DennisEChung wrote:So if I hook this up to a DirectTV box and control it remotely, and someone watches the connected TV, will they see the same programming? Can they watch something else?

That is a limitation of your DVR/cable box/satellite box, etc. Most of those devices can only output one signal, whether a single channel or 2 channels via picture-in-picture.

If you have 2 tuners, you can output one to the Slingbox and another to your TV, and get different channels.

Note there are 2 ways to hook up the slingbox: 1) you can connect the output from your tuner to the Slingbox, and then run wires from the Slingbox to the TV, or 2) connect different outputs (e.g. component and HDMI) to the Slingbox and TV. The Slingbox accepts component, composite, and S-video inputs.

i bought a slingbox pro HD on sale back in june, and the app for my droid. i know this is only the solo and not the pro hd, but i still consider that the best $300 i ever spent...

Sort of a personal review:

I don't own a Slingbox. I bought a HAVA Titanium HD at Woot in June 2009 for $65 shipped. It is my favorite Woot, and I use it all the time.

Since the HAVA more or less does what the Slingbox does, a lot of my experience is relevant.

As other posters have written, I use this mostly for sports. I can watch games on my laptop, netbook, or iPod touch ($10 HAVA app) while I'm out of the house. I can do this anywhere there is wifi, and here on Long Island that includes many commercial venues and almost all public ballfields where my sons play.

Sometimes I do watch non-sports events on my laptop in my bedroom, where I don't have a TV. Note that with the HAVA, that's 720p, which the Slingbox doesn't do (max 640x480 through the network). Over the internet, Hava does 480p (DVD resolution, which ain't bad), while the SOLO does 240p.

Since the SOLO streams in lower resolution than the HAVA, the picture may be smoother, but I haven't had a problem, as long as there's a reasonably strong wifi signal.

The HAVA was a lot cheaper, but it didn't come with the network bridge. But as long as you have wifi in your house, who cares? You get better resolution anyhow.

BTW, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering how you control your tuner remotely. Both the SOLO and the HAVA have IR emitters that you place on your tuner. They're fairly unobtrusive. Then you select your tuner model in the software, and you see an interface that looks like your remote. I can change channels, view the online channel guide, adjust volume, record to DVR, use picture-in-picture - in short do most anything I can do at home. I can even connect a USB hard drive or flash drive to the HAVA and record to it.

I don't know if Slingbox has fixed their capacitor problems. But even if they have, I think the HAVA is a better value. To be fair, I know a couple of Slingbox owners who swear by them.

Woot on!

DennisEChung wrote:So if I hook this up to a DirectTV box and control it remotely, and someone watches the connected TV, will they see the same programming? Can they watch something else?

Yes....they'll see the same thing. Sometimes when I'm on the road, my wife will be watching her soaps at home on the DVR. I can mess with her...pausing it...changing the channels....at least until my cell phone rings....in anger...

WOOT = Watch On Other Televisions

Another use - now that the airlines are providing WiFi (granted, you usually pay extra for it), I was able to watch Monday Night Football live on my netbook while flying at 30,000 feet - definitely made a long flight much easier...

No deal. You can get a brand new slingbox solo on amazon for cheaper. The SlingLink is pretty useless, I would be surprised if it can handle the bandwidth necessary for the slingbox.

CaptainWes wrote:Can someone explain why I need two of these devices?

The slingbox sends data to your PC or phone and the Sling Link turns your electrical wiring in your house into a router.

Big Toe wrote:Yes....they'll see the same thing. Sometimes when I'm on the road, my wife will be watching her soaps at home on the DVR. I can mess with her...pausing it...changing the channels....at least until my cell phone rings....in anger...

I use Optimum TV and Optimum Voice phone, and when a call comes in, the caller ID information appears on the TV. Once that happened when I was at my son's ball game, and I was watching an MLB game on my netbook. Well, right after I saw the caller ID, my cell phone rang, and it was my wife. Naturally, I told her to answer the house phone, since her father was calling.

If I hadn't told her, I don't know if she would have ever figured out how I knew that.

dwbatts wrote:Ok, my situation is this: I'm getting a new housemate who wants cable in her room but there's no line run in there. Would this be a solution to that problem, instead of having to run cable and get an additional cable box?

At the moment, there are nether cable nor internet connections in that room.

I would get a wireless router for the internet and have someone run a cable for you. Probably cheaper.

dwbatts wrote:Ok, my situation is this: I'm getting a new housemate who wants cable in her room but there's no line run in there. Would this be a solution to that problem, instead of having to run cable and get an additional cable box?

