Slingbox questions!

[KeithTalent]

Hey all,

My Slingbox Pro just arrived from Dell today (saw it for $100 off in the '10 days of deals' promo and could not resist) and I have a few questions.

1. Do I absolutely need a router for this thing to work?

2. Is there any point in getting HD from my cable provider if I will only be watching the feed on my laptop/PC (1680x1050 & 1920x1200 resolutions respectively)?

3. The box says something about digital content in 2009, blah, blah, blah. Is that something I need to think about yet?

4. Is there anything else I should know/have before setting this up?

Thanks to all in advance, your help/advice is greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
KT
:beer:

 

[KeithTalent]

So nobody has a Slingbox that can answer my questions?

Thanks,
KT

 

[Mrfrog840]

1-Its not necessary but you will have to keep your modem plugged directly into your slingbox whenever you want to use it
2-you can watch HD on your laptop as long as you have the bandwidth to support it.
3-you dont need to worry about digital content. If you have some type of box on your TV to watch TV, then you are good. Also if you have a newer HDTV then you are set. It should have the good ole combo of ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners built in. If you dont have a box or if you dont have an HDTV, then you might need to upgrade to either a digital cable box or an HD box
4-You need to get a pocketPC so that you can watch it where ever you go like I do


Good luck!

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Mrfrog840
1-Its not necessary but you will have to keep your modem plugged directly into your slingbox whenever you want to use it
2-you can watch HD on your laptop as long as you have the bandwidth to support it.
3-you dont need to worry about digital content. If you have some type of box on your TV to watch TV, then you are good. Also if you have a newer HDTV then you are set. It should have the good ole combo of ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners built in. If you dont have a box or if you dont have an HDTV, then you might need to upgrade to either a digital cable box or an HD box
4-You need to get a pocketPC so that you can watch it where ever you go like I do


Good luck!

Awesome thanks!

So can't I just plug my internet from the wall right into the Slingbox? I do not have a modem of any kind, it is fibre-optic and just runs from the wall to various ports in the house.

With respect to HD, will I actually notice a better picture quality, even though it is playing on a laptop/monitor and not on an actual HDTV?

Thanks again for the help!

Cheers,
KT

 

[Mrfrog840]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Mrfrog840
1-Its not necessary but you will have to keep your modem plugged directly into your slingbox whenever you want to use it
2-you can watch HD on your laptop as long as you have the bandwidth to support it.
3-you dont need to worry about digital content. If you have some type of box on your TV to watch TV, then you are good. Also if you have a newer HDTV then you are set. It should have the good ole combo of ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners built in. If you dont have a box or if you dont have an HDTV, then you might need to upgrade to either a digital cable box or an HD box
4-You need to get a pocketPC so that you can watch it where ever you go like I do


Good luck!

Awesome thanks!

So can't I just plug my internet from the wall right into the Slingbox? I do not have a modem of any kind, it is fibre-optic and just runs from the wall to various ports in the house.

With respect to HD, will I actually notice a better picture quality, even though it is playing on a laptop/monitor and not on an actual HDTV?

Thanks again for the help!

Cheers,
KT

FiOs, You should be able to plug it directly into the wall without a problem.

Yes, you will notice a picture quality. Since HD is based on resolution, you will see a significant difference if your laptop resolution was like 1280x720p or even 1900x1200 which would translate to 1080i.

Think of it this way, when you watch movie trailers, if you do , its always better to watch the 720p version than to watch the large file which is also available.

Its all about the native resolution. 1280x720(Pro) is better than 640x480(slingbox)

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Mrfrog840

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Mrfrog840
1-Its not necessary but you will have to keep your modem plugged directly into your slingbox whenever you want to use it
2-you can watch HD on your laptop as long as you have the bandwidth to support it.
3-you dont need to worry about digital content. If you have some type of box on your TV to watch TV, then you are good. Also if you have a newer HDTV then you are set. It should have the good ole combo of ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners built in. If you dont have a box or if you dont have an HDTV, then you might need to upgrade to either a digital cable box or an HD box
4-You need to get a pocketPC so that you can watch it where ever you go like I do


Good luck!

Awesome thanks!

So can't I just plug my internet from the wall right into the Slingbox? I do not have a modem of any kind, it is fibre-optic and just runs from the wall to various ports in the house.

With respect to HD, will I actually notice a better picture quality, even though it is playing on a laptop/monitor and not on an actual HDTV?

Thanks again for the help!

Cheers,
KT

FiOs, You should be able to plug it directly into the wall without a problem.

