Sling Box on Board

So you need a wifi signal? Or unlimited data plan? Other than that you can't use it correct? I'm trying to get more tv on the boat without spending $$$$ for satellite.
 
Havana Shamrock said:
So you need a wifi signal? Or unlimited data plan? Other than that you can't use it correct? I'm trying to get more tv on the boat without spending $$$$ for satellite.
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First, you need Internet at home. The slingbox hooks to the TV at home and the Internet at home and puts whatever is playing on your home TV on the Internet. So, you need an Internet connection (WiFi, cable modem, broadband modem, whatever) where you are and a PC to watch it. You can control the TV (turn on/off, change channel) from the remote PC.

Works pretty good.
 
or a cell phone i might add which can be plugged into hdmi on the tv
 
I just did this last week to watch the NFL games because OTA reception isn't the best in my marina. I used a component video adapter from rocketfish and connected the iPad to the TV. The iPad requires the slingbox app and then streams the video and audio to the TV. Worked well.
 
especially if you have 4G on phone its pretty much just as fast as wifi. Most test are showing it downloads faster
 
carterchapman said:
Hey Jim,

Thanks for the diagrams.

I noticed you hardwired the slingbox to your home router. I was under the impression that it could use your home wireless system rather than requiring a hard wire connection...
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Carter-
I'm pretty sure hardwire is a requirement between the sling box, the cable box and the router. At least for the one I bought. They make two models, the one I bought was in the hood of $150 while the other one was closer to $300. Not sure what the difference is, but the cheaper one did everything I needed so I stopped there. In my case at home, the router and main cable box are all in the same place so it was an easy hookup.
 
Thanks Tim,

I'm wiring the new condo with dish network for TV but Comcast for Internet. I'll make sure that all the boxes are in the same room.
 
I'll tell you my configuration and my issues:
At Home:
Slingbox 500 which is wire connected to the Direct TV DVR and a 2 Terrabite media drive(optional). The Slingbox 500 wirelessly connects to my home's wifi system which has a very high data transfer speed. My internet provider (Brighthouse) has a download speed of over 8MBPS and upload speed of 1.1MBPS (their Standard Package).
At the Boat:
My Ipad and Iphone both have Slingplayer applications on them (you need to buy these apps for $15 each). The Ipad and Iphone can either accept the wifi or celluar data over the internet fed by the Slingbox. Slingplayer and Ipad or Iphone can display the content from your home's Slingbox externally on the boat's televisions either hardwired or wirelessly through a device like Apple TV. The Slingplayer application on my Ipad and Iphone also provides a virtual remote control which can completely control my Direct TV DVR and my media drive (I can change channels, record, watch something recorded and watch something on the media drive); essentially you can control all features same as you would at home.

The big issue is upload bandwidth from your home's network. The Slingbox 500 really needs 3 MBPS upload capability but most have reported that over 1 MBPS will work. My internet provider has 1.1 MBPS upload speed as measured by me using Speedtest.net which I'm questioning if will really work.....
 
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tt-
That's some pretty weak upload speed… Here are my numbers and I have nothing special, just your garden variety Comcast crap (over a belkin wireless router).

speedtest.jpg
 
Converse - the problem I have is once the box is connected to the router, I loaded the cd thatw as included the comouter never seems to "find" the sling box? I'm assuming your was basically plug and play?
 
Seems in our area Converse48 that we get around 10% of the download speed across the vendors. At&T DSL is the worst and Comcast cable is the best. Brighthouse cable is not far from AT&T. It's all pretty pathetic. Seems from what I can understand that the upload speeds are limited not by capability but by procedure and the provider self imposed limitations. None of them offer much better than 5MBPS and you pay dearly for that.

From what I understand it's going to clamp down even further in the future.... In my neighborhood our assoication is considering a local Wifi capability fed from dedicated commercial fiber connections which will fix all the BS these companies are providing.
 
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Bucit-
There was no CD involved that I recall… I honestly don't remember the setup process other than that it was easy. I would definitely describe this as plug and play.Sorry I can't be more help.

tt-
That sucks! Good luck in cracking that code.
 
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