You don't need a static IP address. I've been using my Slingbox for years in conjunction with DynamicDNS, though pretty much any free DNS service that is supported by your router (or has software for your computer if it's directly connected to the internet) will work just fine.

Mine are set up with static DHCIP IP address, and ports are forwarded, not the default 5001 port either. One of the two just stopped working. I've posted my issues here before and no one could help. I also posted it on sling community and no one had a clue.

I've pretty much given up on it as I tried to debug it long and hard and was not able to get it working. Some friends of mine also have had this happen to them randomly. Something is buggy with the firmware or hardware.

He's referring the internal network address, not the external public IP address. I also use DynamicDNS as well.

Yes, the LAN address has to be static and properly forwarded or else it won't work perpetually as it will often get a new address.

People will often find, they run the setup, it WORKS and it continues to work for a FEW DAYS, but then stops. This is because, normally default LAN DHCP IP address reservation is from 24-72 hours, so the slingbox MAC will get the same IP address for that period of time. Then, it can change and when it does, the forward is essentially setup wrong since it is targeting what is most likely an out of date INTERNAL LAN DHCP IP address

DynDNS is great, but totally unnecessary for the slingbox, as the slingbox is calling out a few times a minute as it is so the slingbox server knows your external IP address sometimes even before DynDNS does. or no-ip.com, or whatever one uses. :-)

I use the slingbox server lookup to tell what my external addresses are for all my slingboxes worldwide. :-)

I am using a Slingbox via Comcast and it works great. In the 4+ years I've had it I've had 2 problems that required resetting the box. My setup uses a dynamic IP and never have trouble accessing this, even from overseas, except for the 2 times mentioned above. One of the best purchases I've ever made!

Do you have a specific port in use with the SB? I used the default 5001 when setting it up, but my old SlingBox had a port setting of 443 and based on the above I'm thinking of changing the port used. I certainly don't want it to be blocked if hotels are, indeed, doing this.

It depends on the router. On mine, I can just open the appropriate ports without having to specify an address and, in fact, my Slingbox uses an address assigned by my DHCP server.

I left it on 5001, but I've been meaning to change it -- I have found hotels on which this port is blocked. I just keep forgetting.

I've changed it now to 443. Works on my iPhone, so I know I'm getting to it from outside my LAN. We'll see how it works in hotels, etc.

That option's there for me, too. I just found it easier to assign the SB a static LAN address and then simply port forward for that particular address.

Whatever works, far as I'm concerned.

Help With Network Connectivity
 

I just got a Slingbox Pro and am having trouble getting it to work with my home network.

We have FiOS; our apartment is hard wired for ethernet, so the SlingBox is connect from the FiOS router in the home office via a gigabit switch in our closet to the living room where the TV/DVR/SlingBox is. I can't get the SlingBox to recognize our network (the network light keeps flashing). It does seem to work if I take the SlingBox into the office and plug it in directly to the router so I think it must be ip-related?

I also noticed a related (I think) problem when I had my smart TV plugged in using the wired port; it would search for a network connection for a while each time when I turned it on. I don't have any problems now that I switched to a wireless connection.

Thoughts?

It sounds like whatever the switch is that is connecting the router to the living room isn't passing DHCP normally, or it is reserving IP addresses and then possibly reassigning them to multiple devices. If you have problems with the TV using the ethernet in the living room, you'll most likely have problems with the slingbox - or any other device for that matter. What is the exact topography from the router to the end of the ethernet cable in the living room? Can any of it be reset, rebooted?

I was hoping you'd respond. ;)

FiOS Router (MI424WR) --> CAT5 connection to --> D-Link Gigabit Switch (DGS-2205) --> CAT5 connection to --> SlingBox Pro.

Can't seem to find the password into the router so I might need to reset it to factory. Can probably reboot switch later. Suspect I might not have set up switch properly; just unpacked it from the box and plugged things in; that's about all I know about networking.

Checked the FAQ from D-Link:

Does this mean I should try and configure my FiOS router to issue a static IP address?

My current LAN settings (Windows XP) is to auto-assign an IP address.

I think
 

Well, the switch should just pass the DHCP from the server, it won't assign new ones or at least it shouldn't as it comes out the box. I would reboot all items, and try to get the TV to work with the ethernet in the living room. The router does not need to be setup as static, but the router does need to be able to be either automatically configured as UPnP, or for the user to configure port forwarding for the port needed for the slingbox. Normally, when/if the slingbox gets a good IP address and finds the internet, it will try to configure the router automatically. If you don't have UnPnP on the router, or have it turned off then you'll have to be able to get into the router to configure the proper ports. It is easy, but does require the ability to log into the router.

At this point, I'd just try to get that ethernet cable in the living room to assign a DHCP address properly to say the TV or a computer (plug ethernet into a laptop and turn OFF wireless to test it)

I'm logged into the FiOS router and tried to manually assign a static IP to the Slingbox - I'm getting a "lease expired" message every time I try.

To be clear, I only have one drop in the living room. When I only had a TV, I used the drop to connect to the internet via the wired connection. Once I got the Slingbox, I decided to use the drop for the Slingbox and used the wireless adapter on the TV for that connection.

I just connected the Slingbox directly into the FiOS router and it seemed to connect to the static IP I set up (I assigned the Mac ID from the box the Slingbox came in). I then took it to the living room and plugged it in there and the IP is now showing as "expired" in my router. I did check to ensure UnPnP is enabled.