Slingbox, Any One Useing In Thailand

[genobkk]

is anyone useing slingbox to watch TV from thier home country??? if so what are the speeds that you get and the ISP that you are using.....if you do not know about slingbox it is a device that you hook up to your internet and cable back home, you control your cable box or DVR just like you are at home....it is a bit costly as you need cable TV and a good internet connection back home and here.....

it would be great to hear if anyone else is doing this.....thanks

[marcus]

Yep, I'm one of the few users of a Slingbox in Thailand.

"User" is maybe not the right word, "frustrated owner" is better.... The slingbox is a very nice device, but thanks to TT&T's Maxnet I mostly can not connect anymore ... If it works (around 30 %) of the time, I have a download of approx 650 kbps, which results in a reasonable quality (don't expect HDTV, looks more like an antenna image).

Are there any other slinbox users over here ?

[beammeup]

You mean it might be possible to watch hockey night in Canada from my computer here in Thailand? I am interested!!

[kdvsn]

Yep, I'm one of the few users of a Slingbox in Thailand.

"User" is maybe not the right word, "frustrated owner" is better.... The slingbox is a very nice device, but thanks to TT&T's Maxnet I mostly can not connect anymore ... If it works (around 30 %) of the time, I have a download of approx 650 kbps, which results in a reasonable quality (don't expect HDTV, looks more like an antenna image).

Are there any other slinbox users over here ?

I've used it while travelling in Thailand to connect to my Slingbox back in the States. I found it to be hit or miss - often during the day time connection speeds would be too slow to be practical whereas if I used it at about from about 3 AM to 6 AM it would be pretty good. As you state, picture quality is not great, my experience is that if you can get a connection with continuous speed of about 400 kbps it will be fairly decent (maybe about like TV quality was 40 years ago), that with a 200 kbps feed the image quality is watchable if something is playing that you are particulay motvated to watch, and that if connection speeds drop below 100 kbps your get freqeunt freezes and rebuffering of the image stream. Sadly though, in much of Thailand you cannot count on having continuous connection speeds in excess of 100 kbps at all hours of the day. Slingbox's software is pretty intelligent in how it automatically adjusts image compression and frame rates depending upon actual connection speeds but it can't work miracles.

Edited November 18, 2007 by kdvsn

[marcus]

You mean it might be possible to watch hockey night in Canada from my computer here in Thailand? I am interested!!

Sure no problem, you can watch everything in Thailand what you can see on your home tv - including your DVR. If you stay in a hotel with a decent internet connection you can even watch TV over there. You only need a reliable ISP in Thailand, which seems to be mission impossible

Some smaller problems are that you need a good upload speed at home (let's say 1 Mb) and the slingboxes are only for sale in the UK and the USA.

[marcus]

I've used it while travelling in Thailand to connect to my Slingbox back in the States. I found it to be hit or miss - often during the day time connection speeds would be too slow to be practical whereas if I used it at about from about 3 AM to 6 AM it would be pretty good. As you state, picture quality is not great, my experience is that if you can get a connection with continuous speed of about 400 kbps it will be fairly decent (maybe about like TV quality was 40 years ago), that with a 200 kbps feed the image quality is watchable if something is playing that you are particulay motvated to watch, and that if connection speeds drop below 100 kbps your get freqeunt freezes and rebuffering of the image stream. Sadly though, in much of Thailand you cannot count on having continuous connection speeds in excess of 100 kbps at all hours of the day. Slingbox's software is pretty intelligent in how it automatically adjusts image compression and frame rates depending upon actual connection speeds but it can't work miracles.

After Maxnet doubled the internet speed, I was able to test a slingbox before buying it. It worked perfect so I bought mine in the UK. In the beginning it was perfect, but then the problems with Maxnet started.

My advise is to have at least an upload stream of 512 kbs at home. The one I use is 1 Mb/s which allows me to watch TV at 650-790 kbps. Lower speeds (250 kbps at least) are ok to watch on a youtube like screen on your pc. Ok if you want to see the news in a hotel, not ok if you want to connect your pc to a tv set.

[kdvsn]

I've used it while travelling in Thailand to connect to my Slingbox back in the States. I found it to be hit or miss - often during the day time connection speeds would be too slow to be practical whereas if I used it at about from about 3 AM to 6 AM it would be pretty good. As you state, picture quality is not great, my experience is that if you can get a connection with continuous speed of about 400 kbps it will be fairly decent (maybe about like TV quality was 40 years ago), that with a 200 kbps feed the image quality is watchable if something is playing that you are particulay motvated to watch, and that if connection speeds drop below 100 kbps your get freqeunt freezes and rebuffering of the image stream. Sadly though, in much of Thailand you cannot count on having continuous connection speeds in excess of 100 kbps at all hours of the day. Slingbox's software is pretty intelligent in how it automatically adjusts image compression and frame rates depending upon actual connection speeds but it can't work miracles.

