Slingbox viewing

[Street Pharmacist]

I am not very knowledgeable about spelling knowledgeable or networks. I know that viewing my slingbox remotely means the picture will be reliant on the speed of my internet connection. My question is what is the bottleneck? Is it usually a WiFi/Hotspot speed issue? Is the router? Is it my ISP? If it's as simple as getting a better router, great I'll do it. If I need a faster ISP, I could check the cost. My download speed I just did is 15.74Mbps and upload was 0.48Mbps. I assume that if I can stream good quality video from other sources, I should be able to get good quality video from the slingbox, no?

[fundmark19]

I believe with slingbox you want a high upload ratio rather then download. I will be setting a slingbox up in the next couple days to go with my new ipad and I will let you know how mine does. I believe the bottleneck is probably in the upload as well as the wifi hotspot you are in and the 2 degrade your video. I remember when I had it set up before it would work flawlessly on my home network or on a friends network but public network and 3g caused it to lag a bit

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

I believe with slingbox you want a high upload ratio rather then download. I will be setting a slingbox up in the next couple days to go with my new ipad and I will let you know how mine does. I believe the bottleneck is probably in the upload as well as the wifi hotspot you are in and the 2 degrade your video. I remember when I had it set up before it would work flawlessly on my home network or on a friends network but public network and 3g caused it to lag a bit

Is there a way to improve upload speeds without talking to my ISP?

[fundmark19]

That I don't know since I am brutal at home networking see all my ask for help threads

[fundmark19]

are your ports forwarded for slingbox? If not you should go to portforwarding.com and set it up that will help as well

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

are your ports forwarded for slingbox? If not you should go to portforwarding.com and set it up that will help as well

Yeah. The picture is OK, but can be pretty gross sometimes. I figure if I can stream a TSN clip for example, why not my slingbox?

[fundmark19]

Tsn is saved to a server though where as the slingbox is a live feed so there is alot more work involved. I used to watch on my blackberry and it was kind of iffy but I would assume any wifi signal would be better. When I set mine up and try with my ipad I will let you know what happens. There are many members with sling gear so I am surprised noone else has chimed in

[Rathji]

This explanation might help you make more sense of it.

So your upload is 500kb. Think of that as how much data your internet connection can give the rest of the world.

In your example: Your slingbox, takes the show your TV provider is sending to your box and converts it to a more streamlined format (low bit rate etc) and broadcasts it to some place that is outside your house. That means it is using the upload bandwidth, so can only be sent at 500kb/s assuming there is no other traffic on your network.

That means that where ever you are viewing at (ie downloading content to), can only go as fast as the data is being given out (your upload speed at home). TSN's server, for example, probably has a bandwidth of many times what you have at home, say 10GB/s, so they can distribute content at that maximum rate, which means that if 1000 people are watching a clip, each person can download at 10mb/s, which is 20x what your home connection can provide for an upload.

I have no idea about what bandwidth is required for a decent slingbox feed, but I am assuming Google or your product documentation would have that info.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Rathji

This explanation might help you make more sense of it.

So your upload is 500kb. Think of that as how much data your internet connection can give the rest of the world.

In your example: Your slingbox, takes the show your TV provider is sending to your box and converts it to a more streamlined format (low bit rate etc) and broadcasts it to some place that is outside your house. That means it is using the upload bandwidth, so can only be sent at 500kb/s assuming there is no other traffic on your network.

That means that where ever you are viewing at (ie downloading content to), can only go as fast as the data is being given out (your upload speed at home). TSN's server, for example, probably has a bandwidth of many times what you have at home, say 10GB/s, so they can distribute content at that maximum rate, which means that if 1000 people are watching a clip, each person can download at 10mb/s, which is 20x what your home connection can provide for an upload.

I have no idea about what bandwidth is required for a decent slingbox feed, but I am assuming Google or your product documentation would have that info.

Can I buy a better ISP service then, or will they all have low upload speeds?

