RF Link AVS-5811 5.8GHz Wireless Audio/Video Sender with IR Remote Control Extender

I just rented a condo and Comcast came to set up cable TV. I was amazed to learn that there was no active lead in the living room for TV and internet. In fact, not only was the master bedroom the only room with an available lead/outlet, but there was no way a run could be made to the living room given the construction style of this multi unit building. After spending a lot of time having other wiring specialists evaluate the situation and reach the same conclusion, I searched the internet for "wireless" solutions. Several were revealed ranging from several hundred dollars each to $35. I decided to go with the RF-Link AVS-5811 5.8GHz Audio and Video Transmission System with IR Repeater even though older reviews pointed out issues (I hoped that over time the company may have solved them). It only took 10 minutes to set it up, connect everything and get it going. The living room TV (42 inch LG HD LCD) came to life with a great picture and excellent sound. There was no interference issues from my 802.11N Apple Extreme router and wireless internet system nor from my wireless phone system. I am transmitting over 50 feet through several walls including bathroom walls and mirrors/tile. I can easily use my remote in the living room to change channels on the cable box in the bedroom and set volume. All functions work very well. The system has been working now for several weeks with no heat issues or failures at all as shown in some other older reviews. I am very impressed with the ease of use and overall quality. This little system saved my day! Of course, there could always be more features (something other than RCA analog output) and it could look a little better in terms of industrial design, but it works well.

I bought this 5.8 Ghz A/V wireless sender/receiver recently and am quite pleased with it. I used this product to transmit the audio/video signal from my Hughes HBH-SA DirecTV satellite receiver to a Zenith 27" analog TV downstairs. The video and audio quality is quite good, but the picture quality is not quite as good as a wired connection (but I think the quality is very close to what it would be with a wired connection). While I am quite pleased with the audio quality, there is a faint buzz in the background--a faint background noise that is barely noticeable, and therefore not a big deal. Also, I get absolutely no interference of any kind. One concern I have with this product: is that 5.8 Ghz cordless phones (which are far less common than 2.4 Ghz or 900 Mhz cordless phones) can interfere with it (although I have not experienced this since I don't own one of these cordless phones). So even though there are far less wireless products on this frequency, I am slightly concerned that I may get interference in the future if someone too close to me buys a 5.8 Ghz cordless phone. As many people have said, one of the drawbacks to this product is that you must spend a lot of time fine tuning the connection between the transmitter and receiver until you find that "sweet spot." This can be time consuming, and required me to move both the transmitter and receiver to different locations, and even buy a 12 foot RCA composite A/V cable so I could move the transmitter to a location that is closer to the receiver. So, expect the possibility of needing at least one cable that is longer than the cables provided with the product (which are under 6 feet in length). My biggest issue with this 5.8 Ghz A/V sender receiver was that it was incompatible with the Zenith 27" TV set it was bought for. This TV set had an available RCA Composite A/V input; hence an RF Modulator should *not* have been necessary. Using the TV's Composite input, the video and audio seemed perfect after finding that "sweet spot", but I experienced the vertical hold problem that a few other reviewers have mentioned. The picture would look fine during the show I was watching, but during certain commericals (especially those with white backgrounds) the TV's vertical hold would fail and the picture would flip vertically, sometimes several times. I initially thought this was a reception issue, and hence I spent too much time adjusting the reception betwen the transmitter and receiver, until I realized it was a compatibility issue. Also, the TV (during a show or commercial) would randomly reset the video input, resulting in the TV intermittedly showing the current channel and time (as if I pressed the ENTER key on the TV's remote). I believe the compatibility issue may be the same issue that many people had with certain Zenith TVs and game consoles--it would seem as though the vertical hold problem is a problem with certain older Zenith TV sets (this set was purchased in 1998). However, I am not sure if this problem can appear on non-Zenith TV sets, so it is clearly something that RF-Link needs to address. Most people who reviewed the product don't seem to have this issue, so I don't think the vertical hold problem affects most TV sets. The solution to this problem was to either plug the A/V receiver into one of the VCR's composite inputs, and then view A/V receiver through the VCR on channel 3 or to use an RF modulator. I bought the RF modulator and am using that, to avoid going through the VCR, since going through the VCR prevents me from watching my satellite TV downstairs while someone is recording something. Both solutions convert the RCA composite signal from the A/V receiver, to VHF on Channel 3 (or 4). This conversion eliminates the vertical hold problem, and the resetting problem I described, however, either solution slightly degrades the picture, and converts the audio to Mono. I have no problem with the *slight* quality loss caused by the RF modulation--it is much better than having to tolerate a flipping picture. This vertical hold problem was driving me crazy, so I would have returned the product had I not found a workaround. One other issue with this product. The remote extender was totally useless for me. Many people have gotten the remote extender to work, but some have not been successful, like myself. Even if I put the IR mouse right in front of the satellite receiver, it still would not work properly. I think it depends on how the A/V transmitter is aligned with the component you are controlling. Fortunately for me, I happened to already own a Terk LF-UNIV remote extender, so I am using this separate product to extend the range of the remote. It works very well. The bottom line is that this product works very well with great quality, but your experience may very depending on your setup. For me, the drawbacks were that it seemed to take too much effort to find that sweet spot (in my case buying an extra long 12 foot cable for the transmitter to move it closer to the receiver), the product had a major vertical hold issue with the TV set, and the remote extender functionality was worthless. It is annoying having to use two separate additional products (RF Modulator and Terk remote extender) to make this product work properly (when you consider the high cost of this RF Link product)--this is excluding the 12 foot long cable I had to buy which is not an unreasonable expense. Despite those drawbacks, good clear video and audio with no interference is great, since there is no way that I can use a wired connection to watch satellite TV on a TV set on a different floor from the satellite receiver. I simply cannot get a separate satellite receiver for that TV downstairs. Hence I am very happy with this product.