After Maxnet doubled the internet speed, I was able to test a slingbox before buying it. It worked perfect so I bought mine in the UK. In the beginning it was perfect, but then the problems with Maxnet started.

My advise is to have at least an upload stream of 512 kbs at home. The one I use is 1 Mb/s which allows me to watch TV at 650-790 kbps. Lower speeds (250 kbps at least) are ok to watch on a youtube like screen on your pc. Ok if you want to see the news in a hotel, not ok if you want to connect your pc to a tv set.

Just a hunch, but maybe Maxnet or your ISP back home is doing port blocking to try to limit bandwidth usuage. Slingbox defaults to port 5000, maybe changing it to 4999 (or some other non-standard port) would help.

Another thought is that in the States at least some ISP have quietly started capping monthly upstream bandwidth on users who upload more than a certain number of gigabytes in a given month. A 600 kpbs connection speed would add up to about a Gb of data after a half hour of slingbox viewing, so regular Slinbox users might end up flirty with upload limits imposed by their ISP.

[Benji]

http://www.slingpub.tv/index.html

I found the above a while back, basically they host a slingbox and skydigital (UK) box in a server center for you, its not cheap but gets rid of the need to have an internet connection in your home country, as far as I am aware its only available for the UK SkyDigital service.

I hope this helps, obviously its not going to help with the Thailand-International internet connections but you'll have your slingbox connected at a decent speed.

:Disclaimer: I have not used this service so if you decide to try it don't blame me if it goes wrong :Disclaimer:

[marcus]

Just a hunch, but maybe Maxnet or your ISP back home is doing port blocking to try to limit bandwidth usuage. Slingbox defaults to port 5000, maybe changing it to 4999 (or some other non-standard port) would help.

Funny, have a look at this : http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=153478

[Benji]

Another option for UK TV is www.liveuk.tv I've been using it and its been ok

[marcus]

http://www.slingpub.tv/index.html

I found the above a while back, basically they host a slingbox and skydigital (UK) box in a server center for you, its not cheap but gets rid of the need to have an internet connection in your home country, as far as I am aware its only available for the UK SkyDigital service.

I hope this helps, obviously its not going to help with the Thailand-International internet connections but you'll have your slingbox connected at a decent speed.

:Disclaimer: I have not used this service so if you decide to try it don't blame me if it goes wrong :Disclaimer:

I hope nobody will be stupid enough to pay for this

One of the better things in the UK is that they have DVB-T for free. You can find a list of the available channels on http://www.freeview.co.uk

The nice thing about the "Slingbox Classic - UK model" is that it has a build in DVD-T receiver. So no need to spend 250 Euro for a sky box, you can have more channels for free. The only thing you probably need is a DVB-T antenna which you plug in the slingbox, that's it.

The cost they charge for streaming is simply ridiculous : 50 euro/month for a miserable 20GB at 512 K, + 60 euro "maintenance fee"

I don't know how much internet costs in the UK, but I simply installed my Slingbox at my friends place and we share the cost of his internet connection (a slingbox only uses upload, so my friend doesn't notice that I'm watching TV as he mostly uses download) In my case the slingbox costs 15 euro/month, for an upload of 1Mb and unlimited GB's.

Tip : Slingmedia recently brought a "second generation" slingboxes on the market. They have much better performance over a LAN, but tests show that there is little improvement for streaming over the internet. As a result, they are now selling their old stock for approx 100 pounds in the UK, and 100 USD in the US (Amazon - Slingbox Classic) - so if you are looking for a present for Christmas .... The benefit of the Slingbox Classic is that it can stream everything : it has a cable tuner, a DVB tuner, you can connect a setup box, satelite box, DVR etc. The newer models have limitations on this, you really have to choose carefully which one suits your needs.

[Jingthing]

I am a happy Slingbox user. There have been technical issues and I am lucky enough to have a techy nerd hosting my box in the US so we have solved all problems. My main concern is being booted off his US internet connection for excessive bandwidth use. It is also connected to a DVR and a DVD player with Netflix account. Yes, I am spoiled!