[fundmark19]

shaw extreme is 1 mbps upload
warp is 3mbps
high speed is 512 kbs

quick google search for HD people say 4mb is what you should use but 2 mb should be good so I assume 1 mb would be decent

I have extreme so 1 mb I will let you know how it is in a week or so

telus is mostly 1 mpb optik high speed is 2

[fundmark19]

and I did it! for anyone who needs to know taken from slingbox's website

Slingbox PRO-HD system requirements for HD and SD streaming

The Slingbox PRO-HD requires certain minimums of computer performance, as well as network capacity, for best HD and SD streaming. Here are the specifics.
Streaming high-definition (HD) video requires a lot more network capacity and computing power than streaming standard definition (SD) video does. The minimum system requirements for the Slingbox PRO-HD vary considerably for streaming HD versus SD content:
Network Bandwidth:

• HD Streaming: 3 Mbps or higher
• SD Streaming: 600 Kbps or higher
• Mobile Streaming: 150 Kbps or higher

Microsoft Windows:

• HD Streaming: Intel 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo class processor or equivalent with 2 GB of RAM. Video acceleration support desirable on graphics card
• SD Streaming: Pentium 4 class or equivalent with 256 MB RAM
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 with latest updates
• Browser Support: Internet Explorer Version 7 or higher, Firefox Version 3 or higher

Mac OS:

• HD Streaming: Intel 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo class processor or equivalent with 2 GB of RAM
• SD Streaming: Intel-based Mac with 2 GB of RAM
• Operating System: Mac OS 10.5.7 (Leopard) or later
• Browser Support: Firefox Version 3 or higher, Safari Version 4 or higher

If those minimums don't provide the viewing experience that you want, your setup might require more computing power.

[Jimmy Stang]

I wish that I had seen this sooner... I have a slingbox and I use Shaw Extreme. Actually the only reason that I upgrades to Extreme a few months ago was to increase my upload from 0.5 Mbps to 1 Mbps.

The bottleneck is definitely your upload speed. At 0.5 Mbps, the picture is pretty bad but tolerable for "regular" TV shows. Sports is horrendous, unfortunately, until you get up into 1 Mbps territory. Even then, sometimes the clock is hard to read because it is blocky, but at least you can follow the play around a bit. Definitely great when you're in a pinch, but at the expense of quality.

If there was a way to halve my download speed and double my upload speed for the same price, I'd do it simply for slingboxing and VPN-ing into my home computer.

You can also view your Slingbox over your own local network, and the quality is quite good. I only have the Slingbox Solo (non-HD), but I can get speeds of about 6 Mbps locally, which makes for a nice, clear picture. Better than standard-def cable, for sure. I'll often stream things to my second monitor while I'm at my computer, or to my iPhone while I'm around the house. My laptops can be used as little TVs if I want them to.

Let me know if you've got any more questions about the Slingbox and I'll try my best to answer. And if you want to preview what it looks like on a 1 Mbps upload connection, I'm sure that I could let you log in and have a look. As long as you don't order any pron PPV. Haha.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I wish that I had seen this sooner... I have a slingbox and I use Shaw Extreme. Actually the only reason that I upgrades to Extreme a few months ago was to increase my upload from 0.5 Mbps to 1 Mbps.

The bottleneck is definitely your upload speed. At 0.5 Mbps, the picture is pretty bad but tolerable for "regular" TV shows. Sports is horrendous, unfortunately, until you get up into 1 Mbps territory. Even then, sometimes the clock is hard to read because it is blocky, but at least you can follow the play around a bit. Definitely great when you're in a pinch, but at the expense of quality.

If there was a way to halve my download speed and double my upload speed for the same price, I'd do it simply for slingboxing and VPN-ing into my home computer.

You can also view your Slingbox over your own local network, and the quality is quite good. I only have the Slingbox Solo (non-HD), but I can get speeds of about 6 Mbps locally, which makes for a nice, clear picture. Better than standard-def cable, for sure. I'll often stream things to my second monitor while I'm at my computer, or to my iPhone while I'm around the house. My laptops can be used as little TVs if I want them to.

Let me know if you've got any more questions about the Slingbox and I'll try my best to answer. And if you want to preview what it looks like on a 1 Mbps upload connection, I'm sure that I could let you log in and have a look. As long as you don't order any pron PPV. Haha.

PM'd

[Street Pharmacist]

So Jimmy Stang let me see his slingbox to compare as he was going to the game anyway and I have to say that the difference is noticeable. The picture is slightly clearer but there is no visible framerate issues. My Slingbox is an HD one though, so I'm not sure if the fact that it is trying to adjust an HD picture.

So the answer to the bottleneck thing is likely the upload speed, and only my ISP can do anything about that.