At the moment, there are nether cable nor internet connections in that room.

It would only be good if your existing cable box is not in use. Otherwise, you'll have to be watching the same show

schulman wrote:Once you are using "borrent" there is no need to purchase a television. Just break into somebody else's house and take theirs.

Well, if you broke into their house and copied their television leaving them a copy as well then it would be a valid analogy.

Can the remote device be a TV?

I see a lot of talk about watching TV on your phone or laptop, but I live in Mexico and would use this to watch US-based TV on my living room TV (setting it up at my folks' place in NY). I wouldn't buy this just to watch TV on a laptop or mobile phone.

On the slingbox site there is a video suggesting that you can view the signal on a TV but then it says: "a Slingbox® makes it easy to watch and control your home TV from virtually anywhere, anytime on your desktop, Mac, laptop, or mobile phone."

So, my question is -- can I set this up to watch on a television or does it have to be piped to a "desktop, Mac, laptop, or mobile phone?"

Batman4oz wrote:I have my, uh, HAVA turned on now, while on the laptop...I am on a Sirius channel, which I don't like to have on the HDTV, since the $200 Bulb then is being wasted on Sound!
It is a nice feature...just another fun gadget to have! And...if I hook it up to my desktop computer, I can then use my 23" second monitor to watch tv. Like I need More TV in my life!

How is HAVA vs. Slingbox? Assuming you've also used a Slingbox of course?

Here is an example of installation I use daily. I have slingbox pro overseas hooked up to sky cable. Here in us where I currently live, I have slingcatcher, which can be purchased separately, hooked up to my tv set. So siting on my sofa here I can watch all sky channels and control it using supplied remote. When I go outdoors, I use my android phone to watch sky using slingplayer mobile app from the market. iPhone version is also available. It works great but you have to have a good fast upload speed for you internet connection to have decent picture quality when streaming using your tv set. A mobile connection gives good results even with poor slow dsl because resolution if reduced.

Now, if you don't need overseas tv, you can hook up this slingbox SOLO to your dish network receiver for example and watch your channels on your iphone when you are away from home. That is what its for, for remote tv watching. The DVR function is not supported but when you watch on your laptop our any other PC, you have one hope forward reverse bigger available so you can do pause like on tivo and go grab a coffe without missing a bout of your favorite show.

Slingbox links and turbo things were never in my interest since I have everything hooked up to my router.

Batman4oz wrote:THERE. ARE. FOUR. LIGHTS!

That was good.

jamierosen wrote:Can the remote device be a TV?

I see a lot of talk about watching TV on your phone or laptop, but I live in Mexico and would use this to watch US-based TV on my living room TV (setting it up at my folks' place in NY). I wouldn't buy this just to watch TV on a laptop or mobile phone.

On the slingbox site there is a video suggesting that you can view the signal on a TV but then it says: "a Slingbox® makes it easy to watch and control your home TV from virtually anywhere, anytime on your desktop, Mac, laptop, or mobile phone."

So, my question is -- can I set this up to watch on a television or does it have to be piped to a "desktop, Mac, laptop, or mobile phone?"

The signal would be sent over the internet, through Slingbox's servers. It would then then received via slingbox's software. So you would need a computer (e.g. a laptop), from which you would output the signal to your TV.

NightGhost wrote:The signal would be sent over the internet, through Slingbox's servers. It would then then received via slingbox's software. So you would need a computer (e.g. a laptop), from which you would output the signal to your TV.

You could also look into Slingcatcher.

link

Anyone have experience with using this on Verizon FIOS? I vaguely remember seeing some type of bandwidth limitation that FIOS might impose.

NightGhost wrote:The signal would be sent over the internet, through Slingbox's servers. It would then then received via slingbox's software. So you would need a computer (e.g. a laptop), from which you would output the signal to your TV.

Absolutely NOT. Slingmedia servers are not used in streaming process. They only provide source IP location when your receiver side have dynamic setting setup. When you set it manually they are not used at all.

This is one of the advantages of the Sling system where you do not rely on their servers and you do not pay monthly fees for straming.

So even if one day SlingMedia is out of the market, you still will be able to use your Slingbox and yous Slingcatchers everythwre.

emilencet wrote:Anyone have experience with using this on Verizon FIOS? I vaguely remember seeing some type of bandwidth limitation that FIOS might impose.

From the speed reports here, it looks as if it's no problem.

