HDMI over Ethernet DIY Guide

[capd]

Set up the Lenkeng sender and one of the receivers/TVs today. Nice quality kit.

I used a ‘high speed’ DStv HDMI cable from decoder to sender and another ‘high speed’ DStv HDMI cable from receiver to TV. These are the cables that come with decoders, with a pink connector on one end, and black on the other.

After pressing the ‘Link’ button on the receiver, it all worked. However, every few moments, DStv’s picture would go black on the receiver TV.

I then adjusted the EDID switches on the sender. Firstly to 1080p 7ch. No difference on the receiver TV. Then, to 1080i 2ch. No difference, still going black every few seconds.

I then found and used a much thicker high speed HDMI cable from decoder to sender. The receiver TV is now only going black every few minutes, so a huge improvement.

I’m trying to understand why this is. I’m thinking I may need another thick/quality high speed HDMI cable for receiver to TV?

 

[Segg]

What cable are you using? CAT5e or CAT6?

How long is the run?

 

[capd]

What cable are you using? CAT5e or CAT6?

How long is the run?

Cat6. Not far, 20 - 25m tops. Cheapest Cat6 I could get at the time from Uniterm.

As mentioned, the thicker high-speed HDMI cable from decoder to sender made a huge difference. From going black every few seconds, to every few minutes. I’ve ordered more of them for the receivers/TVs in hopes it’s the problem…

 

[Segg]

Cat6. Not far, 20 - 25m tops. Cheapest Cat6 I could get at the time from Uniterm.

As mentioned, the thicker high-speed HDMI cable from decoder to sender made a huge difference. From going black every few seconds, to every few minutes. I’ve ordered more of them for the receivers/TVs in hopes it’s the problem…

Hmmm I don't think thats a cable issue, check that the extenders are setup correctly, double check the EDID switches are correctly set on the senders and receivers. I don't think you will have an IP address on those units

 

[capd]

Hmmm I don't think thats a cable issue, check that the extenders are setup correctly, double check the EDID switches are correctly set on the senders and receivers. I don't think you will have an IP address on those units

Nope, no IP as it’s plug and play. The same Cat6 cable delivers 250Mbps fibre to my UniFis with ease, so I don’t think it’s the Cat6 cable. Come to think if it the DStv HDMI cables are at least 10 years old, so makes sense to get new ones.

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[capd]

By the way, is DStv 1080p60 nowadays? Will double-check the EDID setting.




Also, earlier I meant to say pressing the LENGTH button, and not LINK. I will also try fiddling with this button again, apparently there are a few different settings:

 

[capd]

Not had a chance to try figuring the intermittent black screen out yet. Just bumping the thread in case anyone has any suggestions.

 

[William1102]

Anyone know if it’s possible if so how to use coax for an Ethernet network

Have some coax left over from Dstv extraview and considering the effort to do a cable run this might be worth while however I can only find some American sources and hardware not sure if something locally is viable

 

[W@P]

I had the same issue. The latest unit i bought to fix the issues did the same. Also changed all cables etc. nothing worked. Turns out the culprit was my AVR. Whenever i sent signal from the AVR to the extender via HDMI and then from AVR to the extender and then to the receiver over cat 6 towards my projector this happened.

The newest extender has an HDMI input and HDMI output on the sender unit. I took another HDMI cable from there towards my AVR's HDMI in for sound and thus bypassing the AVR for picture. Then the issue went away.

So now my setup looks like this.
Source -> extender- then HDMI out of extender to AVR for sound. Cat6 to receiver at projector and then HDMI from receiver to projector.

Good luck. I struggled for years.

 

[Speedster]

Anyone know if it’s possible if so how to use coax for an Ethernet network

Have some coax left over from Dstv extraview and considering the effort to do a cable run this might be worth while however I can only find some American sources and hardware not sure if something locally is viable

as you say, they do exist, although I haven't seen the converters locally.

 

[capd]

I had the same issue. The latest unit i bought to fix the issues did the same. Also changed all cables etc. nothing worked. Turns out the culprit was my AVR. Whenever i sent signal from the AVR to the extender via HDMI and then from AVR to the extender and then to the receiver over cat 6 towards my projector this happened.

The newest extender has an HDMI input and HDMI output on the sender unit. I took another HDMI cable from there towards my AVR's HDMI in for sound and thus bypassing the AVR for picture. Then the issue went away.

So now my setup looks like this.
Source -> extender- then HDMI out of extender to AVR for sound. Cat6 to receiver at projector and then HDMI from receiver to projector.

Good luck. I struggled for years.

I don’t have an AVR. Glad you sorted yours. Currently have:

Decoder > sender > Cat6 > receiver > TV, and I’m still getting an intermittent black picture.

I’m really hoping it’s not the Cat6 cable. Awaiting the quality HDMI cables to arrive. If they don’t help then I’m going to have to reach out to Lenkeng for support. I’m sure they know what the problem could be. But if HDMI cables are good, then it can only be the Cat6? I can also try fiddling with the receiver’s LENGTH button.

I will also test soon with a TV at the decoder, waiting for new TV. Will test with a short pre-made Cat6 patch cable to rule out my Cat6 cable. I will try:

1. Decoder > sender > Cat6 patch > receiver > TV

2. Decoder > sender HDMI in > sender HDMI out > TV.

I noticed that in this 300m Cat6 box there are parts of the blue pair which don’t have plastic sheath. But as mentioned I’ve used it at my other house to run around 20m lengths to UniFis and no problem getting 250Mbps over WiFi, which leads me to believe the Cat6 is fine…

 

[W@P]

I don’t have an AVR. Glad you sorted yours. Currently have:

Decoder > sender > Cat6 > receiver > TV, and I’m still getting an intermittent black picture.

