SlingBox Personal Broadcaster

If the SlingBox Personal Broadcaster actually works, you'll be able to watch or listen to anything available on your home TV or stereo from any high-speed Internet connected device anywhere in the world. The $199 box connects to your home entertainment system and sends what's playing there out over the Internet to your computer or PDA in real time (Sony's LocationFree TV operates on a similar principle). SlingMedia says this thing will even let you watch TV from your mobile phone, but that could mean some jerky images accompanied by indecipherable audio, at least until we get to a Japanese-level of cellphoneness.

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

[Adam Lindsay @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

http://www.videolan.org/

This program can take a variety of inputs and output to screen or stream or file. It truely does it all. A bunch of different ports as well.

[Bill Jeffries @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

There's a HUGE difference between a gadget that's designed for everyday consumers who want to do this stuff and getting people to use this free software.

Why is it that anytime someone wants to ship a product that "could be done for free", albeit with low-quality open source software that tends to have LOUSY user interfaces, every person with a little understanding of technology puts it down?

[David Fry @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

I bought a Slingbox and hooked it up to my home network via a wireless bridge and love it. It was easy to hook up, I get beautiful sound and picture (small window) from my cable at home while at work or on the road. I give it a strong thumbs up!

[Larry Mondello @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

I've been reading a lot about this Slingbox. Sound very interesting. I can think of many other uses as for sending or steaming video over the Internet. I can see lawyers using this or As a way to monitor your house when away. The remote part ads more to the idea.
Larry Mondello www.larry-mondello.com

[Larry Mondello @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

I've been reading a lot about this Slingbox. Sound very interesting. I can think of many other uses as for sending or steaming video over the Internet. I can see lawyers using this or As a way to monitor your house when away. The remote part ads more to the idea.
Larry Mondello www.larry-mondello.com

[Carl Hartmann @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Bought it....hooked it up.....here are three thoughts.

1. Superb, patient tech service. As it turned out, the IR blaster (a $3.00 part unrelated to the actual Slinbox) was bad. Everything else hooked up well--and the help getting through my router and VOIP was fast and accurate.

2. WHAT A PRODUCT. For $199 who can believe this. I was an early adopter for PVR's (REPLAY) and converged PDA and a lot of other things (many that did not work) and this is another big one. I hope that (like Replay and maybe TIVO) it is so good that the originals get eaten alive by big companies that appropriate the ideas.

3. The remote control of the system (I have it hookedup to a DISH and a REPLAY) is spectacular and the picture and sound are clearly sufficient. No huge, but I'll never miss the local news or the JETS and GIANTS, again.

And as a bonus, I can now program shows I want to watch on the Replay on the same day!!!Way better than the Media Center Extender I'm also trying out. Microsoft should have purchased this company and intergrated this--its is way better.

[jds @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

So the sling works well, just a few minor issues. Seems that none of my video cables work that came with the system. the only way i could get it to work was via S-video. anyone else have this issue? also tested the remote connection from israel, now my buddy can watch all the tv he misses so dearly....just need to figure out how to link in paypal and have multiple connections.... Hire me :-)

[Jeff Hester @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Just picked up a Slingbox and I was very impressed with the ease-of-installation. My only disappointment was that only one person can access the stream at a time (no sharing).

[Irving De Leon @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

My joy turned to dissapointment on on my Slingbox purchase. They say all you need to view your cable TV anywhere in the world, and with no additional monthly fees, is a broadband internet connection. What they don't tell you is that to be able to view remotely (outside of your home network) you must have a public IP address from your ISP (Internet Service Provider). My ISP only provides public IPs to Corporations, not to residential subscribers, and these public IPs go for $50 per month. If anyone knows of a way this will work outside of my network with private IP, or if anyone is interested in purchasing a two month old unused Slingbox please let me know.

[Jayme @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Irving,

Check out http://www.no-ip.com/services/managed_dns/free_dynamic_dns.html

No personal affiliation, benefit, etc.

[Bob @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

I bought a Slingbox and hooked it up to my home network via a wireless bridge and love it. It was easy to hook up, I get beautiful sound and picture from my cable at home while at work or on the road. Its a great product... You can get more details on this website http://www.mobilephones-info.com/SlingBox.htm

[Irving De Leon @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Thanks for the info, Jayme, although didn't have to make use of it. The problem with the Slingbox was I had too much protection (too many firewalls) which wouldn't allow access. After disabling the modem firewall, Slingbox configured remotely and works great outside of my home network. I also removed ZoneAlarm from PC. Kept Norton Firewall and the wireless router firewall. My Trillian multi-messenger program also wouldn't work through the modem before the firewall shutdown, now everything's working fine. The public IP requirement was the answer I was given by the Slingmedia support team. I'm glad they were wrong.

