What's the best way to have VGA passthrough when your Unraid is in another room?


jang430

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Best = economical

Best = good performance

 

I'd like to have VGA passthrough for games, and general desktop usage.  I'd also like to create MacOS VM as well.  Whenever I thought of this, I realize there's no way to have VGA passthrough without Unraid right beside you.  Am I wrong?

 

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Depends on distance. When I was recently doing some cat6 runs, I ran some 25' hdmi cables from the closet where my server is to a couple of rooms. I think it was like less than $20 a piece for them. The real trick has been getting the usb working. for that I bought a couple of active usb cables, but the jury is still out as to whether that's viable or not. (I've yet to determine if it was bad usb cards or if something with the setup damaged the cards.)

Edited by Endy
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35 minutes ago, NotYetRated said:

I just use 50' HDMI cables, and I do USB over ethernet. I have had no issues so far.

 

Which usb over ethernet solution did you go with? I was thinking about trying the cheaper ones, but just wasn't sure how well they would work. 

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https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=12959

#HDMI extension cable

Cabernet Ultra CL2 Active High Speed HDMI® Cable, 35ft

Cabernet Ultra CL2 Active High Speed HDMI® Cable, 50ft

running games on max resolution no problem.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Over-RJ45-Cat5-Cat5e-Cat6-Extension-Extender-Cable-Adapter-Set-Hot-Sale-/131952933702?hash=item1eb901fb46:g:Fi4AAOSwbsBXoWHc

#USB Over RJ45

runs over 15m

 

worked for me.

the USB though has sometimes disconnections. I am planning to put a powered hub on the end

 

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1 hour ago, dadarara said:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=12959

#HDMI extension cable

Cabernet Ultra CL2 Active High Speed HDMI® Cable, 35ft

Cabernet Ultra CL2 Active High Speed HDMI® Cable, 50ft

running games on max resolution no problem.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Over-RJ45-Cat5-Cat5e-Cat6-Extension-Extender-Cable-Adapter-Set-Hot-Sale-/131952933702?hash=item1eb901fb46:g:Fi4AAOSwbsBXoWHc

#USB Over RJ45

runs over 15m

 

worked for me.

the USB though has sometimes disconnections. I am planning to put a powered hub on the end

 

 

I also use the monoprice HDMI cables mentioned. They work great.

 

Monoprice also has USB extender cables which are very inexpensive and work well. Each cable only supports once USB device, so I have 2. One for Logitech dongle, and other is a port for USB flash or whatever. They are sort of a cable and active hub in one. I believe they are only usb2, but may also be usb3 version.

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19 hours ago, Endy said:

 

Which usb over ethernet solution did you go with? I was thinking about trying the cheaper ones, but just wasn't sure how well they would work. 

I used what I would consider cheap units from Monoprice, linked below. Working fantastic so far. Only issue is, 2 of the 3 I got, female ports are loose and I had to rubber band the connection to hold it together. Annoying once, then I have not had to deal with it since fixing.

 

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=6042

  • Like 1
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12 hours ago, dadarara said:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=12959

#HDMI extension cable

Cabernet Ultra CL2 Active High Speed HDMI® Cable, 35ft

Cabernet Ultra CL2 Active High Speed HDMI® Cable, 50ft

running games on max resolution no problem.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Over-RJ45-Cat5-Cat5e-Cat6-Extension-Extender-Cable-Adapter-Set-Hot-Sale-/131952933702?hash=item1eb901fb46:g:Fi4AAOSwbsBXoWHc

#USB Over RJ45

runs over 15m

 

worked for me.

the USB though has sometimes disconnections. I am planning to put a powered hub on the end

 

 

Nice links, glad to see those worked too! I also forgot to mention, I put powered USB hubs at the end of all of my extensions. I was getting occasional drops when I was using Xbox One or Steam Pad controllers without a powered hub. With the hubs, no drops at all.

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Thank you guys. I though everyone was using their unraid beside them, it turns our there are a lot of options. Will buy one suggested above.

Another follow up question, is it as if you're using the NAS as your desktop, no delay? User experience very very good?

Last question, anything with both hdmi and USB combined? So I use lesser cat5e.  These devices cannot be passed through switches?  Or can they?  Meaning, in between devices, should be straight cat 5e?  Or can they be plugged to switches?  I'm attaching a diagram I saw on monoprice.  This will solve my lacking of cat 5e runs between my room and my nas.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 

Screen Shot 2017-12-07 at 07.42.11.png

 

Is the case above applicable also for something such as this?5a2882970f2b9_ScreenShot2017-12-07at07_50_48.png.e35c12cf443b0723b4d4c70d5dab86b4.png

 

 

Edited by jang430
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experience for me and my kids is very good.  though I still need to add the powered hub to stop disconnections. 

 

the solutions above aim to do the same as what you need.  I think that the HDMI over RJ45 is good for very long distances (100m) if you are working in the range of 15m you dont need it.

 

and you need cat6 not cat5e.  forget about the cat5e for the remaining of your life :)  . its not a life and death issue, for upto 5m its not .

but if you have a better technology. why not use it , ha?

 

hdmi and USB combined?  if you have the money. the solutions are there, just cost by a multiple factors higher.

 

in the end you have one HDMI extension cable and one cat6 cable running to the monitor.   

 

BTW very important . the SOUND.  you have the sound in the HDMI cable. so if you are using a monitor with the speakers , you are good to go.

but if you want to connect external ones. than you need the USB connection really stable and good.  didnt go that way myself so dont have the experience.

you have other options to extract the sound from HDMI. Either the monitor does that for you in some models, or you need a peace of HW that does it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HDMI has way higher data rates than Gbit ethernet!

Are those externders/converters using some kind of compression? Lossless? Lag?

 

I'm very curious about the performance.

There are expensive ones too. Are they performing better or what?

Seeing 2k and 4k video on the horizon, I feel it makes little sense to install max. 1080p capable hardware.

 

I have Cat7 running all over the place, going to a patch panel in the basement.

Pulling HDMI is no viable option, that's why I'm interested in those things.

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@dadarara , Unfortunately, my cables used to 6, and to be able to accommodate more cables, I pulled them out and replaced with 5e.  Now, I'm starting to see why that is not a popular decision.  

 

I'm using Monitor with speakers, so I assume sound won't be an issue.  

 

I was wondering though if using the powered device I link above, since it's only using 1 cat5 or 6, will be less functional than the passive device using 2 cat5 or 6 cables?  Is audio lost, or what else am I sacrificing for using a single ethernet port?  I prefer it since I have limited cable runs from the other room to my room.

 

My device isn't new though, so for now, basic hdmi will do.    

 

Thanks for your replies.  

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