Forums > Specific Focus > Technical Mexico

NEOhio1

Dec 21, 2005, 3:18 PM

Post #1 of 3 (6018 views)

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Slingbox - possiblity ??

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This what my son-in-law wants for Hanuakah and/or Christmas - a slingbox - so he can watch US TV in Indonesia, or wherever in the world they have travelled to and then he can see ballgames etc... on his laptop. He would set up a "home" TV and service located in a rental we own in Baltimore.

Ken and I were wondering how this might be used in Mexico? Wecould also set up a "home" system in the rental.

And since we have absolutely NO, NADA, ZILCH, technical thought processing capability at all we are hoping some of you would provide an analysis of this new system and how it might work in Mexico.

Thank you for the assist.

johanson / Moderator

Dec 21, 2005, 5:07 PM

Post #2 of 3 (6006 views)

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Re: [NEOhio1] Slingbox - possiblity ??

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The one limiting factor I see, is that Slingbox requires an upload speed of at least 256 KB/sec (actual) not advertised. You will be able to find that, but it aint cheap

Here in Mexico, then you will have to have at least a real download speed of 256, that is available here as well.

But add up all of the costs,

1. Cable TV in the US
2. High speed internet connection in the states
3. High speed internet connection in Mexico,

(and) it would be simpler and cheaper to choose a satellite delivery system that gives you the programming you want. I chose Star Choice, because it gives me my home town stations in both Standard and HD format.

(This post was edited by johanson on Dec 21, 2005, 5:09 PM)

Wdw1973

Dec 22, 2005, 4:43 AM

Post #3 of 3 (5980 views)

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Re: [johanson] Slingbox - possiblity ??

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Slingbox works great. Yes it does have its cost...

Slingbox 250 USD - One time cost
Friend in USA 40 USD/month (To cover cable and increase in cable internet upload speed to 512k)
I have a 1.5 mb download speed in Mexico City, so no extra cost there...

The great thing is that it is mobile, can watch it on any computer with a highspeed internet conncetion. At home, a buddy's house, the airport, the office. Its a great solution.

I have mine hooked up to a Digital Cable box with DVR (Digital Video Recorder - Like Tivo), so its real plus being able to watch all shows and have local tv content that I was used to years ago. You can just have it hooked up to basic cable, to lower your monthly cost, but I find it worth it for the extra few bucks to get the additional stations and the use of the DVR.

I also suggest at least 512k upload speed, 256k is ok, but the 512k is so much better. It allows you to have decent quality fullscreen view.

Set up was very easy out of the box, i had mine running in 5 minutes.

I have watched my Slingbox from Mexico, Paris, and most recently from Nigeria.

Only negative is....you can't hook it up to a regular TV. Now if they could engineer a way to have another box that you bring with you and they link up...similar to VOIP, that would be a hot seller!!

Saludos,
Bill