SewellDirect SW-29969-PRO HD-Link HDMI Over Single Cat5/Cat6 Extender, 1080p 330-Feet

Although the manufacturer recommends for a 1-to-Many setup using a single "dedicated hub", not a switch, it actually means that the IP stack is not fully implemented to take advantage of a robust ethernet IP network.As part of the test phase, we connected the Transmitter and 2xReceivers on the same ethernet switch. Everything worked fine until we move one receiver to a port on a different switch. That receiver would not receive the video signal, it would only link to the transmitter and give black screen. After looking all over the manufacturer's support pages for a default management IP address, not an easy task, we saw that Transmitter uses 192.168.168.55 and the Receiver uses 192.168.168.56. We updated the 2nd receiver to use a different IP address and that did not make any difference, it only allowed us to manage the 2 receivers separately. As we compared setups, we also noticed the MAC address on both receivers were the same. This is an issue as Ethernet frames use the MAC address to manage broadcast/unicast/multicast traffic. Because of this basic setup, not even a VLAN setup across 2 LAN switches worked, the broadcast domain established by the VLAN is irrelevant, there is too much frame loss once you traverse an aggregation point since the MAC addresses are not able to be cached/forwarded by the switch, they only use Broadcast signaling, or at least that is what the LAN switches showed in the traffic buffers.As an expert network engineer, in my humble opinion, this product is exactly what you pay for, no frills, no thrills and for a super simple network. Its implementation consists of a Fast-Ethernet 100Mb Full-Duplex RJ-45 LAN interface capability (we've been using 1000Mb or 1Gb LAN for a decade now) and IP is only for management of firmware updates over the network, there is no real management of the actual signaling, data packets, etc., so no ability to troubleshoot any issues with packet loss, collisions, or other media signaling.This product should be labeled as Point-to-Multi-Point within same LAN segment, simple IP for management only, since there is no real time HDMI signals actually using IP protocol for transfer, its all ETHERNET CSMA-CD and it does not support switching. The initial description was vague to say the least that these were not fully implemented.Needless to say, this products were returned hours after received, they did not pass the initial test to our requirements.This units work fine on a 1-to-1, direct connection setup, not sure why they even require CAT5e/CAT6 cabling? The specification for 100Mb Fast-Ethernet is 100MHz, well supported by regular CAT5 if that is what you have available, no need to spend the extra cost of upgrading to CAT5e/6/7/8. CAT5e supports 350MHz, plenty cheap and readily available for this product.

Only issue is occasionally freezes and needs a reset. So far it fixed it every time, I would say it happens less than once a month though. Good picture, I use it for a security camera system and I'm happy with it overall.

Works as advertised. Ran into an installation that the original installer, about 10 years ago, ran a single coax and CAT5 cable to the location were the customer has a TV. The customers complaint was that he could not get High Definition on their TV at this location. The TV was built into the wall of their bathroom and the cable box for this TV was located in a closet at the other end of the coax. The A/V was being transmitted over the coax and the cable box's remote IR was being transmitted over the CAT5. This setup worked well a few years ago, but with today's technology most TV's have to have a source like a cable box with an HDMI or Component output in order to produce a HD picture.In the past I have tried other manufactures HDMI over single CAT5 and I have not found one that worked without issues or was reliable. Nothing worse then having to return to a customer's site to keep adjusting or rebooting equipment. I called Sewell Direct technical support and they verified that their product was just right for this situation. Single run end to end terminated CAT5 cable about 50 feet long.Upon receiving the Sewell unit I gave it a quick test on my workbench with a single 100' ethernet patch cable. Picture and sound were stable. So I went ahead with the installation at the customers site. It was extremely easy to install since the cables were already run. The coax cable was abandoned and I only used the CAT5 cable. I was able to hide both HDMI over CAT5 boxes neatly behind the TV and cable box. I connected the Sewell Direct box first to the FIOS cable box with the proper cables and powered it up. On the TV side I mounted the Sewell HDMI box to the wall with Velcro and ran the HDMI and IR pickup to the TV. Connected the CAT5 and AC adapter and powered it up. Quickly the two boxes were communicating. I had 1080 picture quality without any delay. The remote IR extender also worked flawlessly without interrupting the picture or sound and without a noticeable delay. The remote IR pickup could be a bit smaller.Customer was very happy. It's great when a plan and product all come together and work as advertised!!!

I used this product with a Monoprice 4x2 HDMI Matrix (product ID 5312). I originally also ordered some HDMI extender from Monoprice (product id 8200 - HDMI® Over CAT5E / CAT6 Extender Wall Plate w/ LED Indicator (Pair) - Single Port (1P) - White). I was never able to make this solution work properly. Port one of the HDMI matrix was working fine however, the second port was not outputting a constant signal. I saw HD-Link by Sewell on amazon.ca for a reasonable price and I wanted to give it a try. The product was really high rated so I told myself why not? Upon receipt of the product, I opened the box and realized that the extenders were fairly heavy with all metal construction which I liked. There is also 2 power adapter (one for each extender). I'm not a big fan of the extra wiring but I guess we can't expect too much. I quickly replaced my Monoprice extenders and immediately, I got a signal. I've been using the HD-Link for a month and I didn't get a drop signal once (hope it remain as good). I am very satisfied with this product. the only thing I wish is that they had a version with IR receiver, Optical output and Power Over Ethernet but for this price I don't think we can asked for too much :P In conclusion, If you are in the market for a simple extender and you don't mind having a power adapter at each end of your setup, I would recommend you this product. Compared to the cheaper Monoprice extender, this works and uses only one Ethernet cable.

Needed a solution to clean up clutter around a built in wall unit in our family room. Had a 55" tv wall mounted in the provided space but wanted to integrate directv, bluray and surround sound receiver and did not want to have all that equipment and wires sitting out in the open on the surrounding shelves.Builder had run coax and one Cat 5e cable to the location from a side wall where I wanted to locate all my equipment in a cabinet. Did some research and found this item as I wanted to run hdmi.Bought the item a few months ago and finally got around to installing it. I am happy with the results . I had a run of about 25 ft of unshielded cat 5e and had to install connectors at either end. There are a few ways to configure the 8 wires but it seems the dominant way is called "568 b", I used a proper crimping tool I bought at Lowe's and connected the wires as per the 568b std. I had never installed "Ethernet" connectors before. Wires are small and my hands big so it took some time to get the wires located correctly to be crimped.Once done it is easy to connect the hd-link transmitter and receiver and I had a picture pretty quickly. The quality is pretty good but I was able to get a better video quality when I used a shorter 6 ft cat 5e cable instead of the one in my wall.Using the in wall cable there is some slight degradation of the video but my eyes did not always catch it even when watching NFL in hd.I am happy as now I have my complete set up in a very clean look..