On a sidenote, I found it difficult to navigate the purchase pages when purchasing porn. I managed to purchase quite a few and the image quality was decent. I helped him out by saving them to his PVR....

[Jimmy Stang]

Glad that it worked out for you. There's a noticeable difference between the 0.5 Mbps of "high speed" and the 1 Mbps of "extreme". Worth the $10 extra per month for me. I also VPN into my network remotely on occasion, so the added speed makes a big difference with that too.

As for the HD vs. SD, I believe that the non-HD Slingboxes (like mine) still have an HD passthrough/output, so it must also downsample the HD signal into one that is compressed enough for the web anyway. I'd be willing to bet that there would be no difference between the web viewing for the two devices. Where you would see the difference would be on your local network where there's enough bandwidth to send the full HD signal. Or, in some dream world where we have ISPs that could provide upload speeds worthy of uploading a nice, HD stream from your slingbox.

Either way, seeing it first hand helps you make an informed decision. When I first got my Slingox, Shaw was in the middle of a free trial of Extreme for me (never asked for it, and they never told me they were doing it). As soon as that trial ran, I noticed right away and within a couple of weeks I was calling them to upgrade.

As for the PPV - you're into some freaky stuff.

[Mass_nerder]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm moving to Halifax in the fall, and I'm assuming there will be very limited Flames game access.
I know the general idea around a sling box, and I've been considering getting one, hooking it up to my parents' cable here.
Does it make any sense to buy a sling box, and go through everything, or is it going to be easier for me to get NHL Center Ice, or Game Center?
From the general discussion in this thread, it's mostly over my head, so if it requires a lot of technical know-how, I might be in trouble.

[Jimmy Stang]

If I were in the same situation as you, I'd go the Slingbox route. $200 will get you a Slingbox Solo (the HD version is overkill unless you're viewing it on a local network), which you'll be able to use forever as opposed to paying per season. Centre Ice would give you a lot of other games, obviously, but you are probably just wanting to follow the Flames. Game Center looks pretty cool on the PS3, so if you're big into stats and all of the extra stuff, that may be an option.

Setup is pretty easy: buy it, hook it up, install the free SlingPlayer app on your computer, run the setup utility while on the same local network, and you're pretty much good to go for remote viewing after that.

Two important considerations: You'll be literally watching and controlling your parents' cable box. So if they're watching something else, you can either screw around with them and switch the channel on them, or you can watch what they're watching. They may be watching the game anyway, but if they're not, you'll have to PVR it and watch it later. If they've got multiple cable boxes, I'd suggest hooking it up to the least used one.

The other thing is, you'll be limited by the upload speed of your parents' internet connection. 0.5 Mbps (Shaw High Speed) is just passable quality, 2.5 Mbps (Shaw Extreme) is pretty decent. It is still below standard definition, but you're usually watching on a smaller screen and/or in a window, so it isn't as pronounced.

One final note is that you'll need a wired connection to it. Depending on your parents' house, you may need to run some Cat5 cable to their TV where you'd be installing the Slingbox.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm moving to Halifax in the fall, and I'm assuming there will be very limited Flames game access.
I know the general idea around a sling box, and I've been considering getting one, hooking it up to my parents' cable here.
Does it make any sense to buy a sling box, and go through everything, or is it going to be easier for me to get NHL Center Ice, or Game Center?
From the general discussion in this thread, it's mostly over my head, so if it requires a lot of technical know-how, I might be in trouble.

I'd go with Gamecentre. You'll get more games, and better quality. More expensive though

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Network Bandwidth:

• HD Streaming: 3 Mbps or higher
• SD Streaming: 600 Kbps or higher
• Mobile Streaming: 150 Kbps or higher

BUMP!

So, looking at those numbers... does that mean my slingbox will only send out around 150 kbps when it knows a mobile device is viewing it? I just got my slingbox, and am looking at the iPhone app. I only have 500 MB of data now and I know I will need more, but I'm wondering if I go for the 6 GB Canada plan or the 1 GB North America plan. (Which would be handy for travel to the US.)

Also, for anybody who uses the mobile app (any platform)- does it work well enough that you would use it to kill 15 minutes? Or does it take 15 minutes before you can really use it? Knowing it costs $30- would you buy it again?

[fundmark19]

When I used it on my blackberry it was good have not bought the iPhone or iPad app though