A new client had had his home renovated with new floors, countertops and cabinets. In one room of his home he had his surround sound home theater. The problem that arose, and that prompted him to contact us, was that the flooring contractor had neglected to run one of his rear channel speaker wires for his system! New ceilings had been installed in the floor below the system so there was no way to get a new wire across the floor without making a large mess. Our solution for him was to install a wireless transmitter that sends the rear channels from the receiver to an amplified receiver that we hid behind his couch and atta ched the rear speakers to it.
This worked great, however, the client also uses an Apple TV for his streaming media (Netflix etc.) that is using a Wi Fi (wireless connection) and when he tried to use it his picture froze on the TV. He contacted us quite distressed that his family couldn’t watch Netflix! The problem was his wireless router! He was using a 10 year old internet wireless router that had been supplied by his internet provider. He replaced the router with a new, up to date model and – per our recommendation – the problem disapeared and everything worked properly!
The problem is bandwidth – even though these wireless systems work through the airwaves there is a limitation to how much information can be transmitted through the home without starting to interfere with each other. The best solution to all this is to have direct wiring for your equipment, but if you have to “go wireless”, make sure that you have up to date transmitters and routers to hopefully enjoy trouble free signals in your home.