I’m really hoping it’s not the Cat6 cable. Awaiting the quality HDMI cables to arrive. If they don’t help then I’m going to have to reach out to Lenkeng for support. I’m sure they know what the problem could be. But if HDMI cables are good, then it can only be the Cat6? I can also try fiddling with the receiver’s LENGTH button.

I will also test soon with a TV at the decoder, waiting for new TV. Will test with a short pre-made Cat6 patch cable to rule out my Cat6 cable. I will try:

1. Decoder > sender > Cat6 patch > receiver > TV

2. Decoder > sender HDMI in > sender HDMI out > TV.

I noticed that in this 300m Cat6 box there are parts of the blue pair which don’t have plastic sheath. But as mentioned I’ve used it at my other house to run around 20m lengths to UniFis and no problem getting 250Mbps over WiFi, which leads me to believe the Cat6 is fine…

Yes try another cat6 cable and see. I concluded that my AVR HDMI out does not play well with the lenkeng.

 

[Speedster]

I don’t have an AVR. Glad you sorted yours. Currently have:

Decoder > sender > Cat6 > receiver > TV, and I’m still getting an intermittent black picture.

I’m really hoping it’s not the Cat6 cable. Awaiting the quality HDMI cables to arrive. If they don’t help then I’m going to have to reach out to Lenkeng for support. I’m sure they know what the problem could be. But if HDMI cables are good, then it can only be the Cat6? I can also try fiddling with the receiver’s LENGTH button.

I will also test soon with a TV at the decoder, waiting for new TV. Will test with a short pre-made Cat6 patch cable to rule out my Cat6 cable. I will try:

1. Decoder > sender > Cat6 patch > receiver > TV

2. Decoder > sender HDMI in > sender HDMI out > TV.

I noticed that in this 300m Cat6 box there are parts of the blue pair which don’t have plastic sheath. But as mentioned I’ve used it at my other house to run around 20m lengths to UniFis and no problem getting 250Mbps over WiFi, which leads me to believe the Cat6 is fine…

Which lenkeng have you got? Is it an active or passive one. I.e. does it use h264/5 conversion or simply run an HDMI signal over the cat cable? We've used the latter extensively and never had the problem you describe.

 

[capd]

Which lenkeng have you got? Is it an active or passive one. I.e. does it use h264/5 conversion or simply run an HDMI signal over the cat cable? We've used the latter extensively and never had the problem you describe.

The latter.

LKV712PRO 1 x 2 HDMI™ Extender Splitter 1080p@60Hz-LENKENG

This HDMI™ extender splitter includs one transmitter and two receivers,extend 1 HDMI™ source to 2 HDMI™ displays over single CAT6/6a/7 cable up to 40m/131ft. The highest resolution supported is 1920×1080@60Hz, and it supports IR passback, EDID pass through a

www.lenkeng.com

Have you used a variety of HDMI cables?

 

[capd]

This is the Cat6 cable I have, where some of the blue wire’s sheath is missing in parts... It was the cheapest I could get a year ago at about R1,200. In hindsight I should have returned it immediately. I really thought Cat6 was Cat6 but I’m beginning to think this low quality cable could be the cause of the issue.

UltraLAN Installer Series - CAT6 CCA Solid UTP (305m - Grey)

UltraLAN Installer Series - CAT6 CCA Solid UTP (305m - Grey) 305m box of Ultra LAN CAT6 solid CCA Ethernet cable for high-performance networks. UltraLAN cable is ideal for high capacity traffic networks, provides better power conduction, and is more resilient. General Specifications...

shop.dbg.co.za

 

[Speedster]

This is the Cat6 cable I have, where some of the blue wire’s sheath is missing in parts... It was the cheapest I could get a year ago at about R1,200. In hindsight I should have returned it immediately. I really thought Cat6 was Cat6 but I’m beginning to think this low quality cable could be the cause of the issue.

UltraLAN Installer Series - CAT6 CCA Solid UTP (305m - Grey)

UltraLAN Installer Series - CAT6 CCA Solid UTP (305m - Grey) 305m box of Ultra LAN CAT6 solid CCA Ethernet cable for high-performance networks. UltraLAN cable is ideal for high capacity traffic networks, provides better power conduction, and is more resilient. General Specifications...

shop.dbg.co.za

CCA is the devil

 

[capd]

Found this to test with. Not sure how good it is or what type of cable it is, but no CCA mentioned.

UGreen CAT6 Ethernet 3m Flat Lan Cable-

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www.takealot.com

 

[Speedster]

Found this to test with. Not sure how good it is or what type of cable it is, but no CCA mentioned.

UGreen CAT6 Ethernet 3m Flat Lan Cable-

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View attachment 1411277

If it is just for a test, don't you have a patch cable you can borrow for a couple of minutes? Perhaps at your router?

Also cat5e should work just as well

 

[capd]

If it is just for a test, don't you have a patch cable you can borrow for a couple of minutes? Perhaps at your router?

Also cat5e should work just as well

Only the above in Cat6, and have plenty Cat5e patch cables. Lenkeng guide states Cat6 minimum, but perhaps short Cat5e is fine.

 

[Speedster]

Only the above in Cat6, and have plenty Cat5e patch cables. Lenkeng guide states Cat6 minimum, but perhaps short Cat5e is fine.

Cat5e will be fine. Especially if just a metre or two for the test