[marcus]

I am a happy Slingbox user. There have been technical issues and I am lucky enough to have a techy nerd hosting my box in the US so we have solved all problems. My main concern is being booted off his US internet connection for excessive bandwidth use. It is also connected to a DVR and a DVD player with Netflix account. Yes, I am spoiled!

Which Thai internet package do you have and how is the Slingbox download ? I'm thinking Maxnet is really not the best choice for me

[Upcountry]

Guess I'm pretty ignorant about the Slingbox. I thought is was only good for streaming around the house. The idea that I could get Netflix over the internet is pretty exciting - hope for the future, maybe, if bandwidth increases and ISP's don't get more controlling of usage.

I signed up for the faster Maxnet a couple of months ago. It has been generally better than hinet (some international problem today is an exception) but I've had mixed results with torrents. Fast a couple of weeks ago and suddenly very slow downloads (uploads faster). That may or may not be related to Maxnet. Sorry, I know it's not related to Slingbox per se.

Jingthing, when you have trouble, have you tried traceroute (tracert on Windows)? That would give you a sense of where the slow-down might be.

UC

[terrortartan]

Guess I'm pretty ignorant about the Slingbox. I thought is was only good for streaming around the house. The idea that I could get Netflix over the internet is pretty exciting - hope for the future, maybe, if bandwidth increases and ISP's don't get more controlling of usage.

I signed up for the faster Maxnet a couple of months ago. It has been generally better than hinet (some international problem today is an exception) but I've had mixed results with torrents. Fast a couple of weeks ago and suddenly very slow downloads (uploads faster). That may or may not be related to Maxnet. Sorry, I know it's not related to Slingbox per se.

Jingthing, when you have trouble, have you tried traceroute (tracert on Windows)? That would give you a sense of where the slow-down might be.

Yo big fella moi usez la technique

UC

[Jingthing]

I am a happy Slingbox user. There have been technical issues and I am lucky enough to have a techy nerd hosting my box in the US so we have solved all problems. My main concern is being booted off his US internet connection for excessive bandwidth use. It is also connected to a DVR and a DVD player with Netflix account. Yes, I am spoiled!

Which Thai internet package do you have and how is the Slingbox download ? I'm thinking Maxnet is really not the best choice for me

I just use TOT basic 1000 baht a month, no problem with streaming at all. This is NOT a fast connection by US standards. The slingbox software is downloaded free from their site, but to connect to DVD player you need their higher end AV slingbox hardware. I also have a DVR of my own hooked to the slingbox hardware. This I feel is essential. For those who don't get it, that hardware is in your host friend's country.

I can' t keep track of all the problems we have had with connections dying, There are so many factors. For awhile I had to ask for manual resets in the US a number of times a day. Reboots of the slingbox and sometimes his router as well. Alot of people would have given up before me, but currently no problems and it has been worth it.

Edited November 30, 2007 by Jingthing

[marcus]

I just use TOT basic 1000 baht a month, no problem with streaming at all.

Strange, I always thought that basically this is the same one as the Maxnet package I have.

What kind of download stream do you have in kbps ? Normally, I have 650-670 (streaming from the Netherlands with an upload of 1Mb), but for instance yesterday during daytime I had no more than 200, and now I have 820

For around 2 weeks, I'm a happy slinger again, but before it was impossible to connect to my Slingbox till we found out that Maxnet completely blocked port 5001 (officially, it's traffic shaping, but the way they did it I call port blocking) Changing the port to 443 solved the problem in seconds.

I think you are not completely right about the AV and the DVR, it is also possible to connect a DVR to the Slingbox Classic.

Edited December 1, 2007 by marcus

[Jingthing]

I just use TOT basic 1000 baht a month, no problem with streaming at all.

Strange, I always thought that basically this is the same one as the Maxnet package I have.

What kind of download stream do you have in kbps ? Normally, I have 650-670 (streaming from the Netherlands with an upload of 1Mb), but for instance yesterday during daytime I had no more than 200, and now I have 820

406 download, 320 upload right now, it varies alot. Not impressive but good enough to stream Slingbox video.

[Langsuan Man]

I have been using my Slingbox here in Pattaya for the last month and a half and have been very happy with it, considering the choices that I have on Sophon Cable in my Condo. I have Maxnet Premier (1536 / 512) package which using their in country speed test usually shows that speed but when using an "overseas" speed test is considerably lower. In the US I have the DVR hooked up to a 5 MB cable modem and router. I have found that live TV is not as good as prerecorded shows off of the DVR and I think that has to do with the way Slingbox encodes on the fly depending on your internet connection. I have also improved it by selecting mono sound instead of stereo.