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Question for Slingbox users - Is there a "record" function that allows you to record a program for later viewings? I travel in Europe a lot and wouldn't be able to watch prime time shows in real time because of the 6 hour time difference. Thank you in advance.

[Bing @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

I have a question:
My boss says that this uses way too much 'bandwidth'!!
What is this and why is it important?

[Kel @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Question.... husband travels to Iraq and Israel often, if I were to buy this for him for Christmas, is there anything else I need to know? (Currently priced at $249 here) We have Broadband cable, and Broadband Internet. Do I need an additional cable outlet near my cable modem outlet? Or can I hook everything up to that one outlet? Is there anything extra I would need to purchase alonside this. Also, he works off of a satellite high speed internet. I was also wondering if anyone has tried a DVR box attached to it. Thanks in advance for the help.

-Kel

[Ryan Hoelzer @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

I just got one along with my 4th tivo. I live pretty much on the road and take 2 tivos with me and I bought this and a new tivo to leave at home to be able to catch local sports and something to watch when I'm in an airport or somewhere.. So far it's great. I get around 300k with my sprint wireless in most areas and at that speed it's pretty decent.. Testing it on the lan with 1000+k video is even better. My DSL only uploads 512k so theoritically anything over 512 won't gain anything...
Overall, very happy so far...

[JOAnne Hughes @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Our TV reception is zero. We have no cable,either. Can slingbox work if we do not have cable?

[Cindy @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Does anyone know if I can hook up two Slingbox systems in my home and use them for two different PC's to view shows while my wife and I are away?

[Michelle @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Question: What exactly is the piece of hardware which provides the "wireless bridge" that as I understand it, bridges the computer/wireless router in one room to the TV/satellite box in the other room? It apparently is a separate item not included with the purchase of the Slingbox. What price range should I expect? Thanks!

[Daniel - GotLogos @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Yes - you can hook up as many slingboxes as you want. The SlingPlayer has a program that allows you to choose the TV you want to watch on your home network. I am not sure you can watch one on one PC and the other TV on another PC. I imagine you can.

[Dave @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Maybe this is a "no-brainer", but if I am using slingbox while I am on the road (hooked to DISH), is my family stuck watching what I am watching on their TV? In other words, will I be taking control of the entire home environment?

[Michael @ Dec 19th 2005 3:04AM]

Question: my school limits the amount of information we can download from outside the university's network to 2gb a week. will this quickly put me over the limit or will it not because it is streaming?

[Z @ Dec 22nd 2005 3:14PM]

This is going to work well for early adopters, but if it and similar units become popular it'll get bad. Why? Because it takes 256Kbps (preferably more) broadband uplink bandwidth. While many broadband modems (cable or DSL) provide a nominal max uplink of 256K, 385K or even 512Kbps, this maximum is dependent on not too many people using the uplink heavily at the same time in the same part of town. Most people mostly download, with bursts of uploading. If lots of people in your neighborhood begin streaming video upstream, everybody's uplink is going to either get flakey (lost packets) or be speed throttled. Of course, VOIP has a similar profile but: voice needs a lot less bandwidth than video+sound, and most people watch TV for longer periods than they stay on the phone. Peer to peer file sharing could also be uplink intensive, and may get throttled back for that reason - but the files can just filter out more slowly and still be intact, unlike video streaming.

Soo - don't expect the glowing comments of early adopters to reflect your experience a year from now, if this catches on.

On the other hand - perhaps if it caught on slowly and was very popular, the broadband companies would provision more uplink capacity? This would NOT be cheap, as it would mean a lot of new equipment for them to buy and install, maybe new technology, in existing cable or DSL markets. Rate increases for everybody, or (more fair) tiered prices for more continous uplink bandwidth.



Otherwise, cool idea tho.

[Ernie Mitts @ Dec 26th 2005 4:09PM]

Does the Slingbox work on the Macintosh Platform? I Have looked at all the hype about this boon to mankind,but no mention of Macintosh compatabilty for the Slingbox players?

[Bob @ Dec 31st 2005 6:04PM]

I have been looking into Slingbox and was hoping to buy it for my parents house in Pittsburgh (I live in New York) so that I can watch the Steelers. When I spoke with Slingbox support they told me that I cannot do this because I must reside in the household where the Slingbox is connected. Is this just a legal issue and the "right" thing for them to say, or is it really not possible to hook Slingbox up in one house and utilize it from my house? Has anyone tried this or does anyone know whether or not I can do this? Thanks!

[Thabiso @ Jan 4th 2006 10:35AM]

I'm South African and I'm fascinated by this invaluable tool. where can I buy it in S.A.?