The 6 Best IR Remote Extenders
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Our top IR remote extender is the Sewell BlastIR Wireless Pro. Six wired and wireless repeaters compared by range, device count, frequency and power. When users buy our independently chosen editorial recommendations, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
An IR remote extender carries your remote's infrared signal to equipment it can't reach, such as gear behind cabinet doors, in a closet or in another room. Wired kits run a receiver eye to stick-on emitters, and wireless kits relay the signal by radio. Models differ in range, device count, carrier frequency support and power.
Editor's Notes
October 15, 2026, by Ezvid Wiki Admin:
This page last changed in early 2021, and three of its picks are gone. The BAFX 54-5EXN Repeater, the BAFX Repeater Cable and the StarTech IREXT2 are no longer available. We also dropped the BroadLink RM4 Pro S. It's a capable Wi-Fi hub, but it swaps your remote for a phone app instead of extending the remote you already have, so it belongs on a different list.
The Sewell BlastIR Wireless Pro stays on top. It handles a closed cabinet and a second room equally well, and its 10 channels let several kits share a house. The Next Generation Remote Extender Plus, the SIIG CE-RC0111-S1 and the Cable Matters 203002 stay too, under their current model names. New are two wired kits for bigger setups: the ICESPRING IR Repeater System, with five dual emitters, and the TNP A-1204A, which also passes 56 kHz signals.
We stopped at six. The other kits we screened were unavailable, near copies of these, or had specs that contradicted themselves. We found no independent lab tests of current IR extenders, so the ranking rests on makers' specifications and documents, owner feedback patterns and recall checks.
January 22, 2021:
Depending on the distance the signal needs to be extended by, there are several methods to achieve the same result. For shorter distances or single device operation, a wired version such as the BAFX Repeater Cable should be sufficient. For longer distances, a wireless repeater like the Sewell Direct BlastIR will give you more range, however, the transmitter and the receiver still need a line of sight with each other. By converting the infrared signal into a radio frequency, the Next Generation Remote and the SIIG Pro can send the signal over much greater distances and even allow devices to be controlled from other rooms or from outside.
December 22, 2019:
While I favor wireless models for convenience’s sake, the PM5900 was comparatively expensive for its extension range of 100 feet, so I removed it. For the same price, you can get products with significantly better ranges, like the StarTech IREXT2 and two of the newer models I’ve added - the Sewell Direct BlastIR and Fourair Wireless. Plus, the PM5900 was struggling with lagging and other commonly-reported issues – not surprising since it was released more than a decade ago. I’m quite a fan of the BlastIR because of its channel system, which allows you to add many of these devices and set up a complex web of repeaters for multiple systems in your house if you want.
I also removed the HDTV HookUp IRS6A because, while it was the least conspicuous model of them all, the installation just isn’t worth the effort and convenience (unless you’re a good electrician), and the price doesn’t really do justice to the effort either (it’s about as expensive as some of the wireless models).
Some of the repeater boxes are still good, cheap options and they tend to be more responsive than the wireless options, though wireless models are just a lot more inconspicuous and less messy to deal with. For repeater boxes, I’ve left the likes of the Inteset Technologies IR3856EM and the Gefone Kit GIRE0108, as well as the BAFX 54-5EXN Repeater which are very good, responsive options, especially the last one (though you may need to hide them in your cabinet somewhere). I’ve also included a couple of the smaller and more conspicuous wired repeaters I could find - the BAFX Repeater Cable and Cable Matters 10-Foot Repeater.
Special Honors
Xantech IR Kits Xantech, part of Nice North America, makes installer-grade infrared receivers, connecting blocks and emitters, sold through AV dealers and distributors. Its DL85K kit pairs a small surface-mount receiver, which Xantech says rejects noise from LED, LCD and plasma TVs and CFL lighting, with a four-port connecting block, four emitters and a 12-volt supply, with a stated range of up to 80 feet. xantech.com
Wired Or Wireless?
Their limit is cable length, so reaching another room means running wire through a wall.
Every IR extender does the same basic thing. A receiver catches the infrared flashes from your remote where the remote can see it, and an emitter, sometimes called an IR blaster, repeats them right on top of the hidden device's sensor. What differs is how the signal travels between the two.
Wired kits run a cord. A simple cable like the Cable Matters 203002 links one receiver to one emitter, while connecting-block kits fan one receiver out to four to ten emitters for a full cabinet of gear. They need no pairing or radio link, and they cost little. They also work fine through closed cabinet doors, because only the receiver needs to face the room. Their limit is cable length, so reaching another room means running wire through a wall.
Wireless kits replace the cord with radio, usually on the unlicensed ISM bands around 433 or 915 MHz, which pass through doors, walls and floors. Most use an infrared pickup box near you and an emitter box near the gear. The Next Generation kit skips the pickup and puts its transmitter in your remote's battery slot. Treat quoted ranges of hundreds of feet as open-air figures; walls, floors and metal cut them down.
If you'd rather run everything from a phone or voice assistant, a Wi-Fi smart IR hub such as the BroadLink RM4 Pro learns your remotes' codes and sends them itself. That replaces your remote rather than extending it, and it needs Wi-Fi and an app.
Carrier Frequency And Compatibility
Infrared remotes don't just flash on and off. They pulse their light at a carrier frequency, typically 33 to 40 kHz or 50 to 60 kHz. The NEC format used by many Japanese brands runs at 38 kHz, and Philips' RC-5 and RC-6 formats at 36 kHz (Wikipedia). Most extenders pass the common 36 to 40 kHz range. If a cable box ignores a basic kit, look for one that lists 56 kHz too, like the TNP A-1204A, or a wide 20 to 60 kHz range, like the SIIG.
The bigger trap is remotes that don't use infrared at all. Many streaming remotes, including the Roku voice remote and Apple TV remotes, use radio or Bluetooth, and no IR extender can repeat them. Some of those remotes still use infrared for TV power and volume, which is why the Next Generation kit lists some streaming remotes it supports and others it doesn't. To check a remote, point it at a phone camera and press a button: many cameras show an infrared LED as a faint flicker.
Read the incompatibility notes too. Sewell lists three devices its BlastIR kit won't control, and notes that its long extension cable has trouble with a Logitech Harmony hub and one Verizon Fios box. A device that misbehaves with one kit may work fine with another.
Placement, Interference And Power
Put the emitter directly over the device's infrared window, not just in front of it (Biamp). If you can't see the window, hold a button that repeats, such as channel up, and slide the emitter around until the device responds, then stick it down. Cable Matters says its emitter works within about 5 inches; SIIG says within 2.
The receiver is the fussy part. Face it toward where you sit, not up at the ceiling, and keep it out of direct sun and away from bright lamps. Some lighting and screens put out infrared noise that can blind a receiver or trigger stray commands. LG warns that fluorescent lamp ballasts can interfere with its 38 kHz remotes (LG), and the ICESPRING seller tells buyers to keep its receiver away from plasma screens. If moving the receiver doesn't help, installer-grade receivers like Xantech's DL85 are built to reject interference from LED, LCD and plasma TVs and CFL lighting (Xantech).
Most kits run on 5-volt USB or a 12-volt adapter. A TV's USB port usually switches off with the TV, so your extender would too; use a USB wall charger instead. These are low-voltage devices, and we found no recalls for any brand on this list in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's database (SaferProducts.gov).
