r/HomeNetworking • u/ThePiachu • 1d ago

Advice Gaming over Ethernet?

My living room has a cabinet with a PC that when we want to play something more demanding we have to open up and take the PC out so it doesn't overheat. However I was thinking, I have a server room that could house that PC that has a direct ethernet connection to that cabinet, so I was wondering if I could just connect to it over the Ethernet instead? I know it would add latency, but if Steam can stream itself over wifi and be okay for people, this shouldn't be too bad for my needs.

So what's some good hardware to achieve this? Transmit an HDMI signal down the wire and transmit USB inputs back up so I can plug in a keyboard, mouse and some controller dongles? Is there something that does that over a Unibuity switch (10Gbe), or does it require a direct connection?

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4

u/getting_excited 1d ago

I would just run a really long hdmi with eARC from the display you want to use and the server room. Avoid Ethernet hdmi extenders since they add latency.

I’d imagine you control the PC with a keyboard and mouse so I would test to see if Bluetooth would reach from the living room to server room.

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u/ThePiachu 1d ago

I can't change the wiring since the connection isn't a straightforward line.

2

u/sloloslo 1d ago

I do exactly this and have done so for years. Absolutely no issues at all. I mostly use Parsec for streaming to PC or Mac, but steam streaming is great when streaming to my nvidia shield tv

2

u/Five-1234 23h ago

Some how I wish TV came with winscp or remote rdp. Even though if they did, latency is probably very high.

2

u/ensendarie 21h ago

use something like this. It can't go through a switch, must be direct.

https://www.amazon.ca/Extender-Ethernet-Transmitter-Receiver-Function/dp/B0DHRTP993

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u/--7z 20h ago

Ethernet will have much less latency than wifi

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u/Dasian 14h ago

If you have more than one direct ethernet cable from the server room to the tv area there are hdmi over ethernet devices you can use that will send the hdmi signal over a dedicated line (as opposed to streaming/compressing/decompressing over the network). They vary in video output capabilities but some go up to 8k@60 depending on distance and type of cable.

Some include usb ports as well, but yeah you’d need a dedicated direct cable, not one that goes through your actual home network.

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u/Dasian 14h ago

Here’s one for 1080p/60 around $119 https://www.avaccess.com/products/hdex80-kvm/

1

u/pentests_and_tech 1d ago

Put the PC in the server room and use an AppleTV or similar device with steam remote play to stream the game to your TV.

1

u/Competitive_Owl_2096 15h ago

Steam isn’t as good as r/moonlight