You can test your upload speed here or here.

esdwa wrote:Absolutely NOT. Slingmedia servers are not used in streaming process. They only provide source IP location when your receiver side have dynamic setting setup. When you set it manually they are not used at all.

This is one of the advantages of the Sling system where you do not rely on their servers and you do not pay monthly fees for straming.

So even if one day SlingMedia is out of the market, you still will be able to use your Slingbox and yous Slingcatchers everythwre.

I stand corrected. But if SlingMedia's servers aren't used, which are? If the SOLO itself is acting as a server, some ISP's might have a problem with that.


edit: Also, note that my answer to jamierosen is essentially unchanged, regardless - you still need a computer or a Slingcatcher to grab the signal.

chickenballs wrote:Does this work if you are stationed overseas? Japan in this instance.

Yes, this will work overseas. I bought one to watch live football when I am in mainland China and it works great. If it works in China, it will work in Japan. Just make sure you have an internet connection that's faster than 100 kb/s or it will drive you crazy.

NightGhost wrote:I stand corrected. But if SlingMedia's servers aren't used, which are? If the SOLO itself is acting as a server, some ISP's might have a problem with that.


edit: Also, note that my answer to jamierosen is essentially unchanged, regardless - you still need a computer or a Slingcatcher to grab the signal.

The Solo (or HAVA or Orb for that matter) would technically be acting as a server when you are using it since it's encoding the video signal and sending it over the internet. When these first came out, I was worried that they would be sending a stream 24/7 but after asking around, I found out that it only streamed when it was accessed.

Esdwa is right that SlingMedia's servers don't have to be used at all if you set up the software to access the Slingbox using your IP address. Otherwise, you can enter your Slingbox ID number and it'll query SlingMedia's server and it'll always be able to find your Slingbox, even if your IP address changes.

Skizza wrote:How is HAVA vs. Slingbox? Assuming you've also used a Slingbox of course?

I have both. I can not recommend slingbox because of the capacitor problem with mine.

However, when it worked, slingbox was faster to respond to remote requests and had better audio quality than hava. Hava had slightly better video quality and would allow you to add on an external drive to record. For purely remote viewing use (no recording), the slingbox was preferred because the slightly larger lag (~few seconds) in the hava can get annoying if you change channels a lot. It's up to you if you want to gamble that your slingbox will also break.

Does it work with digital encrypted cable channels? I have comcast with a cable box on one TV and plan to connect the sligbox to the second TV with a DVR box made by Pace. Will it get all channels?

dlbyers wrote:I've read a bunch of the posts but I still don't totally get it. Sorry for being so dense.

In order to use ethernet via powerlines, wouldn't I need two of the SlingLinks? What good does it do for me to have just one SlingLink? Can these two work together in some meaningful way?

If you look at the picture you there are two pieces to the SlingLink that you get. One is a switch with four ethernet ports and the other only has one ethernet port. I would assume you would plug the single ethernet port SlingLink into your router and plug its AC adapter into the wall outlet. Then you would take the four-port SlingLink to wherever you plan on placing the Solo and plug that into the wall outlet and plug the ethernet cable from the Solo into the Slinglink. You would then have 3 free ethernet ports that you could also use with the powerline network if you have extra devices such as a network connected Blu-Ray player.

mishamon wrote:Does it work with digital encrypted cable channels? I have comcast with a cable box on one TV and plan to connect the sligbox to the second TV with a DVR box made by Pace. Will it get all channels?

It hooks up to your cable box using either component or composite connections, so it would work with any channel that your cable box will output through those connections. I would assume this would be pretty much everything that you can watch on TV since that's how your cable box is probably connected to it. If you are using an HDMI connection from the cable box to the TV, I'm not sure if there'd be a problem. I would think it'd be okay as long as the cable box has component or composite outputs.

editorkid wrote:Hm. Half of the photos clearly show the "Sling" logo, but the others all say "Guils." What's up with that?

haha dear God I hope you're kidding.

Will this work with an ipod touch? If so, is there a charge for the app?

emilencet wrote:Will this work with an ipod touch? If so, is there a charge for the app?

Yes, there is a Slingplayer Mobile app for all versions of iPhones and iPod Touch. It costs $29.99. The desktop software and web browser watching at sling.com is always free.

There are also mobile apps for Android and BlackBerry

tinybombs wrote:haha dear God I hope you're kidding.

The Logo must only be viewed by standing on your head

jamierosen wrote:Can the remote device be a TV?

