anyone using the slingbox solo?

[golfnuub]

im looking at purchasing and installing a slingbox solo into my parents house so i can watch the vikings play each week . they live in minnesota and i live in florida. i have direct tv but i dont want to spend the money for the nfl sunday ticket and superfan which comes out to be almost $400. my parents currently have dish network but are switching to directv. i believe their current bandwith is 3Mbps downstream and 384kbps upstream. i have read that at a minimum slingbox needs 256kbps but at least 384 to 1mbps upstream to run smoothly.

is anyone currently using the solo across their WAN connection? if so what bandwidth are you currently paying for, and how good is the picture and sound?

[T.J.K.]

I travel alot and use one regularly. My upstream is like 5mbps though so I never have a problem.

I recently went on vacation however, and didn't have internet service where I was at so I tethered my blackberry to my computer and still was able to watch it. The quality was degraded quite a bit, but I was only getting around 150kbps cause my signal was pretty awful at the beach house. Still didn't freeze though.

[clearwaterms]

i have a client who travels regularly and he uses it and it works just fine. I think its an excellent way to do exactly what you are trying to do. One thing to let your parents know is that the internet will be pretty bad when the game is one (or when you are watching it)

[Crey23]

I heard that with Direct Tv you can watch any time anywhere form your computer. Give them a call, they should help you configure this...

That seems to be the only upside to DTv. Here is Florida every time it rains, the signal goes out....when you need it most!!!!!

[golfnuub]

I heard that with Direct Tv you can watch any time anywhere form your computer. Give them a call, they should help you configure this...

i was looking @ purchasing one and sticking it up in minnesota so i could watch just the vikings game, but if thats the case ill have to call and find out if that is true, my parents are switching to directv so i guess i could just login and watch from there account and save myself $400 for the NFL sunday ticket when i only want to watch the vikes anyway.

For the most part i dont have any trouble with my signal going out on the std definition channels, they seem to be fine even when it rains hard, its just my HD channels seem to suffer during the rain, but for the most part they work too, so im not super annoyed YET......

[golfnuub]

looks like this is only for a home network. i need this to work across the WAN/Internet!!!!
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global...setId=P4920044
guess its back to the drawing board!!!!

[Harry SasQuatch]

i was looking @ purchasing one and sticking it up in minnesota so i could watch just the vikings game, but if thats the case ill have to call and find out if that is true, my parents are switching to directv so i guess i could just login and watch from there account and save myself $400 for the NFL sunday ticket when i only want to watch the vikes anyway.

I'm not totally sure but I think you have to have Sunday Ticket to watch the games on your computer. I do have Sunday Ticket and super fan and tested it out last weekend on my iphone and it worked great. The slingbox is a good idea but the quality won't be that good if the internet connection isn't up to par. Dish Network makes the slingbox and some of the new dish receivers have it built in. That might be an option to look at as well. The solo is $150, Sunday Ticket with superfan is $400. For the extra $250 you get all the games in HD with the red zone channel and streaming to your phone or computer. If I were you I'd pony up and buy the package instead of relying on your parents and taking up their bandwidth only to watch it on a computer instead of your TV. Have them refer you when they switch to directv and that will offset the cost by $100 anyway.

[golfnuub]

I'm not totally sure but I think you have to have Sunday Ticket to watch the games on your computer. I do have Sunday Ticket and super fan and tested it out last weekend on my iphone and it worked great. The slingbox is a good idea but the quality won't be that good if the internet connection isn't up to par. Dish Network makes the slingbox and some of the new dish receivers have it built in. That might be an option to look at as well. The solo is $150, Sunday Ticket with superfan is $400. For the extra $250 you get all the games in HD with the red zone channel and streaming to your phone or computer. If I were you I'd pony up and buy the package instead of relying on your parents and taking up their bandwidth only to watch it on a computer instead of your TV. Have them refer you when they switch to directv and that will offset the cost by $100 anyway.

the only reason why i would need to rely on my parents or a friend up in sota is to stream the game from the solo without having to buy any NFL package, which i wouldnt have to worry about since the game is always broadcast up there (except for when blackout rules apply, which probably wont happen with all the favre hoop la going on!!). i would rather do that and take the $250 and apply it to more to golf lessons, equipment or just more rounds!!! :) i love to watch football, but i dont need to watch everygame thats on, just the vikes. im in conservation mode with my $$$ at the moment, with things being slow at work....

im going to use Stream torrent and find the viking vs. lions link on MyP2P website this sunday to stream the game, its free and worked pretty well last night when i tested it with the Georgia Tech vs Miami game. obviously because of compression and bandwidth limitations streaming it at HD video quality is out of the question. yes the video quality isnt top notch using stream torrent, but its good enough, and can you really complain since its free!!!! :) and since i have a spare pc hooked up to the internet and my 52inch LCD in the living room i could watch it still on my tv in full screen mode, which is the same thing i would have done with the slingbox but now i have saved another $175!