jaztuck's Full Review: Sling Media Slingbox (SB100-100) TV Input
MY NETWORK EXPERIENCE
I have setup small business networks for five businesses with both Mac and PC clients. Mainly 5 - 20 computers, webservers, file servers, and Linux servers with open source software.
The background is helpful because I am sure others will approach this setup with the assumption that it will take a few minutes. In short visit this link before you buy or setup. It will save you the headaches I had to deal with:
If you had to have your friend install your wireless network, you might want to call him/her to install the Slingbox.
MY SETUP
I have a simple 10/100 ethernet network at home with DirectTV, a Netgear router and an Earthlink DSL speedstream modem. The setup works like a charm except for the dropped Internet connection few times a month from Earthlink (but that is another story).
I have DirectTV basic receiver close to the network. Since the network is not in use all the time the entire den "powers-down" to save energy when I am away so I had to leave everything on just to watch TV remotely. (NOTE: We save a fortune by having the whole house "turn off" - if you do this also then you may need to remember to leave a power supply on if you want to control your sat/cable remotely.)
THE DIAGRAMS
Out of the box, I asked, "Is this it? there sure are lots of cables for a small silver Logan's Run-looking speedbump. The large diagram instructions were designed well and easy to understand. I suggest examining the way the arrows go before taking it behind your TV stand. Choose the route you want FIRST then go for it.
FIRST ATTEMPT
The box itself fit nicely on top of the DirectTV receiver and the spaghetti of cables it demands jumped all through the back of the audio and video equipment. I like to keep the cords organized and labeled so I did this first. Now I was ready to plug and play.
Not so fast. After the system is plugged in the software side of the it has to be done, then the network. I am not so sure about the syntax and I do not like how Slingbox "plays down" the importance of the network equipment and settings (Please see links above. They need to print this on the box).
The channel that was on appeared on the setup and then the next step asked if I wanted to watch remotely. I clicked on yes and went through the next questions. Then the show that was on went to a blue screen. the setup screen said the network is not setup correctly to watch remotely. Now they tell me. It would have been nice to know this before setting this up.
So I go online and they have these cute support icons and assume you have 2 or 3 of the same problems under equipment, software, or network. So I dig around and none of the pages help much. I go to the help button on the software installer (wizard) and that seemed to have more info but not give much direction about how to deal with it unless you have one of the 8 routers they list.
I emailed the company knowing that would motivate me to fix it before they respond. You know what I mean, it's like calling the doctor and by the time the appointment comes you don't need the doctor anymore.
SECOND ATTEMPT
Unless you are lucky or have the ports open and have a dedicated IP address, this will be trickier than expected. This is not preferred since the dynamic addressing (if this is the only option you have) will not assign the correct IP to the slingbox and has to be setup again each time you power up. In essence they are asking you to keep everything on and not shut down.
Since I did not have luck with the laptop I would set it up on the desktop just to do the local broadcasting. The wizard kept promting me to check for updates and I did. There was an update that was needed and it tried to install through the wizard but failed. It was easier to go to the site and do the ENTIRE APPLICATION installation - not the partial.
THIRD ATTEMPT
Still word back from Sling Media on day three that I have time from work, family, and other things around the house I need to fix. I upgraded to the static IP Earthlink account and they even wanted to charge me for a new modem. I have been with Earthlink for 10 years and they wanted more cash from me - that did not happen. Now the new account is setup and I have a static IP address. Time to try again...
It still did not work and I was told by a friend that my routers may be too old and do not support the Slingbox. It did not say I needed all new network appliances just to set this up but the site implies that only the listed ones will work. YMMV on other brands and models.
So I am off to get a new router and reinstalled the new software version I still could not view at home anymore and my Slingbox is "not found on the network" as it says. So I check the network, the green lights in front and everything was working correctly. All systems go, other devices working on the network, just not the Slingbox.
WHAT NOW?
I took the device to a friends place and it worked after 4 hours of setup. I know it was not the equipment, just the setup. The video quality is chunky and decent at half-screen even with the S-Video setup. It is a great idea but the setup/wizard needs much improvement and also needs to support Apple Mac's. This is still very buggy and difficult for most consumers. I was able to set this up with a Cable modem and new Netgear wireless router listed on the Slingbox site.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
In my opinion, I would rather wait until I was in front of my TV set to watch TV but I want to catch business news and financial shows at work. I am hijacking the cable at a friends place during the day until I hear back from Sling Media. Still word bacck after registering and contacting them over 5 times.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
I have sent five emails with my phone number and have not gotten a response in over 7 days. It's going back to COSTCO and I will wait for the Monsoon product, below:
COMPETITION
Monsoon Multimedia will sell their HAVA (codename) product under various lables but it seems like a much smarter solution for general consumer audiences:
http://www.cnet.com/4831-11405_1-6414329.html?tag=ltstimg
Looking forward to see what Sling Media will put out after they came to market first with a product that seems very rushed and leaves a lot for the consumer to do in order to make it work.
Again, if you have a new network and new equipment (within two years) this may install easier. Good luck and keep your eyes open for other products that pair up with this or this place-shifting feature being built into A/V gear.
The Slingbox is a compact and elegantly designed, state-of-the-art electronic device that connects to the back of your TV. It redirects, or placeshift...More at eBay
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.