I see a lot of talk about watching TV on your phone or laptop, but I live in Mexico and would use this to watch US-based TV on my living room TV (setting it up at my folks' place in NY). I wouldn't buy this just to watch TV on a laptop or mobile phone.

On the slingbox site there is a video suggesting that you can view the signal on a TV but then it says: "a Slingbox® makes it easy to watch and control your home TV from virtually anywhere, anytime on your desktop, Mac, laptop, or mobile phone."

So, my question is -- can I set this up to watch on a television or does it have to be piped to a "desktop, Mac, laptop, or mobile phone?"

Yes, absolutely, but you'll still need a computer involved. I use my Slingbox to do exactly what you're asking about. I use my laptop to play the Slingbox feed, with the laptop's output wired to my TV's VGA input for comfortable viewing from the couch. I mainly use this to view local Pittsburgh sports broadcasts from my home in NC.

My biggest word of warning is that when it's playing on my 32" TV, the picture quality degrades a fair amount. It's not unwatchable, but far from HD.

In a nutshell, as long as you have a way of displaying a computer's output on your TV, your idea will work (but it may not be pretty if your TV is too big).

[quote postid="4166323" user="NightGhost"]I stand corrected. But if SlingMedia's servers aren't used, which are? If the SOLO itself is acting as a server, some ISP's might have a problem with that.[quote]

I am sorry but they will not. Why would they? I have couple of webserver based devices installed at my household and ISP has nothing to do with it. Except your upload bandwith capacity of course.

For reference, my overseas link has 2 Mbps upload, the Slingbox is streaming with res of 640x480 at 1.2-1.4 Mbps and the picture on my 40 inch LCD TV is otterific.

For decent quality on your large TV you need at least 600kbps and when you go below 300kbps do not even bother with TV and use your iPhone instead.

And if you have 5Mbps uplink, get SlingBox Pro-HD, this will handle even HD set top box and controll it with amazing picture quality.

HOW DO I MAKE A PURCHASE USING VPAYPAL ON WOOT.COM

Might as well throw in my 2 cents:

• When considering where to set this up, opt for a never/little-used cable feed so you're not interfering with any other family members' TV watching. e.g., If you travel a lot and your spouse doesn't, don't hook it up to a cable box that your spouse may want to use while you're away. My solution was to get a dedicated cable box and split the coax signal going into the remote location's cable modem. This ensures I don't need a bridge, and that no one at that location will attempt to change the channel while I'm using it (or ever, really).
  
• In my opinion, this is the biggest drawback: Don't get this if you live in, say, NC and your brother lives in, say, Europe, and your Slingbox is set up in PA, and you and your brother both want to watch the same thing at the same time. It allows only one remote user at a time. You'll have to share.
  
• With a shaky wi-fi connection, sports can look pretty crappy when displayed on a TV screen (piped through a laptop/PC). My TV is 32 inches. I'm sure it only gets worse as your TV size increases. On the other hand, it's definitely better than not watching the game at all.
  
• The $30 app for iPod/Blackberry/Android is tempting, but I haven't sprung for it yet. I'd guess the picture quality on a screen that size would be pretty decent, but it'd probably depend on your cell/wi-fi signal.
  

Does this work with rabbit ears?

ryanhoelzer wrote:The SlingLink lets you put the SlingBox in a room that doesn't have an internet connection. (It doesn't have wireless) Say you want to put the SlingBox on the cable box in your bedroom. You put one SlingLink near your router, plug it into the wall. Put the other SlingLink in the Bedroom, plug it into the wall. Then you have a wired internet connection for the SlingBox in the bedroom.

Instead of using the SlingLink in conjunction with SlingBox, can you use it as an Ethernet Bridge for your PC? Like giving your situation, say you want to put a desktop computer in your room but don't want to run a network cable across your home to your router in the living room. Can this be done?

cerroo wrote:Instead of using the SlingLink in conjunction with SlingBox, can you use it as an Ethernet Bridge for your PC? Like giving your situation, say you want to put a desktop computer in your room but don't want to run a network cable across your home to your router in the living room. Can this be done?

Yep, and that is what I use in my bedroom which has no internet connection. I use Linksys Bridge and it makes my SlingCatcher working well in my home network streaming down Sky from SOLO sitting overseas.That is why these SlingLinks or Turbo things were never in my interest. I think it is just a waste of money.

I also do not like think that I have my LAN network coupled with my mains power network with any kind of additional box.