Yes, you will notice a picture quality. Since HD is based on resolution, you will see a significant difference if your laptop resolution was like 1280x720p or even 1900x1200 which would translate to 1080i.

Think of it this way, when you watch movie trailers, if you do , its always better to watch the 720p version than to watch the large file which is also available.

Its all about the native resolution. 1280x720(Pro) is better than 640x480(slingbox)

Cool, thanks again! I think I may upgrade to HD service then, once I figure out how to set things up.

I got very stuck on my setup last night. I think I actually do need a router for this, unfortunately.

The way my internet service works, is there is a hub in my storage area with one main internet port, then four other sub ports. So what you do is connect a cable from the main hub to whatever port you want to activate in another area of the house. Since the Slingbox only has a spot for one ethernet cable, there is no way for me to plug a cable into the Slingbox and activate a port near where I want to watch TV.

Also, there is no cable outlet near my internet hub, which further complicates things. To be honest, I am not exactly sure how I am going to set this up now. For some reason I was assuming there would be an in and out ethernet port on the Slingbox, so this kind of threw me for a loop.

Cheers,
KT

 

[Mrfrog840]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Mrfrog840

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Mrfrog840
1-Its not necessary but you will have to keep your modem plugged directly into your slingbox whenever you want to use it
2-you can watch HD on your laptop as long as you have the bandwidth to support it.
3-you dont need to worry about digital content. If you have some type of box on your TV to watch TV, then you are good. Also if you have a newer HDTV then you are set. It should have the good ole combo of ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners built in. If you dont have a box or if you dont have an HDTV, then you might need to upgrade to either a digital cable box or an HD box
4-You need to get a pocketPC so that you can watch it where ever you go like I do


Good luck!

Awesome thanks!

So can't I just plug my internet from the wall right into the Slingbox? I do not have a modem of any kind, it is fibre-optic and just runs from the wall to various ports in the house.

With respect to HD, will I actually notice a better picture quality, even though it is playing on a laptop/monitor and not on an actual HDTV?

Thanks again for the help!

Cheers,
KT

FiOs, You should be able to plug it directly into the wall without a problem.

Yes, you will notice a picture quality. Since HD is based on resolution, you will see a significant difference if your laptop resolution was like 1280x720p or even 1900x1200 which would translate to 1080i.

Think of it this way, when you watch movie trailers, if you do , its always better to watch the 720p version than to watch the large file which is also available.

Its all about the native resolution. 1280x720(Pro) is better than 640x480(slingbox)

Cool, thanks again! I think I may upgrade to HD service then, once I figure out how to set things up.

I got very stuck on my setup last night. I think I actually do need a router for this, unfortunately.

The way my internet service works, is there is a hub in my storage area with one main internet port, then four other sub ports. So what you do is connect a cable from the main hub to whatever port you want to activate in another area of the house. Since the Slingbox only has a spot for one ethernet cable, there is no way for me to plug a cable into the Slingbox and activate a port near where I want to watch TV.

Also, there is no cable outlet near my internet hub, which further complicates things. To be honest, I am not exactly sure how I am going to set this up now. For some reason I was assuming there would be an in and out ethernet port on the Slingbox, so this kind of threw me for a loop.

Cheers,
KT

you could alwasy go commando and run underneath/attic cable to hook it up. thats if you are hardcore though

 

[KeithTalent]

Well I ended up just getting a four-port Linksys router (I really only had a choice between Linksys and D-Link).

My Slingbox is up and running and I have to say I absolutely love it. It is very convenient and I am consistently running over a solid 3,000kbps (according to the Slingbox) so there are no issues with stuttering or skipping or anything.

I still have a bit of cable management to work on, but that is no big deal.

Anyway, thanks for the help Mrfrog840!

Cheers,
KT

 

[AuntBee]

I hope this works. I'm a middle-aged mom with not much knowledge about this stuff. I have a son in college in Texas. I'm in Wisconsin. He has basic cable (i.e. almost nothing worth watching) and we have Dish Network, premium package. If we buy him a Slingbox for Christmas and install it at our home, can he use it there in Texas (via his laptop)?

Can he watch his shows (mostly sports) while we watch our shows (not necessarily the same choices) at the same time?

We have a Belkin router. Will I need to purchase anything beyond the Slingbox Solo for hookup? The computer (and router) is in a different room than the TV and Satellite box.

THANK YOU for any help!!!

 

[uli2000]

Currently, you can only watch your content at a maximum resolution of 640x480, regardless of the source resolution. The advantage of the pro is you can hook up your hi def cable/sat or dvd thru component connections (after you buy the hd connector addon at $50). Check out http://www.slingcommunity.com/ for all things sling!