Wiimote/sensor bar range sucks!

Rash

Rash

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 3, 2005
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Setup the Wii in the living room last night, tv is in the corner. (living room is 5m x 8m) everyone came round, loved wii sports stood up about 3m from the tv. after a while when we all had too much to drink i put rayman on because its a game u can play sat down. now the chairs are 6m away and the controllers would not work, i messed around (new batteries, nothing interfering etc)and discovered about 3-4meters is the max range for the sensorbar. this fucking sucks as i aint rearranging my living room for the machine. is my sensorbar/4 wiimotes broken? Did nintendo not think about people with big rooms? I must say bowling was very popular last night.....Anyone else in the same boat?
 
The operating distance for the Wii Remote is 3-8 ft or 3-10 ft depending on where you look on Nintendo's website. This was one of the first things I looked up before I got a Wii. Nintendo had to plan for the majority of the people. Most people have TVs that are small enough that playing past 10 ft would be a bad idea. Right now I have a 32" TV and found that I play best at less than 6 ft away.
 
When in doubt, you can also try adjusting the sensitivity in Wii Settings if possible. Outside of that, there's attempting to make your own sensor bar with stronger IR LEDs.

Bowling is pretty much the easiest game to pick up on in terms of Wii partying. Rayman's "Bunnies don't give gifts" is a close second.
 
Rash said:
Setup the Wii in the living room last night, tv is in the corner. (living room is 5m x 8m) everyone came round, loved wii sports stood up about 3m from the tv. after a while when we all had too much to drink i put rayman on because its a game u can play sat down. now the chairs are 6m away and the controllers would not work, i messed around (new batteries, nothing interfering etc)and discovered about 3-4meters is the max range for the sensorbar. this fucking sucks as i aint rearranging my living room for the machine. is my sensorbar/4 wiimotes broken? Did nintendo not think about people with big rooms? I must say bowling was very popular last night.....Anyone else in the same boat?
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I dunno, 18 feet seems like a hell of a long way away to try playing video games.
 
I play on a 50 inch and found that the most optimal spot is almost 10 ft away, have not had any trouble with playing with 4 people and that range. I even managed to play some golf at a distance of 15ft from the kitchen...
 
Rash said:
Setup the Wii in the living room last night, tv is in the corner. (living room is 5m x 8m) everyone came round, loved wii sports stood up about 3m from the tv. after a while when we all had too much to drink i put rayman on because its a game u can play sat down. now the chairs are 6m away and the controllers would not work, i messed around (new batteries, nothing interfering etc)and discovered about 3-4meters is the max range for the sensorbar. this fucking sucks as i aint rearranging my living room for the machine. is my sensorbar/4 wiimotes broken? Did nintendo not think about people with big rooms? I must say bowling was very popular last night.....Anyone else in the same boat?
Click to expand...


if you read the wii manual.. it clearly states.. 3 - 10ft is the distance for playing games... so there is almost no point to this thread..

which matches your 3-4 meters "complaint"

i've tried it on about 5 different tv set ups.. haven't had issues..
 
Make your own sensor bar with the strongest IR LED's you can find. That is all the sensor bar is, is a couple of IR LEDs that the remote "sees" with the IR sensor on the front.
 
Sounds like something else is interfering with the wiimotes. I have noticed that the range is longer than what you are claiming.
 
Rash do you have christmas tree, or house light or anything similar in the general vicinity of the sensor bar ? Some types of these can cause conflicts.

Theres an IGN (or 1up dont remember which) video in which they are using the wiimote like 30 feet away comfortably.
 
Drexion said:
Rash do you have christmas tree...
Click to expand...

QFT. I pointed my Wii Remote at my Christmas Tree when I had the sensitivity menu up. You could see a ton of lights in the shape of the Tree. Christmas Tree lights will fark up the Wii Remote very badly.
 
I find the wiimote gets a bit shaky at long range indeed. We play on a 115" projection screen @ about 12ft. Anything past that and it starts getting a shaky. Past about 14 ft is kind of hard to use.

a DIY IR LED bar would fix the problem, by all reports.

BTW for people playing at very long range - Wii sports uses mostly the accelermeter thingies. It doesn't seem to use the LED sensor. I tested this by playing Bowling, Tennis, etc while facing away from the sensor bar (ex: bowling while in the dining room eating pizza).
 
GreenMonkey said:
I find the wiimote gets a bit shaky at long range indeed. We play on a 115" projection screen @ about 12ft. Anything past that and it starts getting a shaky. Past about 14 ft is kind of hard to use.

a DIY IR LED bar would fix the problem, by all reports.

BTW for people playing at very long range - Wii sports uses mostly the accelermeter thingies. It doesn't seem to use the LED sensor. I tested this by playing Bowling, Tennis, etc while facing away from the sensor bar (ex: bowling while in the dining room eating pizza).
Click to expand...

Exactly, it is the pointing that goes out at longer ranges. The bluetooth is fine but once you get a bit past 10-12ft the pointing gets shaky just as you said, go a bit further and it stops all together. I had the same thing happen to me when I was trying to make mii's while sitting at the computer looking at pictures of people. It was right at the range where I had to hold the remote the full arms length closer to the TV or else the pointing wouldn't work.
 
Yes i do have a massive christmas tree on the far opposite corner of the room lol! ill be taking the sucker down in a few days, ill see if it improves then. We play wii sports close to the tv anyway. Just Rayman atm we like to play sat down.
 
kumquat said:
I dunno, 18 feet seems like a hell of a long way away to try playing video games.
Click to expand...

18 feet is a hell of a long way to be doing anything with an ordinary TV.
 
brom42 said:
QFT. I pointed my Wii Remote at my Christmas Tree when I had the sensitivity menu up. You could see a ton of lights in the shape of the Tree. Christmas Tree lights will fark up the Wii Remote very badly.
Click to expand...

Is it the lights or the tinsel reflecting IR from the sensor bar?

My tree was at an angle, about 8 feet away from the TV. I would stand about 6 feet directly in front of the TV and 3 feet to the left of my tree. No problems. Only acted weird if I pointed the Wiimote directly at the tree.

Default sensitivity wasn't enough to work from my couch, about 13 feet away. Turned it up two notches and haven't had a problem since.
 
krameriffic said:
18 feet is a hell of a long way to be doing anything with an ordinary TV.
Click to expand...
Depends on the size of the TV, if its a 21" then yes it is.
 
Anyone thought of hanging it from the cieling? I guess it wouldnt work on an angle, you would have to compensate the way you hold it, correct?
 
You Can always move the IR bar closer to where your sitting, it doesn't have to be directly over or under the TV. :p
 
MrMonty said:
Is it the lights or the tinsel reflecting IR from the sensor bar?
Click to expand...

Lights, we have no tinsel in the tree; but I thought of the same thing. When the lights are shut off, the problems go away.
 
Option B:

candles.jpg


A giant wall of candles!
 
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