SlingBox and a router. Why the router?
 

If I purchase a new internet connection, Slingbox, Tivo/and Cable or satellite feed why would I need a router?

Let me clarify. I am based in Japan and this setup in the US at my folks’ house would be solely for the purpose of me accessing the US TV broadcasts from Tokyo. The connection, feed etc. would all be separate from those which exist in their house at the moment. In fact I would not even have a TV connected to these boxes. Just set them up and have them plugged in and sitting in a corner of a spare room. The Sling site and all available sources I have found seem to indicate a router is a requirement. I cannot understand why.

Is it due to a requirement for a computer and the Slingbox to be simultaneously connected to the same ISP via a network during initial setup? Or is it because the assumption is most users will have the Slingbox added to an existing network and in order to allow the internet feed to continue to be used for more traditional purposes, a router would become necessary in order to act a s splitter of sorts?

I am probably missing something very basic, but it appears in the documentation I have read that the only software involved is the SlingPlayer software. What would prohibit me from having it work very well for me by simply plugging into the ISP RJ-45 coming out of the wall?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

One spectacular reason: if someone ever figures out how to truly hack a slingbox, yours will be on the open wire ripe for abuse.

But hey--you should buy the router anyway and set the folks up with high speed :).

So a router is to provide the extra layer of security only? Hmmmm... Can see this as being enough of a reason to drop the few foldables that a router will cost.

One more Q: If I get the DirecTV pacjkage and their DVR with more than one tuner, I assume I can set the DVR and one tuner up in one room to Sling content to me in JApan and then set another Tuner up in another room to feed a TV that other people based Stateside may want to watch. No conflicts at all while I access the Slingbox right?

I ask because I need to convince a friend who currently does not have DirecTV to allow me to set this up at his house and I would provide him the DirecTV feed as a thank you. I cannot do it at my folks' house as they are within the blackout area that will hit me 10 times a year for at least the foreseeable when using NFL Ticket.

Thank for the info.

Mike

Also of note - if your internet connection uses PPPoE or some such protocol, your slingbox won't have the brains to negotiate it.

I don't think the router is specifically needed. If it's a cable modem, you should be able to just plug straight in, have the Slingbox lease an IP and go. IMO it's BETTER to have a router for protection. Also, I haven't tried it but if you have a VPN capable router you might be able to update the firmware over the VPN. Otherwise you'd have to have a PC or laptop local to the box. As for the DirecTV DVR, no, it won't interfere at all. I have a mini-CATV system at the office with 12 DirecTV receivers running off one dish. I have two slingboxes running on two of the receivers without a problem. You'll also be able to use pay per view and other features as though you were local to the box. That's why I also have a Slingbox at home running off it's own Time Warner cable box. The Video On Demand is AWESOME to have while on the road and satellite doesn't have that.

Assuming you have a series 2 tivo, you probably want to connect both the tivo and the slingbox to the network. For that you need a router so you can use private IP addresses (assigned by the router for the LAN) on each device on your network and a single leased public IP address for the WAN side of the router. The router should also be capable of keeping your DNS entry up to date on dyndns.org so you can always "find" your IP address should it change when the lease expires.

Either way, get the router. Some of the Cable modem, DSL modem folks are shipping combination modem/routers now anyway. I just switched back to DSL from Cable modem and Verizon/Hawaiian Tel sent me this overly complicated box that does DSL-modem/firewall/ethernet-switch/wireless all in one box. I had to figure out how to turn all that crap off and just connect it to my netgear wireless/switch/router. But if you don't have an existing router, this one may work for you. I don't recall seeing any dyndns update screens in there though.

Plus I agree with those that said you really do want the firewall there.

-David

Gents,

Many thanks for the info. Answers the questions I had.

Now I just need to find a kind soul in the US but outside of the Bay Area to let me have this setup in a quiet corner of their home............

Mike

heh. What's the deal ... the television is always greener on the other side of the ocean? I have a Japanese associate that does the same (he scoffed when I mentioned I got a Slingbox ... he had been using a PC to stream for more than a year), just the other way around.

I suspect you nailed the reason based on configuration. I installed my Slingbox for the first time last week and the installation software did not prompt me for the IP address of the box. Some amount of discovery occured on the local subnet that would likely be impossible to do if you were running on the Internet. I don't know how subsequent configuration changes are accomplished, but the viewer does give you the option of addressing the box using either an IP address or a unique ID that is registered on one of Sling's (?) servers.

Once the device is configured, if you want to make it accessible on the Internet, you need to open up the port on the firewall/router anyway. I've no idea what other services/ports may be used on the Slingbox besides the one required for the viewer, but it'd be a real bummer if it became unusable (DoS) because of the always present Internet noise.

I like your idea of simplicity though -- I had to get a 802.11b/g Ethernet bridge running to connect the Slingbox on the LAN from its location in the family room (the Tivo least likely to be in use during the evening), to the wireless AP to the router.

... and I need to find someone in the UK who'll let me set up a Sling and a Sky Digibox. :D

hence the modem
 

the modem, either DSL or Cable would be doing this, so this is not a problem.

I haven't used the second tuner on either of our DirecTV+Tivo's, but I'm not sure that two tuners == ability to output two independent signals (it may be that when the second tuner is active you can select where to output it, but how do you then drive it with the remote?).

dual tuners
 

so ,the dual tuner DVRs' have TWO tuners in ONE box, not two seperate tuners. One can of course, buy two separate tivos, or DSS receivers and thus have TWO tuners as well, but not in ONE DVR.

The dual tuners, require TWO satellite inputs at ONE location, to plug into the TWO satellite ins for the ONE DVR. These are easily switched between with the tivo or tivo remote. But,

There is only ONE output at at time, not TWO outputs. So, regardless of which tuner is tuning, recording or just sitting there is only ONE output that would go to the SLINGMEDIA box.