Logitech RF Wireless Extender for Logitech Harmony 890 and 1000 Remotes

Logitech - 966195-0403

4.7 stars from 6 review(s)

$94.67 - $99.99 from 4 sellers Price RSS

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Reviews

(6)

Shortcomings are being corrected - on some units

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Logitech RF Wireless Extender for Logitech Harmony 890 and 1000 Remotes

I was a little cautious when deciding to purchase the 890, which comes with the RF Extender as a package, based on several of the reviews which indicated how difficult it was to disconnect the extender once set up to reprogram. The IR modules and power cord wires now have connectors to the base unit so disconnecting is now a snap. Earlier reviews implied this was not the case, so appears Logitech has been listening!

As has been mentioned in many places, documentation is pretty much worthless. For a novice, it isn't clear, for example, that you can plug in the IR remotes and attach them to any component without additional programming. The RF Extender simply transmits the same signals to all IR devices at the same time - duh!

I had to fumble a bit to get the 890 to talk to the RF extender - again, a little documentation would have been helpful here as the 890 display scripts weren't much help in this step. I didn't quite come to the point of calling tech support, but came close.

Finally,

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while the RF Extender can support up to 8 devices, it does so with four pairs of IR remotes. There are two IR modules attached to the end of the wire. You can split these about two feet apart. I haven't seen any issue with how well they attach. The glue seemed pretty strong - especially if you use the one inch square mounting pads. The only problem I had was accidently running one wire over my CD player tray. I had to remove the wire and come down from the top of the player. Removing the IR pad was not easy, so doubt they would come detached on their own.

Now the best part. Once it was connected and talking to the 890, it works flawlessly! I can point the remote anywhere, keep it tucked under a blanket if it's cold, if I'm behind furniture, from the kitchen about 30 feet away - it just works!

I'll be buying a Harmony 1000 and RF Extender for my elderly in-laws next, who are having trouble remembering how to switch between watching a movie and then watching TV.

1/30/08 Update: Just purchased the RF Extender with the Harmony 1000. Note the Harmony 1000 doesn't come with the RF Extender - it must be purchased seperately, unlike the Harmony 890. When purchasing the RF Extender seperately, the power cord did not come with a connector near the base unit like it did when shipped with the 890. I'd find it hard to believe Logitech would be shipping different versions of the RF Extender, so surmise they must be transitioning their stock now. Beware, at least in the short term, you might get the power connector or might not.

Also, when purchasing the RF Extender by itself, it did not come with the one inch square pads to help secure the IR emitters. These came with 890 kit. Hopfully this is a transition in stock issue.

2/12/08 Update:
I'll write another review on the Harmony 1000. It has had serious problems staying connected to the RF Extender. One day it works, the next day it stops broadcasting. Returned to Amazon for replacement (which was excellent service by Amazon!). Got the replacement and I've seen one instance of the Harmony 1000 stop broadcasting with the RF extender already. I have to pop the battery out and re-insert to reboot the 1000. Then it works again. Quite a shame as the unit otherwise seemed to be working for my elderly in-laws. Note this appears to be a problem with the Harmony 1000, not the RF Extender!

6 review(s) | 0 comment(s) |

4 price(s) | 183 days ago at

Needs hardware change

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Logitech RF Wireless Extender for Logitech Harmony 890 and 1000 Remotes

Works well with both the Harmony 890 and 1000. Fairly easy to set up, though there are two HUGE drawbacks which Logitech should fix.
1. They have hard-wired the cable to the Extender so that you have to unplug the unit whenever you want to upgrade the settings - a royal pain when it's plugged in behind your components.
2. Even if you want to make a tiny change to the Harmony settings (e.g. changing a couple of icons) you have to update BOTH the Harmony and the Extender. This takes much longer and, because it's hard-wired, is very annoying.

while the RF Extender can support up to 8 devices, it does so with four pairs of IR remotes. There are two IR modules attached to the end of the wire. You can split these about two feet apart. I haven't seen any issue with how well they attach. The glue seemed pretty strong - especially if you use the one inch square mounting pads. The only problem I had was accidently running one wire over my CD player tray. I had to remove the wire and come down from the top of the player. Removing the IR pad was not easy, so doubt they would come detached on their own.

Now the best part. Once it was connected and talking to the 890, it works flawlessly! I can point the remote anywhere, keep it tucked under a blanket if it's cold, if I'm behind furniture, from the kitchen about 30 feet away - it just works!

I'll be buying a Harmony 1000 and RF Extender for my elderly in-laws next, who are having trouble remembering how to switch between watching a movie and then watching TV.

1/30/08 Update: Just purchased the RF Extender with the Harmony 1000. Note the Harmony 1000 doesn't come with the RF Extender - it must be purchased seperately, unlike the Harmony 890. When purchasing the RF Extender seperately, the power cord did not come with a connector near the base unit like it did when shipped with the 890. I'd find it hard to believe Logitech would be shipping different versions of the RF Extender, so surmise they must be transitioning their stock now. Beware, at least in the short term, you might get the power connector or might not.

Also, when purchasing the RF Extender by itself, it did not come with the one inch square pads to help secure the IR emitters. These came with 890 kit. Hopfully this is a transition in stock issue.

