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Anyone used a TV Slingbox successfully?

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ketelmeister

Well-Known Member
Oct 24, 2006
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I have been told I can use a slingbox with my charter cable to get free tv at another location. Would like to use at my cabin. I see them on EBay pretty cheap. Anyone with experience on that, does it work? Would like to get my premium sports channels I have on cable.
Thanks
 
I've used them for the last 6 or 7 years. The old boxes are junk and break after a few years. I've been happy with the 350 that I bought last year. You just need to have decent internet speed and then it's very simple.
 
dmclone said:
I've used them for the last 6 or 7 years. The old boxes are junk and break after a few years. I've been happy with the 350 that I bought last year. You just need to have decent internet speed and then it's very simple.
Click to expand...

They told me the 350 is not HD but the 500 is. But a big difference in dollars. What can you tell me. Will 15-1 internet speed do it?
 
My dish hopper (who owns sling, i believe) has it integrated. Works great! Not trying to sell you on Dish, but the sling portion of the tuner works very well and I use it quite often.
 
ketelmeister said:
They told me the 350 is not HD but the 500 is. But a big difference in dollars. What can you tell me. Will 15-1 internet speed do it?
Click to expand...

They are wrong. The two big things that the 500 has is wi-fi and HDMI. The HDMI on the 500 is flaky and I'd rather run a cable to the 350 for better speed. If you need wi-fi then the 500 is the way to go.

With all that said, I wouldn't expect HD picture quality unless you get faster.


As far as the 15-1, is that at home or at the cabin?
 
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dmclone said:
They are wrong. The two big things that the 500 has is wi-fi and HDMI. The HDMI on the 500 is flaky and I'd rather run a cable to the 350 for better speed. If you need wi-fi then the 500 is the way to go.

With all that said, I wouldn't expect HD picture quality unless you get faster.


As far as the 15-1, is that at home or at the cabin?
Click to expand...


super high speed at home, 15-1 at cabin.
 
ISU_phoria said:
My dish hopper (who owns sling, i believe) has it integrated. Works great! Not trying to sell you on Dish, but the sling portion of the tuner works very well and I use it quite often.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's one of the things I like about the hopper is the built in slingbox, I like it as well. I was in Omaha over the weekend for a wedding at Sunday while waiting for family to come for breakfast, I used it to watch MLB Network's Quick Pitch in the hotel lobby and had a crowd of little leaguer's standing over my chair watching.
 
dmclone said:
I've used them for the last 6 or 7 years. The old boxes are junk and break after a few years. I've been happy with the 350 that I bought last year. You just need to have decent internet speed and then it's very simple.
Click to expand...

Does the Slingplayer support Chromecast?
 
I've had mine for 5-6 years and it still works great! You can literally watch any channel your satellite or digital cable gets anywhere with an internet connection. The only downfall is that sports sometimes the picture isn't as good because it's such fast moving..maybe the newer slingboxes fixed this problem. I'd highly recommend it!
 
I am trying to help out my in-laws and their TV situation and think that the sling box may work.

They have a place at the Lake of the Ozarks and want to drop their cable tv there. Currently paying $80/month with Charter (basic) and they aren't there much 8 months out of the year, and would like access to their home DVR (Dish network). There are too many trees to do a second Dish network location.

The home DVR is not the Hopper (which has the sling box built in) and they do not want to pay the extra monthly charges for extra boxes, since with the current dish receiver, they are able to use a few splitters for a couple of older TVs.

I was thinking a sling box would be what they need. i would like to tell them to buy the sling player app for $15 for their android phone and stream to a TV using chromecast (now supported).

they have unlimited data on their phone, so that's not an issue, but I am curious if anyone has used this type of phonee setup or similiar and is it easy to use? stream quality? They receive 4G date/cell service at the lake and their Iowa home. They like technology but I don't want to complicate their "relaxing" lake life it if there is too many steps or things to remember.

would a laptop or tablet work better with using the phone as a hot spot? how difficult is setup? plug in some cables and go?

I am also looking for any alternative suggestions? They don't necessarily want to pull up a web page to stream or pay another monthly fee (hulu + or netflix or prime).

TIA.
 
Used slingbox for signal overseas. Had trouble with Cox after awhile. Could not figure out how to reuse it couple years ago. When they went to a website, it was not as easy. It is worth a try.
 
ketelmeister said:
I have been told I can use a slingbox with my charter cable to get free tv at another location. Would like to use at my cabin. I see them on EBay pretty cheap. Anyone with experience on that, does it work? Would like to get my premium sports channels I have on cable.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Another thought is to switch to sattelite and buy a second dish. You can then just bring your normal home box with you and not have to worry about internet connections. We've had a lot of success with this.
 
cyclonesurveyor said:
I was thinking a sling box would be what they need. i would like to tell them to buy the sling player app for $15 for their android phone and stream to a TV using chromecast (now supported).



TIA.
Click to expand...

I can tell you that this combo would not be good. I've had a slingbox for a long time and Chromecast for a couple of years. Even with a good 4G signal there is not enough bandwidth for this to work well. Chromecast is a bandwith hog.

Slingbox works good while you're on vacation or want to watch a few shows but I wouldn't want to use it for 4 months straight.

I agree with the other person who said to just buy an additional dish and bring the receiver from the house.
 
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dmclone said:
I can tell you that this combo would not be good. I've had a slingbox for a long time and Chromecast for a couple of years. Even with a good 4G signal there is not enough bandwidth for this to work well. Chromecast is a bandwith hog.

Slingbox works good while you're on vacation or want to watch a few shows but I wouldn't want to use it for 4 months straight.

I agree with the other person who said to just buy an additional dish and bring the receiver from the house.
Click to expand...

This is what I was afraid of. I don't think they can do the extra satellite because of heavy tree cover and the house is about 300 feet from the water's edge.

Would I be able to use a tablet (phone as a hotspot) connected to a TV with a mini HDMI cord to bypass the chromecast? Anyone use this type of setup?

Thanks,
 
I had one of the box models for years and used it everyday all day at the office with limited problems. Now I have the Hopper and stream it to my office everyday all day with limited problems. My computer connected directly to the old sling box with limited problems, the Hooper has to go through there website and it causes quality and connection speed problems occasionally. Both are very easy to use.
 
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