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Place Shifting

In keeping with the concept of “Place Shifting” I decided to setup a Sling box, so that I could have access to Canadian Cable television, without actually being there. This is perfect, since I can watch the Food channel without actually having to endure the brutal Canadian winter.

That’s when I realised to my horror that I would have to get my family in Toronto to do the setup. Since I couldn’t actually be there physically I was dreading the phone call where someone would ask me, “where does this cable go, and what does this thing do.” I of course not being able to see through the internet would have to say, “I have no idea, just stick it somewhere and see what happens.”

So I requested that my family purchase the unit for me from best buy. They were having a sale at the time and they picked up a Slingbox AV for $150 CDN + 14% (can you believe it?) tax. I got the inevitable phone call asking which Slingbox to purchase, as there were a bewildering amount of choices, so I thought I’d sort that out for my readers as well and explain the main differences between the different units.

Slingbox Pro

I’d thought I’d start with the heavy hitter. The Slingbox pro is essentially the most expensive and most versatile of the various Slingbox units. The Slingbox pro supports a HD (High Definition) source, and as well it can receive inputs from three other SD (Standard Definition) sources. Unlike the other units that can only support one SD unit at a time this allows a total of four sources to be plugged in simultaneously.

So What?

Well this means that if you are watching TV from a digital cable box and someone else in the room decides to change the channel you can still tune into the cable TV via the analog tuner in the Pro. Or if you want to plug in your DVD player so you can watch a movie that someone rented, while travelling you don’t have to call home to get them to unplug the cable tv, and plug in the DVD player. So the Pro unit allows you to simply plug in everything once and then walk away. With the other units you will have to switch between the various devices you want to control.

Slingbox Solo

This unit also supports HD. The main difference I can gather between this unit and the other Slingboxes is that the HD component cables are built in, and thus you don’t have to purchase them separately, as is the case with the Slingbox Pro. So why purchase this over the Slingbox pro? Well is supports HD, but unlike the Pro can’t have four simultaneous inputs. So only purchase this unit if you really need HD and you don’t want the other inputs.

Slingbox AV

The Slingbox AV is a unit that is built for people with Digital Cable or Satellite TV. It’s does not have an analog TV tuner built in, so if that’s what you have then this is not the correct unit for you. Okay so why would you pick the AV over the Pro? Simple really, if all you want to do is watch the cable tv, and don’t care about plugging in an analog signal or about attaching your DVR or other device at the same time then the AV is the right unit for you. Keep in mind if you want to watch something from your DVR then you will have to unplug your digital cable box/satellite box before you can do so. With the Pro, you can plug them all in at the same time. The downside to the AV is that if you have plugged this unit into a digital box that someone uses often, then if you change the channel they will notice. So to make this work out you will have to purchase another digital box from your cable/satellite provider so that you can essentially watch whatever you want, when you want. Depending on who you’re with, this may incur a separate fee.

Slingbox Tuner

This version of the Slingbox is basically for those who don’t have digital cable or a satellite receiver. It only works with analog cable, and only supports one input source, like the Slingbox AV. Mostly importantly though this device does not support a DVR, so if you plan on getting one in the future then this device is certainly not “future-proof”. Another potential use for this device is if you only have a single Cable box, and you don’t want to go and purchase another one just so you can watch TV on go. You can use this device on your basic coaxial connection (where there is no active TV plugged in) or user a splitter, so that the person using the Slingbox doesn’t disturb the home tv when changing the channels.

The Setup

This is where I was pleasantly surprised. My dad, who also dabbles a bit in the technology end of things plugged in the necessary cables, and installed the CD and was up and running in no time. Below is a diagram that I found from hexus.net outlining the various connections that are required:

Essentially all that has to be done is plug to plug the Slingbox into your Cable TV box, plug the IR receiver into the Slingbox, and then plug the Slingbox into the your router. The next step involves installing a CD on a computer in your local network. This computer does not need to be on for the person who is watching Cable to be able to use the slingbox, but is nevertheless an important step in the set up process. When installing the Slingbox on your computer it generates a Finder ID and password. There are very important to the person who will be watching the Slingbox so make sure that you keep a copy of them somewhere. The final step in the set up process is for you to set up the Slingbox on the computer you will be using to watch your Cable. In my case this had to be done remotely while I was in Australia. All I had to do was go to the Slingbox site and download the appropriate software. You have a choice between Mac, PC or software for your Pocket PC or Palm based device. When you are asked for a Finder ID and password this is the time that you need the person who installed the software to give you the correct information. Make sure you log into the system as an administrator, so that you can make changes initially if you need to. If you are present in the same house as the place where the Slingbox is installed, then of course this is not required.

Visual Quality and Tips and Tricks

As all of my friends here have said, “it’s watchable”. Quality is 100% dependant on the upload bandwidth of the ISP where the Slingbox unit is installed. In the test case, this was a 1mbps cable network. The maximum streaming speed I’ve been able to get is about 800kbps, as I doubt it’s possible to max the upload bandwidth, I think that this is a pretty good speed. I do notice however that depending on the time of day, the upload can drop to as low as 500kbps. I’m assuming that this is because cable is a shared medium and there must be a bit of overselling at the node.

From this Slingbox screenshot you can clearly see not only the Streaming speed but also the default size of the Slingbox screen. Although you can maximize the screen you will lose picture quality, so it’s better if you watch the channel from as far away as possible to make the picture look clearer. The remote on the side is the same as the remote by the Cable service provider that the unit was set up on. That makes it really easy to control the channels as well as view the channel guide.

Changing channels was a bit slow, and not responsive, but I have a feeling that this is dependent on what else you are doing on your computer, as well as CPU speed and RAM. I was talking to my parents and we were trying to see if the streaming was instantaneous and noticed that there is about a 7 second delay between what they see, and what I saw on my screen.

Tips: Tip number one, instead of using the remote to change the channels, you can use the keypad on your keyboard to change channels. If you have a wireless keyboard that is a perfect way to change channels while not being close to the computer. Here is an example of a person who has figured out how to use a remote with the Slingbox.

Overall

I think that for many people the Slingbox is an excellent device. It is really useful for expatriates who do not have access to their home TV channels while living abroad. I can also see business people who travel a lot, or even students having some use for this device, though some dorms and hotels provide cable tv free of charge. The quality on the unit isn’t extremely clear but it’s sufficient for most purposes. The cost of the Slingbox itself (at least $150 + CDN) is about the same as just purchasing another Cable box (if you are going to use this to avoid purchasing another Cable box).