2/12/08 Update:

I'll write another review on the Harmony 1000. It has had serious problems staying connected to the RF Extender. One day it works, the next day it stops broadcasting. Returned to Amazon for replacement (which was excellent service by Amazon!). Got the replacement and I've seen one instance of the Harmony 1000 stop broadcasting with the RF extender already. I have to pop the battery out and re-insert to reboot the 1000. Then it works again. Quite a shame as the unit otherwise seemed to be working for my elderly in-laws. Note this appears to be a problem with the Harmony 1000, not the RF Extender!

6 review(s) | 0 comment(s) |

4 price(s) | 380 days ago at

RF Extender Works and Can Save You Money

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Logitech RF Wireless Extender for Logitech Harmony 890 and 1000 Remotes

I really like this RF Extender. I've used it on the H890 remote as well as the new H1000 remote. All I can say is that it really works. You do have to hook it up to your computer and program it separately from your remote. It has its own firmware. It's easy to do though. I haven't encountered any problems yet setting one up. I'm a professional A/V designer and installer. This is the new way to go. I've installed many hardwired remote IR systems in the past by Xantech and Russound. Those systems cost upwards of $125 on there own. Why not pay a little more and get a great universal remote to boot (H890 for around $250). It comes with a power adapter and IR blasters that plug into this unit then stick on the components you want to control. You can use a flashlight to shine on the face of those source components to help you in locating the IR receiver windows on your cable box/receiver/DVD player etc. (look for a round hole or LED shaped device) Anyways, this is a great product in my opini

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6 review(s) | 0 comment(s) |

4 price(s) | 541 days ago at

Better Than Expected

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Logitech RF Wireless Extender for Logitech Harmony 890 and 1000 Remotes

The extender easily linked up with the Harmony 890 remote. I have 4 pieces of equipment behind oak doors. I put the leads in each cabinet, it was not even necessary to attach them to the components, and the signal is great. The 890 remote comes with one extender which is good for 8 components, so you don't need to order a separate extender. I didn't realize it was included, but Amazon accepted my return without a problem.

6 review(s) | 0 comment(s) |

4 price(s) | 552 days ago at

890 remote

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Logitech RF Wireless Extender for Logitech Harmony 890 and 1000 Remotes

This remote is absolutely the best value after you get it set up to your system components. It will take some work and maybe a call to tech support, but you will be happy with the end result. It took me some time(4hours) and a call to their very good tech support to finally get the last glitch out of the remote. The RF works great so I can keep the doors closed to my cabinet and still have full function control of six different components.

6 review(s) | 0 comment(s) |

4 price(s) | 562 days ago at

works extremely well on both Mac and PC setup - using latest firmware

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Logitech RF Wireless Extender for Logitech Harmony 890 and 1000 Remotes

The Logitech Harmony RF Wireless Extender allows your RF-equipped Harmony Remote (the 890, 895 or new 1000) to control components without having an IR "line of sight" to the components. One RF Wireless Extender is included with the Harmony 890, but it is unclear if one will be included with the forthcoming Harmony 1000 (not including one would be a mistake in my opinion).

One RF Wireless Extender can control any number of components within the line of sight of the unit, or within line of sight of the 8 included IR emitters. You can add multiple extenders to your configuration if you have components in different rooms or areas that could not be served by one unit.

After verifying I could control my components using IR-only, I added the RF Wireless Extender to my setup. The Harmony software updated to the latest firmware, and I have had no problems configuring it using both Mac OS X and Windows clients.

Setup is very easy. If all of your components are behind a cabinet, you can simply

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mount this "blaster" unit inside, at least 10 inches from the front of your components. Or, you can attach the 8 included wired emitters (in 4 pairs of 2) near the IR receivers of each component. The wires for each of the 4 pairs are roughly 7 feet long, splitting into 2 emitters that must be placed within 25 inches of each other. Also good to note is that the tape is strong enough to attach to your component, but not strong enough to leave any residue should you need to remove them.

Within the Harmony setup, you then assign each component to either IR or RF Extender control. Optionally, you can assign each component to a channel (A,B,C,D,blaster) which corresponds to the 4 sets of 2 wired emitters and base, or all channels which sends all commands to all emitters. I chose to specifically assign each component to its channel, which seems to give better performance. (TIP: label your emitter wires!)

Once configured, you connect the RF Extender and the Harmony Remote to your computer to download the configuration. Then, you must plug the RF Extender into the wall, and optionally attach the IR emitter wires. The Harmony remote must initially be "paired" with the RF Extender, which is done by pressing the "Connect" button on the extender, and following the prompts on your remote.

Operation was flawless. I could control all components from around my house! And, the performance of startup was much faster, I believe because I had assigned each component to a specific channel on the extender.

If there was one area where Logitech could make improvements it would be the supplied documentation, which attempts to be user friendly but in the process is so oversimplified it is of little use. Since Amazon doesn't allow half-star increments, I stand by my 5-star review, documentation withstanding.

Based on the large number of problems people had when this was first released a year ago, I was expecting issues, but it would appear that the latest firmware (RF Extender v2.4, Harmony 890 v4.7) and Harmony client software (v7.0.2) have resolved all issues for both Mac OS X and Windows users.

All in all, a highly recommended product - and the matching Harmony 890 is fantastic (see my review there). I would recommend this without hesitation.

6 review(s) | 0 comment(s) |

4 price(s) | 565 days ago at

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Logitech RF Wireless Extender for Logitech Harmony 890 and 1000 Remotes

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