Even after reading the many very positive reviews on here, I was still skeptical when I purchased it - I wasn't sure the wireless connection would be good enough to deliver good picture and audio quality, but I was definitely proven wrong. We have a DIRECTV receiver in an upstairs bedroom that I wanted to be able to view in the basement (2 levels below) without going through any wiring hassles. I bought this model instead of the TERK because I was very concerned about interference with my wireless network, since the TERK is at 2.4 GHz. I have been very pleased with the performance - the wireless connection was not very picky, and it did not take long at all to get the antenna set the right way. The picture and audio quality are quite good, a notch below what it would be if the receiver were connected to the TV via cables, but more than good enough for my needs. Very easy to set up as well. One note however, I had a Panasonic cordless phone that also operated at 5.8 GHz, and it caused significant interference - enough audio popping and picture noise to make the RF-Link unusable unless the phone was unplugged. The phone receiver and base were nowhere close to either the RF-Link transmitter or receiver, but it still caused problems. And not just when it was in an active phone call, but when it was just sitting there, plugged into the wall, with no active phone calls. So I immediately replaced it a DECT 6.0 cordless phone, which causes no interference issues with the RF-Link or my wireless LAN. I was bit disappointed that I needed to shell out another $40 on top of the price of the RF-Link itself, but I was also prepared to do that before I even bought the RF-Link because I suspected there may be problems with phone interference, and figured I would rather risk interference with the cordless phone then my wireless network.

After several months of ever increasing frustration with my old AngelTrax wireless CATV transmitter/receiver, I finally decided it was time to look for something new. Please don't get me wrong... I've had the AngelTrax for many years and it worked great. But something seemed to change after the "digital TV conversion" happened (whether or not it was just a coincidence is pure speculation). At any rate, I've always had some popping and cracking when someone walked through the path of the transmitter/receiver, but the reception on my remote TV got really bad as well. At first I thought it was just my remote TV going out, but then I started having issues with my wireless computer network too... the signal to the remote computer started dropping out sporadically for no apparent reason. Another coincidence? The final straw came when I bought a new 19" LCD TV and hooked it up... the reception was nothing short of horrific. SOOO... After reading the reviews for the RF-Link AVS-5811, I decided to take a chance. Several reviewers noted that most similar products have a 2.4GHz transmission rate (like my old one) that can cause interference with other wireless stuff such as telephones and computer networks, so the 5.8GHz transmission rate of the RF-Link seemed to make sense as a possible solution to my problems. All I can say is: Hallelujah, Amen!!!! The RF-Link is worth it's weight in diamonds! The new LCD TV's reception/picture is fabulous; there's no popping/cracking; and although may be too early to tell for sure, my wireless computer network has been working flawlessly! Needless to say, I'm a VERY happy camper, and couldn't be more pleased with this purchase! As a final endorsement, I should state that the placement of my RF-Link is pretty challenging... Although the transmitter is only about 15' away from the receiver, the signal passes through two walls of a kitchen pantry (which is filled with metal cans, foil, etc.). Trust me... BUY THIS THING!

Like others, I found this system easy to set up with immediately clear picture reception. The transimitter is upstairs about 40 feet and two interfering walls away from the receiver, yet the reception is great without having to spend much time on antenna adjustment. I sent my first unit back to Amazon thinking it was broken because I could not get the IR transmitter to work with any of my VCRs or DVD players. The replacement had the same problem. What I have come to realize is that it is not a defective RF Link product, rather this IR functionality just does not work with Panasonic equipment. It works perfectly with my JVC TV and my Sony TV. Of course the lame instructions supplied with the RF Link unit do not say anything about brand compatibility. I had to figure this out for myself, which wasted a lot of time and caused great frustration. I am going to keep this unit and get a seperate remote control extender since this is really the only decent solution for the way my house is set up. However, I can't wait for some reputable company to introduce a 5.8ghz system that does everything it's supposed to and has good instructions and support.

