topic Re: IR Blaster is extremely weak in Streaming

IR Blaster is extremely weak

PeschelE1 — Sun, 19 Sep 2021 14:17:38 GMT

My brand new Chromecast remote can only drive my TCL TV when I am within about 3 feet. It is definitely not an angle or interference issue. If I am 4 feet away, the TV does not register any IR commands. The original TCL remote works from 20 feet back. What can I do?

Re: IR Blaster is extremely weak

Jeran — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 21:46:08 GMT

Hey there,

I apologize about the late response, thank you for being patient! I'm sorry to hear that IR blaster on the Chromecast Voice Remote is weak. Let me just ask you some questions to better understand why it's not giving you a good range:

What make and model TV do you have?
What is the firmware version of your Chromecast?
How many IR devices do you have connected to the TV?
What kind of batteries do you have in the Chromecast Voice Remote?

I look forward to your response, and if you have any other questions or concerns for me, please let me know!

Best regards,
Jeran

Re: IR Blaster is extremely weak

PeschelE1 — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 03:39:05 GMT

Jeran,

Thanks.

1. TCL 55S434. Software V8 is most up-to-date.

2. Android TV OS version 10 with April 5th security patch

3. The AAA batteries that came with the entire system. This has not been a degradation problem. It occured the first time I set up the Chromecast with Google

Thanks in advance for any foresight

Re: IR Blaster is extremely weak

PeschelE1 — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 03:43:41 GMT

My apologies. I skipped one of your questions... Probably a lot more insight. I'm using a Polk Audio Soundbar for volume. This is also on IR and has no issues at all.

This leads me to believe that it is more likely poor communication with the TCL TV only.

Re: IR Blaster is extremely weak

Jeran — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 17:18:35 GMT

Thank you for the response!

Everything looks and sounds good there. It's interesting that your soundbar seems to be working fine with your Chromecast Voice Remote, but not the television. If there is nothing physically blocking the device, and it's having issues, it may be worth to check out TCL support to see if they would have any settings that may affect it.

I'm sorry I couldn't have been more helpful, but if you have any more questions or concerns, I'd be happy to help.

Best regards,

Jeran

Re: IR Blaster is extremely weak

PeschelE1 — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 11:37:45 GMT

FYI, TCL pretty much told me that since the TCL remote works fine, the issue is with the Chromecast remote.

Re: IR Blaster is extremely weak

Jeran — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 15:48:20 GMT

Oh, that's a bit awkward. If you would like, you can set up the Chromecast Voice Remote to use CEC controls instead of IR. That may help it have a longer range if there is something interfering with the IR. Here are the instructions on how to access those settings.

Let me know if that works out for you!

Best regards,

Jeran

Re: IR Blaster is extremely weak

Jeran — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 16:29:43 GMT

Hey there,

Did you have any more questions or need any additional help? If not, I'll go ahead and lock up this thread in 24 hours.

Just checking up,
Jeran

Re: IR Blaster is extremely weak

Jeran — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 18:10:54 GMT

Hey there!

We haven't heard back from PeschelE1, and it's been a few days, so I'm locking the thread. As always, feel free to make a new thread if you have any more questions or concerns.

Have a good one!

Best regards,
Jeran