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: neat little gizmo
Summary: 4 Stars
This little UFO looking gizmo fills a niche for those who want to convert just about any remote control from IR to RF. Doing that allows it to go through walls and be able to go from one room to another. It does this by using a smaller battery combined with a tiny transmitter in a shell the size of a AAA cell. (an adapter shell is included for devices using AA cells. When you press the buttons on your remote, the battery/transmitter cell sends a signal to the UFO looking receiver which can be in the basement, another room, etc.
I use it to control a new digital to analog converter box (for off air reception of new digital channels) that is in my basement. The converter box feeds two tvs upstairs via RG6 (typical cable tv wire). Since it is unlikely both tvs are used at the same time, this allows me to just deal with one converter box for both and simplifies wiring. (antenna just goes to the converter box).
If you just need through the wall or floor remote conversion from IR to RF for one room - then I would suggest just getting the type of remote extender that has two units as they are more powerful. (like the Terk Technologies LF-IRX) ( you point your existing IR remote at relay unit which converts the signal to RF and transmits to a receiver. This method has a better range as the transmitter is more powerful. With the Terk type system, however you will need to put a receiver in each room you plan on using the remote.
All in all, this Next generation unit is a good value for the price and does work but its not real strong, and I find I have to wave the remote around or move about in one room to get it to receive the signal(since I don't use that tv much, its only a minor inconvenience). I plan on moving the location of the receiver and seeing if that helps. Also the charge on the batteries (since they are small) doesn't last a real long time, but they give you two so you can always have one ready.
Customer Review: I don't know how it works, but it does.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my second remote extender. The first one (purchased several years ago) is still working fine, but I needed another one to control a device in a different room.
Pros:
- It works as promised. It's worked with every remote that I've tried.
- The range is good. I can easily control the cable box located in the basement when I'm in the second level of my house.
- The battery life is reasonable for the remotes I'm using - I can usually go a few months before charging. If I had a remote that drew a lot of power (e.g. if it had a lighted lcd display), then the battery life might be a problem.
- The price is very good.
Cons:
- Batteries do not seem to stay charged in the charger. I find that if I leave the battery in the charger for a long period of time (several weeks), the battery is dead when I want to replace the already dead one in the remote. If I take the battery out of the charger and put it back in, then let it charge for a day or so, the battery is now charged. I don't know if this is a problem with the charger, or if it is a common problem with NiMH batteries. I'm going to try leaving the extra battery out of the charger, and then start charging it when I sense that the battery in the remote is getting low.
- If you have a line of sight with whatever you are controlling, the remote usually won't work - I think because it's getting a double signal. Just point it away from the TV or cover up the IR transmitter on the remote and then it will work.
- It's not easy to tell which version the system is (433MHz vs 418MHz). If you need to get a second compatible transmitter, you need to know whether you have the 433MHz or the 418MHz. It doesn't say 433 or 418 anywhere on the product. An easy way to tell is that the lettering on the 433MHz transmitter is blue and the lettering on the 418MHz transmitter is red.
Customer Review: Awesome Remote Extender!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just bought at ln52a750 Samsung LCD flatscreen a couple months ago and moved everything from an entertainment center to on top of my corner fire place. I put all the components (reciever, cable box, blue ray player) behind the tv and knew I would need an IR extender of some kind. I bought one at Radioshack for 40 bucks, got it home and installed it. Worked great until the LCD tv came on. At that point, it was jammed by IR. Apprarently, the modern LCD TVs put out a lot or IR and since that recieved IR signals from remotes, it wouldn't work. I took it back and looked for something else that worked differently. I found that with the next gen remote control extender. It simply installs in place of a battery in your remote but still supplies power with a small rechargable battery that is coupled with a transmitter. It picks up a faint RF signal from the remote when it sends IR, and amplifies and rebroadcasts it to the UFO looking receiver. That can then be aimed at as many devices as you like (blueray, cable box and receiver in my case). It can also use IR "eyes" that stick to the front of components. It hooked up in a couple minutes, and after the little batteries were charged by the UFO reciever (there are two batteries, one for backup) which took 24 hrs. it worked flawlessly. I can go outside of my house and change everything. Worthless I know, but cool to show people. THIS THING IS AWESOME!!. No need to point at anything anymore. I can be in a different room with my reciver playing music and change volume or channels. I used the universal remote of my Comcast DVR to control everything. One button from anywhere in the house turns everything on and one to turn everything off. Amazing! The only drawback, is you need an additional transmitter for each remote you want to use. If you use a universal, you only need one. Enjoy.Customer Review: Doesn't work with Harmony 300- but otherwise great
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had the NextGen Remote Extender Plus for about a year now. It has almost always worked perfectly. I have used it with my Panasonic TV, Scientific Atlanta Cable box and Denon AVR-3310ci receiver remotes.
I put it inside a media cabinet and operate from about 17' away. You would never guess this little device could work so well but it did- until I got a Harmony 300 remote.
This is more of an FYI for people with this remote. Though the Next Generation web site (as of 02/01/2011 at www.nextgen.us) states "Does the RF transmitter kit work with Universal remotes? Yes, it does. It works with the Harmony Universal remotes up until the 880 series because it comes with its own rechargeable battery pack. It will work with cable or satellite remotes that can be Universal remotes." The 300 has presented problems. I called NextGen and asked about this and they are aware of the issue. I was told this is something they expect to have fixed on new units in about two months or so. They verbally told me they would swap out my old unit for a new working one once they got it fixed.
So ultimately, the promise of good customer service from NextGen, which was terrific. If they do fix the problem and swap out my unit, they get an A+ from me, but for now they are still working on it so time will tell.
If you are thinking about using this with a Harmony 300 Universal Remote, you'd probably do better to wait, or buy something else.
Otherwise, I strongly recommend the product. It really works great: the range is amazing, it controls everything with no issues aside from the above issue I had with the Harmony remote. Good value for what it does, takes up almost no room in the media cabinet and allowed me to hide all my wires/devices inside the cabinet which is great.
Customer Review: Great gadget!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Next Generation Remote Extender because we were putting in built-ins, and I wanted my TIVO HD to go inside of the bottom cabinet, and I didn't want to have to open the doors to control the remote. I had no idea that a product like this existed until searching on Amazon.com. We initially had some issues. Well, not at first. We charged the battery for over 24 hours, put it in the TIVO remote, and it worked great. I could control the TIVO from outside in the garage. Well, after a few days, it stopped working. I wasn't sure what the problem was. I jiggled the batteries, moved the controller, etc. and it started working again. Only for a day. I couldn't figure out exactly what the problem was, but it was very frustrating. For a while, it would only work if the door was open. Then it stopped working altogether. I tried the spare battery and that one wouldn't work at all. I kept switching things out, attempting to troubleshoot the situation, but I couldn't get it working again. Finally, I called customer service and they were very helpful. The gentleman thought that I wasn't getting a good charge on the battery. I had been a little confused about the charging, because sometimes lights were lit, and then they would go out. He told me to make sure that the batteries were installed correctly in the charger, and he told me which lights should be lit. He told me if that didn't resolve the problem, he'd mail me another unit. I went back and charged the battery correctly for 24 hours, and I haven't had a problem since. Works perfectly! We've had it installed correctly for around a month and have not had any more problems. I would give this four stars, because I think that the directions need to be clearer, but I gave the star back for the great customer service. Thanks for a great product!!