For skins fans who keep missing the games, Possible solution for ya

i'm a skins fan who lives in pittsburgh at the moment, and I stumbled onto a great product: the slingbox.

what the slingbox is, in a nutshell, allows you to hook up your standard tv, cable box, HD box, or Tivo device and "sling" that signal over the internet. This allows you to view your slingbox remotely, wherever you can get an internet connection. The slingbox has been out since 2005, and there are many competitors, but slingbox is the most active in improving their product.

A few things to keep in mind, if you do research the slingbox, one: your internet connection at home is very important to your remote viewing quality. Slingmedia recommends that you have atleast 256kpbs of UPLOAD speed (you know when you download you bring something to your pc...well this sends stuff out, opp of download). Right now, my slingbox is at my parents house, and my upload speed is at 380kpbs, which is fair for sports, it is a little fuzzy, i can read the graphics on the screen clearly, no problem.

IF you have the new verizon fios internet, your quality will be incredible when remotely viewing.

For everything you need to know:
Sling Community - The Official Community for the Slingbox, placeshifting, and the expanding Sling Mediaverse. (http://www.slingcommunity.com)
-forum page
www.slingmedia.com
-company page.

If you do buy a slingbox, i suggest amazon.com, I bought their basic slingbox for $100.

Wouldn't it be better to just get directv and order the package?? If you're not pinching pennies it's far and away the way to go. Especially b/c they are adding 100+ HD channels in September. Can't wait.

Wouldn't it be better to just get directv and order the package?? If you're not pinching pennies it's far and away the way to go. Especially b/c they are adding 100+ HD channels in September. Can't wait.


You keep holding your breath for those 100 channels.

DirecTV to carry 100 National HD Channels in 2007 - Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/directv-to-carry-100-national-hd-channels-in-2007/)

Anyone actually use this? Any testamonials?

DirecTV is not an option at the moment... we're locked in to Time Warner for a year...

Thanks in advance!

I seem to recall That Guy or Saden talking about this, or something similar. I am interested in getting more details as well.

yea a buddy of mine has it and it is awsome ,, worth every penny,, u can watch live tv from anywhere in the world,, he used it in europe to watch 24..prison break..live nfl games etc etc and said that it worked really good,, and from what i've seen i think its worth it especially if you travel a lot,,im getting one too for christmas

Slingbox is very slick. If you have someone in the DC area who is willing to host one for you, it would be a great investment.

There are 3 Slingbox models: Pro, AV, & Tuner.
Pro is the HD version. It's got all the bells and whistles. It can handle multiple devices. I don't know if this one can act as a 'Tuner' (see below).
AV can handle only one device at a time. It can control a cable or satellite box via an IR blaster (comes with it). No tuner functionality. It has A/V and S-video inputs.
Tuner is just that - a tuner. You plug a coax straight up to it and it streams the channels (either cable or off air). If you don't have a cable or satellite box, this is the one you want.

In order to watch the Slingbox remotely, it must be connected to the internet. You must forward a port to your Slingbox via your router. You must also know the IP address of your router. I've watched my slingbox with a speed as low as 256kbps and its viewable. It's not a great picture, but it's better than the alternative.

Here is a screenshot of mine. I have about 800kbps upstream at my house. I am watching it via a T3 at work. http://skinsfan.us/sf/files/slingbox.png

p.s. just so you know yes it is simple to install it,, BUT you need an extra cable box that no one will use (this is only for comcast users i dont know about the rest how it works), for example you can have it hooked up in the family living room tv (cable box) but if someone changes the channels in the living room tv it will change the channel on your computer wherever you may be soo make sure you order an extra cable box that u can put it where no one can touch it or change the channels on it,, plus if someone turns the cable box off from the house you will loose signal on your computer, basically no more live tv until someone turns the box on again,, thats what my buddy did,, ordered from comcast an extra box and set it up in his room,, told his family not to touch it and it works perfect,, the cool thing about it also is that after u install the software on ur comp it gives you a digital remote on the screen and you can can change the channels the same as being home changing the channels from ur remote control (u get all the channels on the sling box that you have on your cable box, if u have hbo package on comcast you'll get it on slingbox, nfl network on comcast you'll get it on slingbox etc..)also no one else can get on your account unless you give them your password but its only one user at a time soo you cant have 2 ppl logged on the same account at the same time,, hope this was helpful if not let me know

You can use Slingbox without a set top box. If you have the Tuner model and basic cable, the box will work just fine. Basic cable should work if all you're looking for is Skins games.

Also, with my AV model, it can turn on the DirecTV box. It doesn't have to stay on all the time.

Sweet! Thanks for all the info, guys. I'm definitely gonna get my cousin to set this up at his house in MD for me.