Review on Aketek Infrared Extender Receiver Repeater by Carol Merkley

So I did a little research before buying and despite the mixed reviews finally settled on this one! There is very good entertainment in my room and my problem came when I was given a huge bed and the only thing that was difficult to control with the remote control was the Samsung Blu-ray player which sits quite low on my TV stand. You have to hold the remote very high for it to have that line of sight and work! After reading the reviews on this extender I felt that the product is effective if you know what you are doing. I was ready to try! First you need to understand how it works! I've attached a few images as an example. So the bottom line is you need to have line of sight from the remote to the eye of the extender, and line of sight from the blaster to the device's intended eye! I used a flashlight to see exactly where the eye is on my Blu-ray player. Simply shine a bright light on the front corner of your device and it will illuminate your eyes through the tinted dark plastic of each device! Keep in mind that if you're trying to control multiple devices (like putting your entire entertainment set in a cupboard or closet) you'll need to buy a multiple blaster model, one for each device you want to control ! Each blaster must be placed on each controlled device right in front of your eyes! I placed mine just below my Blu-ray player's IR receiver so that the remote doesn't depend on the power strip when in sight of the device itself. It only matters to me and you can customize it however you like. The other part I saw in the reviews was that some people had issues with the extension tab and said you have to hold the remote very close or it won't work at all. I experimented with this a bit and once again shone a bright light on the device and was able to see through the tinted plastic where the eye was placed - I did this because my initial setup was similar to the fact that it wasn't reading was getting commands from my remote control unless I was within a few feet away! What I have learned is that the eye is up or facing forward from what you may think! Initially I placed the device on my small Bose remote in front of the TV, but in this position my eye didn't get a clear signal from my remote. As I said, I had to experiment and try this in a few different positions to see what worked best for me and I settled on the position you will see in the photo - standing, top to bottom , with tape. taped to the silver TV stand above my Bose controller. Now I have perfect control over my Blu-ray player from almost anywhere in the room! Hope that helps! What I like: - Seems well put together for a low price! - Flat eyepiece and blaster, doesn't look bulky, out of place or unintentional. What I didn't like: - Bright illumination of the eyepiece and power supply! (more on that below) - Missing instructions and information on assembly! If you weren't tech savvy, you would most likely be setting it up incorrectly! What I did for the bright light on the eyepiece and power supply was tint the light with a black permanent marker. You can't see the marker, that doesn't make it any different, but it does block a decent amount of light and you can still see it blinking when using your remote! Now watching a movie in the dark is a lot less intrusive!