Needed a repeater to send video and audio from a sat box to a tv in another room. This item works just fine and I had no problems with signal loss as some have said. I suspect it all depends on the individual location - mine just went through one wall (even with foil backed insulation in it) for a 35 foot total distance. Unit did not get overly hot, just slightly warm on the base. The directions leave much to be desired, and the imagination, but I was able to set it up and get it working with no problem; just had to make sure that both Xmtr and Rcvr were set to the same "channel"; just press Channel button enough times to light up the channel you need. Since there are only RCA plugs for the L & R audio plus one for the video the signal is not going to be HD, only SD so you will need to choose the picture aspect ratio that satisfies your preferences. If positioning is an issue just get a longer RCA cable set and move the unit(s) to a better location (easier than moving the TV). -->>>UPDATE: March 2013 -- I purchased this in May 2012 to use with a DISH receiver and the audio and video work fine through a wall, door and the TV screen all in a row. I used the DISH remote for 9 mos before finding out that the DISH remote used a UHF signal to change the channels and not an IR beam. I found this out after trying a universal remote which did work directly with the DISH receiver in the same room but NOT with the RF-Link from another room with a good AV signal. I confirmed it was the RF-Link IR repeater that was not working by using a 15-year old Radio Shack IR pyramid repeater which DID work from a remote location/other room. . SO MY INITIAL RATING OF 5 IS NOW REDUCED TO 3: the AV part works fine, but the IR linkage does not.

I just bought and installed this device. The instruction manual leaves a lot to be desired, but set up is not really that hard. I tried to send the picture to an older TV I have that is located in my basement and about 30 feet away from the transmitter. The signal had to go through a wall and a floor. The sound popped a lot and the picture quality was somewhat snowy. So I moved the older TV in the basement to an area just below my TV upstairs where the transmitter is hooked up, and the popping of the sound stopped and now the sound comes in clear. I can also easily change the channels on my Direct TV receiver using the IR receiver feature, so this works nice. However, even though the signal is now traveling through just one floor and to a TV set no more than 15 feet away from the transmitter, the picture quality is still somewhat snowy. So I am not too impressed with this device. I had to move the TV with the receiver rather close to the TV with the transmitter to get the sound quality to be acceptable, but the picture quality is still poor. The older TV I am using is one with a tube, and is not a LED or LCD flat screen TV so maybe this makes a difference. Maybe this device work better with newer flat screen TVs. I just know the picture quality is not that good on an older TV using a tube even when that TV is placed just 15 feet and one floor away. So I give this product a 2 star rating.

The first one of these that i bought worked great. I am able to watch TV in the kitchen by transmitting the signal from the Direct TV receiver in the family room. The only problem was when I wanted to watch something other than what my husband was watching in the family room. So I bought another RF-Link AVS 5811 so I could transmit the signal from the bedroom's Direct TV receiver to the kitchen. I only needed the transmitter half of this set, but bought the whole set so i could then receive either signal in yet another room. The second RF-Link transmitter produced a noisy, unreliable signal from the bedroom. To verify that the transmitter was the problem, i connected the first one in the bedroom. Clean signal. So I packaged the second one back up and returned it, and ordered another. The third one came today. I hooked it up and it works perfectly. The IR repeater to the bedroom doesn't work yet. I haven't figured out what that problem is. There was some flaky behavior with the previous (second) RF-Link transmitter, and the IR didn't work with that one. I am hoping to get this one to work since I was able to get the first one to work when it was connected in the bedroom. Clearly, there is a quality control issue with these units, but if you get a good one, the results are really great. The signal is crisp and clean with no artifacts. If yours isn't, verify your connection, and that the switch in the back matches the buttons on the front. If your set-up is clean, and your picture isn't, return it for another one. I forgot to address the switch in the back and the buttons in front. Clearly, they are there to allow the unit to work on 4 different frequencies within the 5.8 GHz band. I don't know how much separation there is, but it is adequate, at least when one transmitter is set to "1" and the other is set to "4". I didn't try anything else. The odd thing is that they have a switch in the back and buttons in the front. They both have to be set the same or there is crosstalk. Then just set the receiver buttons and switch to match the desired transmitter's. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the quality control issue. But Amazon made the return easy: they sent UPS to pick it up, and delivered another in just a few days.