Using a single PC in multiple rooms, no holes in wall

[nbolmer]

I am a voice actor, and I prefer to record in a very quiet area. My high end gaming PC is connected to my TV in another room, and is decidedly... not quiet.

I'm looking for a solution whereby I have a keyboard, monitor, mouse, headphones and (importantly) USB microphone in my studio room without relocating the noisy PC. I'm in an apartment complex, and can't modify the walls. The walls have built-in cat6 which all go to my router, so I have hardwired internet in every room.

Not interested in solutions which require moving the PC. It's all hooked up, and the RGB lighting is fun during parties.

Thanks!

 

[bill001g]

If it was just USB devices there are a number of inexpensive devices that let you use ethernet wires to go a short distance. When you include a monitor it gets expensive fast. What you are looking for is called a KVM. There are a bunch of options. It will be simplest if you can get direct wires between the pc and other room...ie not through the router. They do make ones that run over networks but the cost goes up.

 

[nbolmer]

If it was just USB devices there are a number of inexpensive devices that let you use ethernet wires to go a short distance. When you include a monitor it gets expensive fast. What you are looking for is called a KVM. There are a bunch of options. It will be simplest if you can get direct wires between the pc and other room...ie not through the router. They do make ones that run over networks but the cost goes up.

It turns out that the Bluetooth in my PC is already strong enough for my mouse and keyboard to work, so it's the monitor, USB mic, and analogue headphones I'd like to feed over the network. As far as HDMI over network, I believe something like this could work:

https://www.amazon.com/Mirabox-Extender-Ethernet-Extension-HSV373/dp/B00T76THZ2/

But I was hoping for a solution that would allow the USB and headphones as well. Worst case, for headphones, I could get some Bluetooth or other wireless headphones, but I'd prefer to use the set that I already have.

 

[Math Geek]

that hdmi extender is the ideal type for 2 room use.

the wireless ones either have to be in the same room and have a very short range or are REAL expensive to get the good one that would work. but the ethernet one is a good choice.

i'm not sure about the rest over the network as i have never tried it. if you're recording you may be introducing some lag into the mix which might effect the recording. something to consider anyway.

 

[nbolmer]

that hdmi extender is the ideal type for 2 room use.

the wireless ones either have to be in the same room and have a very short range or are REAL expensive to get the good one that would work. but the ethernet one is a good choice.

i'm not sure about the rest over the network as i have never tried it. if you're recording you may be introducing some lag into the mix which might effect the recording. something to consider anyway.

Not super worried about latency, as nothing is live. I have a fast, hardwired network, so it shouldn't be much of a problem anyway. Glad to hear that the hdmi extender is a go... I was really hoping to find some kind of... all in one box that basically extended the whole PC to another room. An Ethernet port replicator of sorts? I feel like there should be such a device, as they seem to exist individually.

The inexpensive USB devices that I see are mainly geared at plugging a device into the network when said device doesn't have a NIC. But I'm trying to send a USB mic over the network back to the PC. Still haven't found the right solution for that yet. If there's one out there that also does HDMI, I'd love to know about it.

 

[bill001g]

The issue of latency is in games. If the mouse/keyboard is only a few ms out of sync with the video it makes the games feel strange.

Be very careful to read the fine print many of these devices use ethernet cable but do not run actual ethernet so you can't hook it to your router you just use the wires.

 

[nbolmer]

The issue of latency is in games. If the mouse/keyboard is only a few ms out of sync with the video it makes the games feel strange.

Be very careful to read the fine print many of these devices use ethernet cable but do not run actual ethernet so you can't hook it to your router you just use the wires.

Right, but the computer is directly hooked to the TV where I play games, no issue there. The remote terminal will be in the studio, where latency isn't an issue.