It did drop out on me once and I was afraid that I would have to have a tech go to my house in the US and reset everything but it fixed itself so I have been watching all the TV shows. So far the writers strike has not effected me since many episodes are already in the can.

Of course I have to pay the cable and internet fee back in the US which amounts to $90 US a month plus the 1,990 THB to Maxnet but for me it is worth it. Along with Skype I can stay in contact with what is happening back home easily.

My only complaint and it is a small screen inside of my 37 inch LCD television. If you have someone that can monitor it for you back home it is really great. I am just waiting for the day that a power outage screws up my router configuration back home and I loose the Slingbox.

LSM

[marcus]

My only complaint and it is a small screen inside of my 37 inch LCD television.

LSM

It looks to me that you use the wrong settings for your video card.

For my NVIDIA card, I go to the NVIDIA control panel, ----> advanced settings -----> Modify full screen options ----> Also show it full screen on my TV

This way, I will see streaming video full screen on my TV, even if it is windowed on the PC.

[Langsuan Man]

Thanks,

Must be my video card, I have a GeForce 8400 GS, and it does not have that option: advanced settings -----> Modify full screen options ----> Also show it full screen on my TV

LSM

[marcus]

Thanks,

Must be my video card, I have a GeForce 8400 GS, and it does not have that option: advanced settings -----> Modify full screen options ----> Also show it full screen on my TV

LSM

It's your lucky day, your card uses the same drivers as mine, so if it works for me, it should work for you too (unless you uses Vista ! that's the reason I had to kick of Vista of my system the day I installed it !)

You can download the latest driver at http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_163.75.html

Good luck !

[randoj8]

Hi guys. I just bought a slingbox this week here in canada before i head to thailand for the winter. have it all set up wtih an upload of 800kbs. when i get to thailand next week, i was gonna get hooked up with True but i haven't heard any comments on what true is like. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about them? Or should i just go with Maxnet or TOT?

[Langsuan Man]

Hate to say this but can't answer that question. If you check the forum the opinions on the various ISP's (True, TOT, TT&T and CAT) they are all over the place. We all have a love hate relationship with broadband here in Thailand. I would suggest that you wait and check with your neighbors and see what they have and what works for them since it appears that geography is the single most important factor on whether or not your are going to get good or bad broadband coverage.

LSM

Edited December 21, 2007 by Langsuan Man

[genobkk]

I just duped true SME package for Ji-net 1 MB package 1,900 THB 10/1 user ration, they offer a 1/5 user ratio for 4,000 THB...well with the true SME package the max speed was 750 on the slingbox and that was late at night....the daytime I could NOT even watch it, nor could I use my Vonage VOIP during the day time..this was going on maybe one month....3 weeks ago I did the switch to Ji-net and always get 700 to 800 on my slingbox and the VOIP works all the time.....true dos some tpe f port blocking or gives priorty to cettain types, like TRUE VOIP, or HTTP, anything else will NOT work well at all....I have heard of some chaingeing the port to thier slingbox to get around this......I would try to use ji-net or CATs Hinet if your in thier area of coverage.....if you are stuck with true I would say it is not wroth the troulbe and cost of keeping the internet and cable fast connect in your come country........The max speed I ever got was 900 on my TOT connection in Pattaya, but that was 2 am at night and only saw that speed once, mostly with TOT mb you are stuck at 300 kps maybe 500.....I find that 500 and up looks goood on most computer screens and smaller TV screens under 30 inch... I think you need much higher speeds to get a good picture on say a 46 inch....at 700 or 800 kps downoad on my 46 inch it is ok, but on my 24 inch Imac it looks great. My guess is that speeds over 1,000 kps would look much better on my LCD 46 inch........200 kps even on small computer screen is not very clear, 400 to 500 looks ok on a computer screen and even better on some smaller TV 19 to 30 inch....600 to 800 looks very good on 25 to 30 inch TVs not much different from UBC so has anyone beet 900 download from thailand?? if so what is yourisp.....ok thanks agian

[marcus]

The truth is that there is not one reliable ISP in Thailand. I heard about a couple of guys using True for the Slingbox, and they all are complaining. I use the Maxnet Indy package of thb 1000, and right now I think it is the best of the worst... A couple of days ago, I had 800 kbps down on my slingstream, right now only 450 left, God knows what it will be tomorrow.... But if you think about Maxnet Indy, change your port in the slingbox first before leaving Canada, or you will have no stream at all ! ( see here for the technical details ) Maxnet Premier seems not to use traffic shaping too much, but it costs the double and I heard speeds are not much better. Before signing a contract with an ISP, I would test it very well . You can install the Slingplayer on a USB stick and try it out in some internet cafe's in the area where you will live. Also, many people over here seem to have no idea how to secure a wireless network, just walk with your laptop around Bangkok and almost everywhere you have internet access ;-)

