IOGear Wireless USB AV Kit Gets Tested: Short Range, Miserly Connectivity

Wireless video is one of those things that you really wouldn't think would be all that hard, but high-profile retreats such as Belkin's FlyWire are showing it isn't necessarily as easy as squirting HDTV across the open air of your living room.  Everything USB have been testing out IOGear's Wireless USB AV Kit, and finding that you're not so much cutting cables as rearranging them.

The main components – for USB connection to your PC, VGA connection to your HDTV, and audio output to your home theater receiver – are relatively compact, but of course each requires their own cabling together with at least two wall-wart power bricks.  Range is a quoted 30 feet for line-of-site use, so expect less if you want to hide the adapters in an AV cabinet, and maximum resolution supported is 720p or 1600 x 1200 rather than Full HD.

Everything USB found, though, that maximum range topped out at around 13 feet, unless you wanted regular picture drop-outs, and that's only for remote desktop use from the PC.  Try playing 480p video and you'll get around 10 feet, plus there's no surround sound, DVI or HDMI connectivity.  In the end, it's a niche product the arduous setup of which makes the appeal of which even more limited, and when you factor in an MRSP of $299.99 it's a potentially expensive frustration.