edmartin
02-12-07, 06:34 AM
Deciding to try to push technology a little further, I took the plunge and added a SlingBox AV to my setup and utilized my wireless connection. It took a little manual intervention so I thought I'd share my experience...
Before the SlingBox, I had already installed a Linksys WGA54G wireless game adapter to my HR20. I currently don't have a wired connection to the cabinet when my HR20 is installed so I went wireless. I've had that going for a couple of weeks using Twonky to share music & pictures across 2 PC's in my house.
Down the road, I ultimately want to run a wired ethernet connection to my HR20 cabinet - but I wasn't ready to go there. So, I decided to try to share my wireless WGA54G connection. It ended up being a piece of cake. In addition to the SingBox AV, I also picked up a Linksys EZXS55W 5-port switch. I started there - disconnecting the WGA54G from the HR20, connected it into the EZXS55W and then connected the EZXS55W into the HR20. I checked my network connection on the HR20 and it worked (I powered off/on the HR20 just to make sure after putting the EZXS55W in-line).
I then connected the SlingBox - audio & S-video. And of course, I connected the SlingBox to the EZXS55W. Nothing. Ugh. I tried powering off/on all the components. Still didn't get me working (although I'm not convinced that that didn't help me ultimately).
The "trick" was that I had to open the ports for the SlingBox on my wireless router. I'm a Linksys customer so my router is a WRT54G. I just logged into the router and opened port 5001.
That got me 50% of the way there. I was able to use Sling Player on PC's on my home LAN but it still wouldn't connect when trying to set up the external connection. I also have AT&T CallVantage (VoIP). That box is also a router so I also had to open port 5001 on that box. Presto!
2 key learnings. First, I was able to easily share my wireless connection. And even when I go wired, I can still use the 5-port switch I bought and only have to run 1 ethernet cable. Second, you have to open port 5001 on your routers. The SlingBox setup program seems to try to do it for you but in my case, it did not work. So, refer to your router's documentation about opening ports/port forwarding.
For those that haven't checked it out, SlingBox is pretty cool. Not only do I have full control of my HR20 from outside the house, but I can also watch it from anywhere I have a high-speed connection. There's even a player for my mobile phone (Sprint PPC-6600 - a PocketPC). Quality on the phone isn't all that great but it has a really high geek-factor! Cool.
Before the SlingBox, I had already installed a Linksys WGA54G wireless game adapter to my HR20. I currently don't have a wired connection to the cabinet when my HR20 is installed so I went wireless. I've had that going for a couple of weeks using Twonky to share music & pictures across 2 PC's in my house.
Down the road, I ultimately want to run a wired ethernet connection to my HR20 cabinet - but I wasn't ready to go there. So, I decided to try to share my wireless WGA54G connection. It ended up being a piece of cake. In addition to the SingBox AV, I also picked up a Linksys EZXS55W 5-port switch. I started there - disconnecting the WGA54G from the HR20, connected it into the EZXS55W and then connected the EZXS55W into the HR20. I checked my network connection on the HR20 and it worked (I powered off/on the HR20 just to make sure after putting the EZXS55W in-line).
I then connected the SlingBox - audio & S-video. And of course, I connected the SlingBox to the EZXS55W. Nothing. Ugh. I tried powering off/on all the components. Still didn't get me working (although I'm not convinced that that didn't help me ultimately).
The "trick" was that I had to open the ports for the SlingBox on my wireless router. I'm a Linksys customer so my router is a WRT54G. I just logged into the router and opened port 5001.
That got me 50% of the way there. I was able to use Sling Player on PC's on my home LAN but it still wouldn't connect when trying to set up the external connection. I also have AT&T CallVantage (VoIP). That box is also a router so I also had to open port 5001 on that box. Presto!
2 key learnings. First, I was able to easily share my wireless connection. And even when I go wired, I can still use the 5-port switch I bought and only have to run 1 ethernet cable. Second, you have to open port 5001 on your routers. The SlingBox setup program seems to try to do it for you but in my case, it did not work. So, refer to your router's documentation about opening ports/port forwarding.
For those that haven't checked it out, SlingBox is pretty cool. Not only do I have full control of my HR20 from outside the house, but I can also watch it from anywhere I have a high-speed connection. There's even a player for my mobile phone (Sprint PPC-6600 - a PocketPC). Quality on the phone isn't all that great but it has a really high geek-factor! Cool.