Watching Pats via Slingbox?

[sieglo]

Has anyone attempted to use Slingbox technology to watch the Pats over the internet on your computer? I have to move to Philadelphia in October, but I can theoretically station a Slinbox in my parent's house in MA to make sure I don't miss any games. Any idea if the technology is crisp enough for sports?

Thanks!

 

[primetime]

I've known people who have used it for football and hockey games and have had no problems with it. I'm thinking of using it since I'll be in Ireland all next year, though it is possible to watch the games on Sopcast as well, I believe.

 

[Flying Fungi]

Has anyone attempted to use Slingbox technology to watch the Pats over the internet on your computer? I have to move to Philadelphia in October, but I can theoretically station a Slinbox in my parent's house in MA to make sure I don't miss any games. Any idea if the technology is crisp enough for sports?

Thanks!

I have a Slingbox hooked up to my comcast broadband. An old friend of mine in North Carolina via NH watches all of the Red Sox games on NESN via this Slingbox. I don't even remember it is there really, and based upon the images I viewed when setting it up, I would highly recommend it.

 

[QuiGon]

Has anyone attempted to use Slingbox technology to watch the Pats over the internet on your computer? I have to move to Philadelphia in October, but I can theoretically station a Slinbox in my parent's house in MA to make sure I don't miss any games. Any idea if the technology is crisp enough for sports?

Yes, you can do that... keep in mind, however, that no one else will be able to use that TV (or they'll have to watch the Patriots).

 

[Pujo]

I've known people who have used it for football and hockey games and have had no problems with it. I'm thinking of using it since I'll be in Ireland all next year, though it is possible to watch the games on Sopcast as well, I believe.

Streaming video accross the transatlantic backbone is a lot less reasonable. If you just surf any website hosted in Europe you'll see what I mean.

 

[Flying Fungi]

Yes, you can do that... keep in mind, however, that no one else will be able to use that TV (or they'll have to watch the Patriots).

Not true at all. I have the Slingbox tapped directly into the feed and it has no impact upon what channels I can or cannot watch on my home displays. That is to say--my buddy watches NESN via Slingbox at the same time that I am watching NESN at home.

 

[Pujo]

Not true at all. I have the Slingbox tapped directly into the feed and it has no impact upon what channels I can or cannot watch on my home displays. That is to say--my buddy watches NESN via Slingbox at the same time that I am watching NESN at home.

I'm guessing you have analog rather than digital cable then. The signal that comes to your premesis with analog cable contains all of the channels on that cable system (it uses frequency multiplexing, just like "on-air" TV, to deliver all those channels over one coax cable). Most TV's, DVR's, etc are CATV ready, which means they have their own tuner that can tune to the signal coming in over the coax. If you have analog cable, it's trivial to get a splitter and have cable in every room.

Digital cable comes in differently. The signal is digital, compressed, and encrypted, and isn't usable by anything except for your digital cable box with the proper SIMM card. The box decodes it, and then sends only the channel it decodes to your TV. With digital cable, you must have a seperate digital cable box for every TV, and there's no way to watch one thing while streaming off another.

 

[Flying Fungi]

I'm guessing you have analog rather than digital cable then. The signal that comes to your premesis with analog cable contains all of the channels on that cable system (it uses frequency multiplexing, just like "on-air" TV, to deliver all those channels over one coax cable). Most TV's, DVR's, etc are CATV ready, which means they have their own tuner that can tune to the signal coming in over the coax. If you have analog cable, it's trivial to get a splitter and have cable in every room.

Digital cable comes in differently. The signal is digital, compressed, and encrypted, and isn't usable by anything except for your digital cable box with the proper SIMM card. The box decodes it, and then sends only the channel it decodes to your TV. With digital cable, you must have a seperate digital cable box for every TV, and there's no way to watch one thing while streaming off another.

perhaps that is true--I have HD, but cannot get Comcast phone service. The Slingbox can only get the regular channels to my buddy, so he's SOL for the NFLHD channel via Sling...

 

[Pujo]

perhaps that is true--I have HD, but cannot get Comcast phone service. The Slingbox can only get the regular channels to my buddy, so he's SOL for the NFLHD channel via Sling...

That should actually also work for the original poster if he has digital cable. Most digital cable systems transmit an analog signal for channels 2-70, and then a digital signal above 70 (which also contrains 2-70 in digital form). Anyone with a CATV tuner can tune into the analog channels, though the digital ones remain out of reach (though depending on how you hook up your slingbox - either before or after your digital box, you can send him a digital channel instead, but only the one you're watching at the moment).

