I have directv so I am unable to watch the Rockets and Astros. How does slingbox work? Does anyone here have it? If I buy it and hook it up to my friend's account (he has Comcast) will I be able to watch the games at my house? If so, what does he need to have for it to work? He just has basic cable, so can I still hook it up to his account? If not, I have another friend with Comcast and he has the full deal.
I love mine. My Dad has Comcast and I have Uverse so we bought one. The way we use it is he hooks it up to his cable box AND wireless router at his house. You then set up a profile on slingbox.com with a username & password. Now what I do is from my house, log into my profile on slingbox.com and I am able to watch his TV. I paid 14.99 for the iphone app and the same thing applies. Just simply log in and right away the tv comes up on my phone. I was watching the Rockets on my phone saturday night while we were at the bar. Highly recommend it
Probably a stupid question, but does the router and box have to be in the same room or can you connect 2 separate things? Also, do you need to have a cable box to connect it to?
Not fraud or theft. If his friend gives him permission to watch his TV why is that illegal? The question about he Router and sling box in the same room: Yes. Unless you have a kit which I got from slingbox you have to have an Ethernet connection from router directly to the slingbox solo. I love mine.
Uhh.. how is that fraud or theft? Have you ever used Slingbox before? I love my Slingbox pro. I use it to watch Rockets/Texans games that are broadcasted from my home in Houston. You can't go wrong with any of the Slingbox models. For what you're describing, it would definitely work. I highly recommend it. As long as you have a ethernet cable going into it, you don't necessarily have to have the router in the same room. The cable box is the source, so you have to connect it with the Slingbox either using Component or composite cables. If you happen to get one of the new ones (Slingbox 300, 500), they have HDMI-in.
As to Swoly's post, not sure about the actual legality, but if you grant access to a third party you are violating your sling box licensing agreement.
Yea and I use it at my house so my pops can watch Longhorn network. But it will be stationed at his house all Rockets season, believe that.
Thanks for all the help guys! Ok, so if I buy the slingbox 500 (that's what I need right?) how does the set up work? My friend needs a Comcast box and a router? The router and box aren't in the same room so how do I do it wirelessly? Is there a way to do it if they don't have a Comcast box? I have a friend with a box and a friend without it so no problems there.
The 500 does not require direct connection via Ethernet so you don't need to have the router and box together. You just need the cable box
With the 500 it looks like you'll be able to set it up wirelessly, just follow the setup instructions that come with the Slingbox. Also keep in mind that whatever your friend is watching on the cable box that the Sling is attached to, that's what your going to see when you access it. So if you're watching a Rockets game using the Slinbox and he decides to change the channel to an episode of "Two Broke Girls" or orders a naaaasty movie on PPV, that's you're going to see as well.
My dad has this for when he is in Iraq working. The only thing I noticed is that while he is watching it the feed on the source TV has no sound and has a muted color to it.
I have something similar, but the quality sucks. It's watchable only as a last resort. You get worse than standard def quality, and it looks way bad if you try to connect it to your hdtv. Since sports have a lot of motion/movement, the quality deteriorates further. It's watchable, but the quality is closer to that of a regular stream you find illegally online.
Only bad thing about it is that only one person can be logged in at a time. Like if I am logged in watching the Rockets & at the same time my brother logs in from his house, it gives him the option to kick me off. It has turned into a battle.
Not in the market for one, but I've been curious about this: Can I control the TV hooked up to the Slingbox remotely? If I'm in City A and the Slingbox is hooked up in City B, is there a way I can turn on the TV the Slingbox is hooked up to? And change the channels too? Or is this not possible?
I love my slingbox. 2 Years in a row I was out of the country for a vacation when football season started and I just logged in and streamed the Texans game. The quality is amazing if you have good bandwidth.
The user interface is a picture of your remote (directv, comcast, dish). It's just like using your remote at home. You can ad favorite channels too.
I'm watching ESPN in HD on my Slingbox 350 right now. I have my 47" TV hooked up to my laptop through HDMI as my second monitor, and streaming cable from Houston to my apartment. The new Slingbox 350 and 500 will stream HD, but I think only the Slingbox Pro HD from older models will. For good HD feed, they recommend your upload (at site of Slingbox) should be 4 Mbps and your download (where you're watching it remotely) should be 15 Mbps. The Slingbox 350 often goes on sale for $150, and the Slingbox 500 will go on sale for $270 ($30 off retail on each). That sale happens every month.
Its not fraud and theft. The Slingbox only allows one stream. Cable boxes only allow you to play one channel at a time. As long as the slingbox feed isn't being viewed in a commercial setting, he is ok.
It is HIS FRIEND's CABLE ACCOUNT, not his own. Were he to ask questions about buying a Slingbox for HIS OWN cable or satellite account, I'd be OK with it. But the way he's wanting to use it... it just wreaks of theft and another reason why these gadgets' prices go up... people misuse them like he will and y'all are encouraging. Note that everyone who gives their own review of the device are using their own, not someone else's.
