Sling Media Digital multimedia receiver / broadcaster / TV tuner

...version of this product, SlingMedia's Sling Box SB150-120.

The UK model is the SB150-110, and as far as I have been able to establish (from friends actually using it on my advice), the UK model differs from the Japanese model only in respect of the TV Tuner.

The UK Model * I am told * features a TV Tuner that is DVB/FreeView capable (which would not work in Japan anyway) and is of course based on the PAL TV system (whereas ...
...etc. Also, using the Help>My Sling Account option to set up an account to hold the details of your device, including its "Finders key". This is a long string of characters that you'll need to set up a Player wherever you are. If you have an account, you can then set up a Player on anyone's PC suitably internet capable, as you can download the Player software, and lookup your key without having to remember it.

There are ... more

This review is actually based on my use of the Japanese version of this product, SlingMedia's Sling Box SB150-120.

The UK model is the SB150-110, and as far as I have been able to establish (from friends actually using it on my advice), the UK model differs from the Japanese model only in respect of the TV Tuner.

The UK Model * I am told * features a TV Tuner that is DVB/FreeView capable (which would not work in Japan anyway) and is of course based on the PAL TV system (whereas Japan's model uses NTSC like America).

The device itself is smaller than you may expect, and most definitely ugly, but you can't really hold that against it, particularly when there is no reason why it has to be on view (there are no IR remote sensors on the front, for example).

It comes with all the cables, software, and instructions you will require for a simple setup, such as I have used. The simplest use is to stream the TV signal that comes into your home from the terrestrial aerial, but of course you can expand this if you wish to include Sky+ or Cable feeds, Video players, PVRs, etc.

However, for my needs (streaming 6 terrestrial TV channels from Japan to my home in the UK) the simple set up is all I require.
(Incidentally, this is why I purchased the Japanese model... I needed the NTSC tuner for it all to work with Japanese TV signals)

You will need access to:
1) the "program feed" or Source you are going to use, in this case the TV Aerial socket
2) a broadband router with a decent speed on it (more on this below)
3) an electric socket

You will also need a PC/laptop connected to the router (wired or wireless - it doesn't matter)

The installation is explained in pretty pictures in the install guide (which you can get of SlingMedia's website, and I suggest you look at all their documentation if you are thinking of purchasing this device).

Plug an Aerial cable between the TV Aerial socket from the wall (or a 2-way splitter, if the socket is already being used for a TV feed), and the SlingBox.

Plug an Ethernet cable between the Router and the SlingBox.

Plug the SlingBox power adapter into the SlingBox and an electric socket.After this last instruction, the following should happen...

• The router should light up the port light that the now powered-up SlingBox is attached to (assuming your router has port indicator lights)
• The "n" on the front of the SlingBox should be lit in red LEDs
• Two green LEDs on the front of the SlingBox should be lit: One indicates power, the other, network

The Broadband connection
For info, I am using NTT (Japan Telecom) Flets ADSL with 8Mbs downstream/1Mbs upstream. It is the upstream that is important since the SlingBox is going to be sending data rather than receiving it (well, it will receive a little bit, but nothing by comparison with sending all your TV video data!)
I realise that many UK users will have the standard 256Kbs upstream if using a broadband connection under 2Mb, and maybe only 512Kbs
for connections over that. I am told that the product works OK with 256, but 512 is better, and obviously the 1Mbs I'm using is better still.
On the receiving side, the main thing is more likely to be the amount of data you are receiving, particularly if you are paying for a capped download limited service. You'll just have to monitor the situation and change broadband packages if necessary.I am using an NTT ADSL modem and a Buffalo G54 Wireless Router. The "wireless" bit isn't important for the SlingBox, and although you could add a wireless adapter to the slingbox and then using a wireless connection between the SlingBox and the Router, this isn't recommended, and it added extra complexity, and of course, extra things to go wrong.

The main thing I found with the router was that if you have one with UPnP functionality, this is a godsend... enable this, so that the SlingBox can configure all the Router's connection rules itself. This is what I used... it took maybe 1 minute, and hey-presto it all worked!

OK, I have skipped a bit of set up on the PC side... you need the PC to do the SlingBox and Router configuration, but once its all set up, the PC doesn't have anything to do with the operation. It doesn't even have to be on.

The Player software allows the viewer to change channels without affecting what is being watched at the source (provided it has been connected up according to the instructions. This is true for a terrestrial signal, although if you have a Sky box or PVR in your set-up, this won't be the case as they generally only output one signal for everyone)

Now, wherever you want to watch your TV, you'll need a PC (or a capable mobile device... Three's network is starting to offer these). You'll need to download the SlingPlayer onto this PC to view what your SlingBox is sending. (All the software is on the CD provided, but as ever with these things, new versions are being released all the time... I didn't actually use the CD provided at all. I downloaded all I needed from SlingMedia's website - of course, I had another reason for doing this... I wanted the software in English, but it was provided in Japanese since I had purchased a Japanese model.)

I'm not going to go through all the set up here... the guide is easily sufficient.

The main thing I would say about using the Player is, once you have configured the SlingBox and before you start using it, run up SlingPlayer on the PC that is local to the SlingBox and check it all out and become familiar, set-up the channels, etc. Also, using the Help>My Sling Account option to set up an account to hold the details of your device, including its "Finders key". This is a long string of characters that you'll need to set up a Player wherever you are. If you have an account, you can then set up a Player on anyone's PC suitably internet capable, as you can download the Player software, and lookup your key without having to remember it.

There are a million more ways of configuring the device, such as with Sky+ and Cable channels, but I haven't done that. I suggest you read through the Sling Media forums for that... you find people doing all sorts of things from all over the world!

I cannot fault the device itself. I have it all set up within 15 minutes and was watching TV in the same room as the main TV in our Japanese house, with about a 3 second delay on it. From the UK the delay is about 15 seconds, but the signal is very good considering how it is getting here!

The video is best viewed in a window say about 4-5" square although full screen on a PC works if you have a connection that can handle the throughput... it will be a bit grainy but definitely watchable.

There is one proviso I would like to add however... When something goes wrong... you not likely won't be where the SlingBox is! So you'll need some arrangements for getting the thing fixed... this may be a power-cycle after an earthquake (as recently happened in our case), or you may need some setting on the router redone. In either case, talking to your 75 year old in-laws isn't (from experience) the best support option! This obviously isn't anything that faults the device itself, but it is an important factor to consider once you've got it working... and it stops!

I hope you find this useful, and if you have any questions I'll try and answer them within the limits of my experience with the device. 

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