Edited December 21, 2007 by marcus

[Langsuan Man]

The truth is that there is not one reliable ISP in Thailand. I heard about a couple of guys using True for the Slingbox, and they all are complaining. I use the Maxnet Indy package of thb 1000, and right now I think it is the best of the worst... A couple of days ago, I had 800 kbps down on my slingstream, right now only 450 left, God knows what it will be tomorrow.... But if you think about Maxnet Indy, change your port in the slingbox first before leaving Canada, or you will have no stream at all ! Maxnet Premier seems not to use traffic shaping too much, but it costs the double and I heard speeds are not much better. Before signing a contract with an ISP, I would test it very well . You can install the Slingplayer on a USB stick and try it out in some internet cafe's in the area where you will live. Also, many people over here seem to have no idea how to secure a wireless network, just walk with your laptop around Bangkok and almost everywhere you have internet access ;-)

Marcus is 100% correct and his suggestion to try the Slingplayer on a USB key is an excellent one, if you don't have a laptop. I prefer to use a laptop to test ISP speeds since most Internet Cafe's will now allow you to just plug into their LAN and that way you will get an idea of how it will work on your PC. I have just built a tower and it gives me the same picture quality as my laptop's external graphics port.

genobkk covers screen resolutions in his post and I am just grateful to get a smooth stream and if I have to squint to see the smaller picture that is the price I pay for living in Thailand. When I first set up the Slingbox in the states my resolution on a 42in LG Plasma was nothing short of gorgeous but come on I was streaming on a wired LAN that was pushing 5 MBS actual bandwith. Until we get cable Internet here in Thailand we can only dream of real streaming.

LSM

[randoj8]

wow, genobkk, looks like we'll have a very similar set up. i'm bringing my vonage voip along with my 17"mac and slingbox! hoping everything is gonna work.

thanks guys for all your input. first thing i'll do is bring my laptop into a couple cafes to see what the bandwith is like and then decide to sign on with someone for a few months.

thanks for that tech document to change teh settings, really appreciate all the info guys.

Edited December 22, 2007 by randoj8

[randoj8]

hi guys, well i'm here in thailand now with my mac, slingbox, and vonage voip. i am set up with true 1mbs package because that was the only avaialbe isp in my building and even that took a week to get set up. its noon and i'm streaming at 40-90kbs with my slingbox. very difficult to watch. the weird thing though is when i test with speakeasy new york i get download of like 800 or 900 so not sure why my slingbox is so slow. maybe its something to do with teh port blocking that was mentioned earlier. while i was waiting for my interent, i had been to a couple cafes but never hit more than 200kbs during the day. i'll have to make a trip to pantip to get a new charger cause i didnt convert the power before plugin in my vonage phone. im not expecting much from the voip but we'll see. will post back in a couple days after i tried nighttime.

[Langsuan Man]

hi guys, well i'm here in thailand now with my mac, slingbox, and vonage voip. i am set up with true 1mbs package because that was the only avaialbe isp in my building and even that took a week to get set up. its noon and i'm streaming at 40-90kbs with my slingbox. very difficult to watch. the weird thing though is when i test with speakeasy new york i get download of like 800 or 900 so not sure why my slingbox is so slow. maybe its something to do with teh port blocking that was mentioned earlier. while i was waiting for my interent, i had been to a couple cafes but never hit more than 200kbs during the day. i'll have to make a trip to pantip to get a new charger cause i didnt convert the power before plugin in my vonage phone. im not expecting much from the voip but we'll see. will post back in a couple days after i tried nighttime.

I have never streamed my Slingbox during the day here in Thailand, the most I have done is control my DVR back in the states but will tell you that Skype (my VoIP) is horrible during the daytime here in Pattaya. It will constantly drop calls so much that I have to dial back three or four times during a 20 minute conversation. But at night (7 PM local onwards) it is flawless, as is my Slingbox.

Try testing the speakesy for Washington DC and Los Angeles when you are doing your speed tests and you will notice a great difference in reported speeds.

Any other slingbox users please chime in and report your success or lack therof in slinging during the day in Thailand.

LSM