22Oct/093
I Have A Slingbox But Don’t Have Somewhere To Hook It Up. Any Ideas?
I am overseas in the military and have a SlingBox and a Sling Catcher, but I don't have somewhere back in the United States to connect it. Do any cable companies have a way to connect my SlingBox? Any ideas on how to connect my SlingBox somewhere?
October 22nd, 2009 - 01:57
I assume you mean that you have a computer and a high-speed internet connection where you are now and want to be able to watch TV from the US on your computer. Are you sure you don’t have a friend or relative back in the US (with cable or satellite TV and a high-speed internet connection) willing to “host” your Slingbox? I guess you could try putting an ad in your hometown newspaper or internet classifieds asking for someone to be your Slingbox host, but you might want to also offer to pay for part or all of the monthly service (cable TV and cable internet service usually costs about $100/month).
BTW, your host needs to be a bit of a geek, because the initial set up of the Slingbox could be tricky. You also want to be able to easily communicate with your host by email or phone for the set up, and later too because he might occasionally need to do a “reset” of the equipment (although, the only time I had a friend do that, it turned out that it was a problem with the internet service itself and not the Slingbox or cable internet modem….and most of the problems I’ve had have been with the internet service at the receiving end, i.e., the WiFi service at the hotel).
If you just can’t find someone to host your Slingbox, then there appears to be a company that provides that service. Note that I haven’t used their service and therefore can’t vouch for them. But here is their URL:
http://www.a2btv.com
It looks like you’ll have to subscribe to DirecTV (and you will need a stateside address to do that) and they provide the Slingbox and other equipment. In other words, the Slingbox you have now would not be needed (can you return it?).
As far as the Slingcatcher goes, I don’t have one, but it looks like you might be able to use it where you are, after a Slingbox is set up for you stateside, and use it instead of your computer to watch your Slingbox through the internet.
Best of luck! And thank you for your service to our country.
October 22nd, 2009 - 02:01
you have the sling box and sling catcher with you if so have to ship it to states and have someone to hook it up than give you the password and s/n of the sling box
October 22nd, 2009 - 02:18
Pay a family member to hook it up in their house. This isn’t really a service that cable cos provide. Another solution might be to pay a family member to record TV on DVD and mail you the disks.