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VGA over Cat5e


Requirement One:  We have a IP-based security system, which I would like to monitor from our workout room.  (if the dogs bark I'd like to know if there is someone at the door or not)

Requirement Two:  My wife wants to watch TV from our workout room, and the cable jack is on the opposite side of a finished basement, so getting it to the other side of the room is a non-starter. 

Requirement Three:  She wants to be able to watch workout-videos as well, and we would like no cables or boxes at all in the workout room---Just the TV on the wall. 

Constraints:   The only thing on the wall where my wife wants the TV is an Ethernet Jack and an outlet. 

Solution: 


This nifty little converter will convert VGA to Cat5e, then Cat5e back to VGA.  This was a pretty expensive kit, but it will pump audio and video from our security system PC, which has a video tuner card for cable TV, and a DVD player for movies, all over one simple Cat5e cable.   So I tried it, and it works fine with one exception... The monitor (yes, it's a monitor, not a TV) will blink occasionally when it feels a power fluctuation.  For instance, if someone comes in and turns on the lights, the monitor will blink.   But I actually think this is a monitor artifact more than the converter artifact.  Here is a screenshot.


Look Ma!  No cables!

To watch TV or movies or the security system you have to pump it from the PC with the VGA converter attached, but that was solved with a simple VGA switch box.   When there is nobody in the workout room the security system is on the PC.  When one of us goes to the workout room, we put the PC to what we want to see, flip the monitor switch, and have a entertaining, or secure workout.  

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