and there are provisions to set a unique identity code for each remote - therefore, for installations where there are multiple TiVos, you can configure the TiVo remotes to control a particular TiVo.
The Motorola STBs are not so capable. There is no way to alter the remote codes or the cable box to differentiate between the Comcast and Verizon STBs.
I stumbled upon this Next generation Remote Control Extender, hoping that I could set things up so that the Comcast remote would control only the Comcast STB, and the Verizon Remote would control only the FiOS STB.
Success!
Here is how I did it:
- install the Next Gneeration RF+battery slug inside the Comcast remote
- cover the IR window on the Comcast Remote with tape so there would be no IR code transmission
- position the IR blaster from the base station to the front of the Comcast display (worked with 3412/3416/6412/6416 STB); both left and right side of the display window seemed to work OK
- cover the front display of the Comcast box so IR from the Verizon remote would not be visible
It worked! The Comcast remote controlled only the Comcast box; the Verizon remote controlled only the FiOS box.
Note well: be sure to cover the base station as well, as it happens to be an IR repeater. It has quite a strong repeat function, so initially it was also triggering both boses. Once I covered the extender base, no more false triggering.
You may be wondering how this little guy works?
Most likely, it is relying on the change in current flow thru the battery when the unit is transmitting IR codes. The subtle changes in current are enough to be detected by the RF module and the retransmitted to the base station. The RF transmetter/detector is in-line with the battery, so it can easily detect the change in current when IR codes are being emitted.
The technique is probably patented.
Quite clever indeed, and better than that Leapfrog piggy-back device that was offered a few years back.
Mike
Beaverton, OR
Customer Review: Great device but the stock batteries won't last
Summary: 3 Stars
**Update as of 12-19-2010: The thing died a few days ago. It barely signals and when it does the signal is garbled; for example it may raise volume one increment and then stop, or it will operate one machine but not another in a random order day to day. Tried uber-fresh batteries, multiple remotes to no avail. Don't know if it's the transmitter or the receiver but it's done. I had an extra on hand (which works) and I suppose I will order another one just because you can buy 10 of these for the same price as a single Logitech RF remote ($400!!!). Is one year the lifespan of these? One year from now I will find out.
I have had this device for about one year now and it has delivered as advertised; I operate a Sony LCOS tv, Sony DVD player, Yamaha surround receiver, and a Motorola cable box with a single remote.
My components are in a separate cabinet on the other side of a half-wall from my tv room so that I don't have to have them clustered on my tv stand, and have had no problems with either signal or response from the remote. They are in a cabinet with a front opening door, the extender sits on a shelf next to the surround receiver. If the door of the cabinet is open, the IR signal of the extender is strong enough to operate all of the devices, if the door is closed it can't bounce the IR past the shelves and will operate only the receiver, BUT, the extender has a rear jack which allows for wired IR eyes which I run to the other components.
If you have this sort of set up for your components, just get yourself a three or four eye multi-IR cord, plug it in the back of the extender, run the eyes to each component and you're set. If your components sit on an open shelf display, the IR signal of the extender is powerful enough to reach all of them provided you don't bury it back behind something.
The downside of this extender is that the batteries don't last very long; within six months I noticed that both of them wouldn't hold a charge for very long and therefore wouldn't operate the extender. I considered buying a new set of batteries, but at $6 apiece plus shipping, I decided to just get another extender and have the extra spare parts.
This is a the best IR extender I have ever had, and I have tried a bunch of them; for the price they beat the hassle and cost of a radiowave multi-remote.
Customer Review: Not worth the trouble. Not even close...
Summary: 1 Stars
Let me get right to the point: This product gets 1 star not because it is a 1-star product but because it is marketed by a 1-star company that provides no customer support in the form of included product documentation, online instruction, or responses to e-mail. Next Generation gives every indication that it is a company that doesn't give a cr@p about its customers.
Of course, this point has already been made in other reviews and you may be thinking -- much as I did -- that if this product works it doesn't matter anyway.
Indeed, there are plenty of reviews extolling the virtues of this product. It does work as described in the right situation. However, it would be a mistake to view this product as "plug and play" or assume that "the right situation" is most situations.
If you've got a newer DirecTV receiver, this version won't work. If you've got FIOS, this version won't work. If you've got AT&T, don't even order before calling the company first (their instructions, not mine). You get the idea: sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. There are many situations where this product becomes nothing more than an overpriced paper weight. This is the point at which you will regret ever purchasing a Next Generation product. Is the product defective? Are you doing something wrong? Or is your configuration incompatible with the product? Good luck finding out.
There is simply no where to turn for help when the product does not work as described. The included "owner's manual" is no help. As of this date, Next Gen's simplistic website has no support link or troubleshooting information. The company does provide e-mail addresses but, as others have pointed out, you will not get a response. You could call their toll-free company phone number -- if they had one. They don't. It is easy to wonder if the company has gone out of business.
Let me conclude by suggesting that you don't take my word for it. Find Next Generation's website, look around, and then e-mail a question. Discover for yourself how you will be treated should you experience a problem. Don't do what I did; don't assume that the problems people report with this product and the negative experiences with this company are simply the result of technically incompetent users with no problem-solving skills.
You've been warned!