So I got this very long HDMI cable to run from my Tivo which is downstairs to my projector which is upstairs in the theater room.

Do I need to hire an electrician to do this? Is this something you guys would recommend I tackle myself.

I have no duct work that runs upstairs/downstairs in that area (I read you could try using that) and the wall is an outside wall.

Thanks for any help, pictures, examples... tools :)

It all boils down to whether you are comfortable putting holes in your walls and then patching them. If you are, you can do the work with just a right angle drill and a 1" drill bit. If not, hire someone.

Before you go through the effort, check to see if your "very long" HDMI cable works with your gear. A weak signal out of the TIVO may not reach your projector. There are signal boosters, and extenders that might be needed in your application.

It would be easier to get cable to your theater room and put the TIVO there.

All depends on how handy you are with tools. HDMI is low voltage so you don;t have to worry about electrocuting yourself, unless of course you drill through a wall or floor where a electrical wire runs ;-) There are a number of resources on how to run wires, here is one of them that you can adapt to an HDMI cable (http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-design-construction/6038-wall-wiring-your-home-theater.html).

It would be easier to get cable to your theater room and put the TIVO there.

+1

He should be good up to 25'

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Yes I already tested the cable to make sure it works ;)

It's a 100' cable so it's actually longer than I need but it does the trick.

The problem with putting the Tivo upstairs is we mainly watch it downstairs. But we would like to have the option to watch some of good HD movies and shows that we get off of Showtime etc. upstairs on the projector.

But of course with the limitations of transfer the only way to do that is to run a cable.

And I found that Tivo also won't let you output from two outputs. My plan was to run the HDMI upstairs (my projector won't do 1080p unless it's HDMI) and to use the component cables downstairs.

But no... Tivo won't let you do that so I'll just have to swap out cables I suppose which is fine.

I called a couple electricians and they are saying the cable would have to be run outside the house which I thought was odd.

You guys ever hear of that?

There are a lot of variables here we don't know.

First off, outside walls can be a B. You've got insulation, blocking, rim joists and other issues in the way. With that 100' HDMI cable maybe you can go behind baseboard molding to a closet then up through the ceiling in the closet. An interior wall is also much simpler.

You could also get a HDMI switch or splitter if you want to keep both units on HDMI.

Yeah it's an outside wall, but I'm wondering if it's ok to run HDMI in a wall.

I don't have a closet in my downstairs livingroom, but I do have one upstairs.

But that's a good idea, maybe I can find an easier way to get it up there.... hmmm.

Yeah it's an outside wall, but I'm wondering if it's ok to run HDMI in a wall.



I recently had my electrical inspection and at least around here, the inspectors don't give a crap about any low voltage stuff in the wall except for the speaker wire.

100' HDMI cable?!?

100' HDMI cable?!?


He says it "works" so I HOPE that means he has hooked it up to the TIVO and the Projector and in it's coiled up position renders a clean image.

He says it "works" so I HOPE that means he has hooked it up to the TIVO and the Projector and in it's coiled up position renders a clean image.

:D Ever the optimist!

I'm not really sure what to think about the "works" post.

Yes I hooked it up to the Tivo and the projector and YES it does show not only an image but audio. And YES it's 100 feet.

Seems you guys think I'm either retarded or lying.

So here's a link:

http://www.lenexpo-electronics.com/30M-100FT-ATLONA-HDMI-CABLE-WITH-ACTIVE-AMPLIFICATION.-HDMI-1.3-p-16811.html

Have fun with that :rolleyes:

Nice pricey cable. You never mentioned you had an amplified cable. I see it is CL2 (fire) rated which means it will be fine in the wall. That answers one of your earlier questions.

Never thought you were retarded or lying rather just unaware of the distance limitations on regular HDMI cables.

stay away from outside walls. It's simply not worth the effort. Not to mention near impossible to not screw up your insulation and/or the vapour barrier.

Find another option...

We thought you were neither lying or retarded. What's with the attitude problem?

Generally, you want to have a run as short as possible. It is simply a waste to have a cable that is way too long -- which is exactly what you described for us. You've already been given about all of the options that you have.

If you don't feel comfortable doing it....pay someone.

Thanks smokinghot, I was thinking of running it through the ceiling by using a plastic channel.

Basically run the cable up the corner of the wall, with the channel, and then go through the ceiling and into the upstairs floor.

I'm thinking that's the best solution as I can see so far.

BIGmouthinDC, I understand what you're saying, but you already asked if I had tried it.

And I responded saying I had, but you felt the need to address it again.

That's why I wrote what I wrote... and the quotation marks were unnecessary.

Johnsteph10 I don't have an attitude problem, if you don't understand why I wrote what I wrote please read above. Also, why did you feel the need to contribute to this thread with useless commentary?

We thought you were neither lying or retarded.

I thought he was retarded, but that's just because he was considering it in an outside wall. :D I'll just pile on with the "outside walls suck, don't mess with it" crowd.

BIGmouthinDC, I understand what you're saying, but you already asked if I had tried it.

And I responded saying I had, but you felt the need to address it again.

That's why I wrote what I wrote... and the quotation marks were unnecessary.



I had no way of knowing that your knowledge of how to test the HDMI cable was far greater than your knowledge of home construction and fishing wires. Sorry I bruised your ego.

I thought he was retarded, but that's just because he was considering it in an outside wall. :D I'll just pile on with the "outside walls suck, don't mess with it" crowd.

LOL, well I don't have much choice as my living room is surrounded by outside walls.

But I think I'll try to go through the ceiling in the corner. Hopefully that will do the trick.

I had no way of knowing that your knowledge of how to test the HDMI cable was far greater than your knowledge of home construction and fishing wires. Sorry I bruised your ego.

You didn't bruise my ego dude.

But if you think that plugging one end of an HDMI cable into a box and the other end into a projector equates with having knowledge of a constructed wall and how to do wiring in that wall then that's a new one on me.

How about posting a few photo's of the location of the tivo and the proposed termination of said cable sometimes a picture says a thousand words ;). If you can patch drywall then I see no reason to do this yourself.

Yeah I can do that tonight.

I was thinking I would run it up the corner through the ceiling and into the floor above, but I've been reading that that's not quite as easy as I thought because of joists getting in the way etc.

So I guess I'm back to square-one heh.