 

[Ratoath]

I've known people who have used it for football and hockey games and have had no problems with it. I'm thinking of using it since I'll be in Ireland all next year, though it is possible to watch the games on Sopcast as well, I believe.

what part of ireland??

also, i have no idea what this slingbox is. does that mean that i can watch all the patriots games? they usually only show 4-5 patriots games live here?

 

[upstater1]

what part of ireland??

also, i have no idea what this slingbox is. does that mean that i can watch all the patriots games? they usually only show 4-5 patriots games live here?

You have to have a friend in the US that hosts the slingbox.

My brother in Conn. has one set up for me, and the games come in perfectly.

Slingbox +1

 

[Ratoath]

You have to have a friend in the US that hosts the slingbox.

My brother in Conn. has one set up for me, and the games come in perfectly.

Slingbox +1

oh right, thanks!

 

[primetime]

what part of ireland??

also, i have no idea what this slingbox is. does that mean that i can watch all the patriots games? they usually only show 4-5 patriots games live here?

I'm studying at Trinity for the year, so Dublin. Any recommendations on where I can catch the live games, if you know? I was told there's an Australian bar in the Temple Bar area that gets football games on Sky Sports (a 1, 4, and the Sunday night game).

Slingbox is something you hook up to a TV and it allows you to watch that TV remotely over the internet. Meaning you could hook it up to a TV with Sunday Ticket in the US and use the internet to watch a game anywhere (though the TV must be tuned to the station, so no one else can use it).

I forget if it's a monthly fee or not to use it, or it's only the price of the Slingbox itself.

 

[Ratoath]

I'm studying at Trinity for the year, so Dublin. Any recommendations on where I can catch the live games, if you know? I was told there's an Australian bar in the Temple Bar area that gets football games on Sky Sports (a 1, 4, and the Sunday night game).

Slingbox is something you hook up to a TV and it allows you to watch that TV remotely over the internet. Meaning you could hook it up to a TV with Sunday Ticket in the US and use the internet to watch a game anywhere (though the TV must be tuned to the station, so no one else can use it).

I forget if it's a monthly fee or not to use it, or it's only the price of the Slingbox itself.

cool. its possible that i will be going there next year too! ye, sky sports show 2-4 live games a week. i hadnt heard of that austalian bar, but i know of a couple of bars which show it.

 

[upstater1]

Just as an FYI, it should not be a big concern to have the box attached to a TV that others can't view. For instance, my brother attached his Slingbox to an analog cable outlet. No TV at all. I control the outlet remotely.

I purposely bought the analog model slingbox so my brother wouldn't have to rent/buy a digital cable box.

If any of your relatives or friends have an extra outlet in the house (I believe most cable providers rig you up for 4 outlets free of charge) then you don't need a TV there at all. This slingbox is absolutely no skin off my brother's back, except for the fact that it sucks HUGE bandwidth.

Our agreement is for me to use it for all Patriots games, all UConn Huskies bball games, and the occasional Red Sox game. That's it.

 

[spacecrime]

my buddy watches NESN via Slingbox at the same time that I am watching NESN at home.

Goes without saying. The question is: can your buddy watch NESN via your Slingbox while you watch ESPN or FOXSPORTS or HGTV at home?

 

[godef]

Yes, you can do that... keep in mind, however, that no one else will be able to use that TV (or they'll have to watch the Patriots).

What you can do is pay an extra $5 a month for an extra cable/satellite box dedicated to use by the Slingbox, stick it in a closet or some place out of the way, don't need an actual TV. Then you could watch anything you wanted at any time, not just Patriots games.

 

[QuiGon]

I'm studying at Trinity for the year, so Dublin. Any recommendations on where I can catch the live games, if you know? I was told there's an Australian bar in the Temple Bar area that gets football games on Sky Sports (a 1, 4, and the Sunday night game).

I was in Australia last year during the playoffs. The AFC games were broadcast on ESPN and the NFC games were broadcast on Fox Sports, so I had no problems watching them. I have no idea what they do during the regular season.

I forget if it's a monthly fee or not to use it, or it's only the price of the Slingbox itself.

No fee.

 

[jimmyjames]

With Slingbox ss it possible to record the games like TIVO or do you have to watch them live?

 

[Pujo]

With Slingbox ss it possible to record the games like TIVO or do you have to watch them live?

You could record the games, but why would you bother streaming them accross the country only to record them, when you can just as well record them where they're shown?