Default
Door staff@engadget.com (Will Shanklin) - 03 Oct 2026
HDMI usually connects two devices that are relatively close together, but some people's setups need video to travel over longer distances. This is one area where the same cables you use for Ethernet (category cables) could find a second use.
Ethernet cables won't do that on their own. For this setup, you'll need to buy HDMI extenders to pair with your Cat5e, Cat6 or similar cables. Those adapters put a transmitter at one end and a receiver at the other, while using the cable as the connection between them. That lets you send video much farther than you typically could with an HDMI cable.
Despite the familiar cable, this isn't actually Ethernet networking. (AV over IP, on the other hand, does use your local network to transmit audio and video.) Here, the category cable is simply carrying the signal between two extenders. It could be handy if you already have an unused cable in your walls or you need to reach something distant, like a projector.
Still, it isn't necessarily the best solution even for those cases. Active optical HDMI can also handle long distances, and some cables support formats like 4K at 120Hz that many extenders don't. Think of category cables as a potentially useful option for some niche setups, rather than a go-to solution.
Ethernet cables won't do that on their own. For this setup, you'll need to buy HDMI extenders to pair with your Cat5e, Cat6 or similar cables. Those adapters put a transmitter at one end and a receiver at the other, while using the cable as the connection between them. That lets you send video much farther than you typically could with an HDMI cable.
Despite the familiar cable, this isn't actually Ethernet networking. (AV over IP, on the other hand, does use your local network to transmit audio and video.) Here, the category cable is simply carrying the signal between two extenders. It could be handy if you already have an unused cable in your walls or you need to reach something distant, like a projector.
Still, it isn't necessarily the best solution even for those cases. Active optical HDMI can also handle long distances, and some cables support formats like 4K at 120Hz that many extenders don't. Think of category cables as a potentially useful option for some niche setups, rather than a go-to solution.