Slingbox Solo

Deal Chatter Clearance
41

As I said in my earlier post, when I connected the Sling to the router I was up and running in five minutes from getting the device in the mail.

I did not have to do anything to the router. (I connected a network cable from the Slingbox to an empty port on the router.)

If your router is working fine (with hard wires) I don’t think there’s any complications when connecting the Sling.

Of course, considering how cheap new routers are, you may want to consider getting a new one. I even bought two Cisco Valets that cost me $70 each on sale.

42

Fair 'nuff. Assuming you’ve got a hardwired connection between your Slingbox and your router, the only thing you might want to do would be (a) assign a static local IP address to your Slingbox, and (b) select a port to auto-forward to that address. In my case, since my AV wanted to be on 192.168.1.237 anyway, I went into my router’s configuration screens and set it to reserve .237 to the AV’s MAC address. Also, the AV wants Port 443, so while I was inside the router I set it to automatically forward any incoming Port 443 requests to 192.168.1.237. That’s all I did, and I might not have even needed to do that but it was easy and is cheap insurance to guarantee that SlingPlayer requests for this box goes to the right place every time.

43

Slingbox is great, one of the best pieces of tech that I’ve ever bought. I’ve owned a SOLO for ten months and use it daily.

But I would be wary about this deal.

My SOLO went belly-up last month due to a fairly common, easily Googled, hardware capacitor issue where the box overheats and stops streaming after ten seconds to two minutes of activity.

Sling tech support diagnosed the problem over the phone and sent me a new unit at no cost to me, but this was in month #9 of a one-year warranty. Most folks have this problem at about that time in the “life” of their SOLO boxes. This refurb only comes with a 90-day warranty, so keep that in mind - you’re basically gambling $55 that it won’t happen to you compared to pricing elsewhere.

But by all means, buy one, it’s amazing stuff.

44

Here is the exact model I got, on eBay, for $100 about six month ago. It came with a few extra cables, but otherwise the auction is the same.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS THE SELLOUT WOOT MODEL! I am only providing you info on what an older Slingbox Pro HD model looks like.

THIS WOOT IS FOR STANDARD DEFINITION BROADCASTS. In other words, your won’t be viewing HD TV quality on your device.

Like I said before, this Woot may be a good choice to get familiar with Slingbox. Once you determine you like it, you can sell this on eBay and move up to the next model (as what is done by many who are selling their old Slingbox units on eBay).

Note: This person listed a description from Sling that is very good at explaining the concept:

http://tinyurl.com/2dyj7fg

It includes the optional ($50) HD cable hub that’s needed to run component cables from the Comcast digital control box to the Slingbox unit.

To illustrate how different the various models can get, this Slingbox Pro version has what looks like an HDMI male plug that connects to the back of the Slingbox.

But the manual will tell and warn you that it’s NOT an HDMI connector. (I suspect because people have tried to connect it to HDMI ports on their HDTVs.)

Here is the cable hub I am talking about:

http://tinyurl.com/eBayslingHDcable

Once you get past this confusion you understand that the hub has ports for a VGA connection and also an HD TV via component cables (cables with three wires with tips colored one red, one blue, and a green one).

Here’s a very good explanation of the cables, connections and what all the different models can do:

http://tinyurl.com/AmazonSBProHDReview

45

EBAY WARNING: The Slingbox unit generates a lot of heat so it needs to be well ventilated so heat does not fry the unit’s motherboard.

Some eBay sellers (those with low, lousy or questionable feedback or who are new) have fried their Slingboxes and try to unload them on eBay.

When you set it up and it does not work, the seller says “Well it worked for me and I said it was as-is” knowing full well it’s busted.

So if you buy used on eBay I’d be careful.

Also, if available I’d consider a Square Trade warranty on this.

Bonus Tip: I make sure my Slingbox unit is out in the open and I have a small fan blowing on it to keep it extra cool.

46

I am presuming that you mean you can watch your Slingbox without installating any s/w, such as Slingplayer. How do you do that?

47

In answer for him, I believe that once your SB is set up at home AND you have a SB account (e-mail and password) one can log on to Sling’s Media “watching” site and watch your home cable connection on any net browser.

I do NOT believe that special software is required for this. (Unless Sling installed a special viewer on my PC, that I am unaware of.) In any event Sling Media would explain the requirements for remote viewing on the Net.

But I believe that that was one of the device’s selling points, no special software needed on remote machines. (Cell phones are different because they use a different browser and video viewer than computers use.

Here is the page I go to for log on to watch my TV remotely. See where it says “watch”:

48

Bump. Anyone?

49

Forgive the dumb questions, but I was under the impression that HD programming was broadcast in 1080i. The specs on this state that it will broadcast in 1080i, correct? So I am assuming that it will broadcast in HD. This question was also raised a few weeks ago when this product was bundled with another product, and the resounding response was YES, this will send 1080i to your device.

50

The differences between the HD and Standard models (Solo and Pro).

http://www.slingbox.com/go/slingbox-prohd-help-me-choose

51

None of this tech stuff involves dumb questions.

I am not sure about 1080i, but I know the HD model does broadcast in at least 720p.

You don’t want 1080p anyway. Don’t get caught up on numbers.

First, you can’t see the difference on most HD monitors, much less a notebook display.

Second, it would not receive all that well. 1080p reception would require a super fast net connection, which most people don’t have.

Third, 1080p would require a super fast connection on the receiving end. Fast connection means you that if you get the signal in 1080p you are using a lot of data bandwidth.

You don’t want that, especially on a cell phone where most carriers will be on limited or tiered data plans (1080p would suck up your 5GB T-Mobile limit, for example, in no time).

Fourth, 720p HD looks fine on all my devices. (See #1 above).

Sidenote: Remember that even this Solo can play HD signal, it just won’t play in HD, it will play in standard definition.

52

FWIW, I have a Hava Titanium HD from Woot, and it also runs very hot. Hava says it’s been tested to withstand the heat, but I put a cheap laptop cooling fan under it, and it really helps to dissipate the heat.

53

It gives me control of one of my DirecTv receivers. Actually reproduces the remote so I can access my Tivo, watch saved programs and live TV, program Tivo for recording. Does not affect the other receivers in the house but does control the one that it’s hooked up to. Mine is the original box from a few years ago.

54

manual and stuff here

55

Does this forum help?

56

Thanks for the link. Would this work with it?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024G48VA/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=019T8CDW0F03TK4SVN79&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

57

Yes you have to either manual or auto port fwd a port so it can get out of your router. Most newer ones have a one button solution for add on devices that do all the setup for you but the older ones will need to be manually set

58

No that will not work with it because that is a wireless only router it looks like. Only one data line in and none out. You have to have a router (either wired or wireless) that has at least one data line out. The sling box has to be hardwired to the router, not wireless.

59

Man I’m really confused now. The slingbox site says you can hook it up to a gaming adapter or wireless bridge if the wireless router isn’t in reach, like in my situation. I just want to figure out how I’m going to configure this thing or if it’s even possible before buying it.

60

When they first started out you had to load a player on all machines to playback but now it plays over a browser interface that doesn’t require installation of a specific program but does install a video codec to play the streaming video correctly on computers. On iphone and android there is an app that you purchase to allow it to playback. It works great over mobile devices for the most part as long as you have a decent 3g signal. It is invaluable for the avid sports fan that wants to take the game where ever you go. Your wife and kids may kill you but you can deal with that on your own.