Boating TV? Slingbox via Verizon 3G signal?

Rich · 06-09-2012, 05:26 AM

Considering that I'll be a weekend over nighter, I'm considering using a slingbox to bring my home cable TV to the boat. I just can't justify the monthly cable tv costs for the boat since we'll be there mostly on weekends.

I thought that I may try to use a Slingbox and the slingplayer on my android. If you don't know what a slingbox is, see www.slingbox.com. It brings your cable tv (or satelite dish) to you over a network.

To make it viewable on the boat, I plan to use the HDMI output of my Android to get the picture onto a 22inch (or so) TV on the boat so we won't have two people squinting at a tiny android phone to watch a show!

So here is my question: Has anyone else tried this on the lake? We'll be relying on Verizon's 3G signal at the lake (luckily I have their unlimited plan, hopefully I can keep it). If you have done this, how does the picture look not only on your phone, but have you actually tried to connect your phone to larger TV screen for viewing?

I'm concerned that the signal may allow TV channels to play, but it may look very bad once connected to a larger 22inch display as I'm not sure if the slingplayer (the app on the phone) can send HD signals over 3G?

I don't have the slingbox yet, but I did check the video quality of other apps like Crackle connected to the external TV and it looks very acceptable. So at least I could use netflix, crackle (and others) if the slingbox doesn't work well.

So before I spend the money on a slingbox, has anyone tried this themselves yet?

While I'm mentioning Verizon, does anyone know if/when they ever expect to have 4G LTE on the lake?

Lakegeezer · 06-09-2012, 06:17 AM

What's your data limit with Verizon 3G? Didn't they rewrite the contracts to limit it to 4GB? If so, it could get expensive after a few movies. My experience with 3G at the lake is bandwidth maxes at about 350 kilobits/second. That may not be enough for a HD quality signal off your slingbox, but probably OK for LD. Let us know how it works, and especially how the HDMI output of the phone's picture works on a 22" TV.

Rich · 06-09-2012, 06:26 AM

As of the moment I'm still unlimited.

I also heard (not confirmed yet) that I may be able to keep the unlimited plan, but if I do, I will have to pay full price for any phone I want. So that means paying $600 instead of about $200 for a new smart phone.

Considering the TV streaming, unlimited even paying full price for a phone could be a good deal (and still cheaper than cable).

I'll let you know how it works if i try it. The question is should I buy a slingbox, which will be used only for this purpose. So I'm wondering how it will work after the hdmi connection to the larger TV when streaming via 3G.

I hope I'm not the first to think of trying this!

gslpro · 06-09-2012, 06:55 AM

Rich,
I use the slingbox via wifi. I have an iPhone 4s and the quality is good, but to output it to a TV, I had to use the laptop. I quality is okay on the laptop, and of course degrades just a bit more on the 22" screen in the boat. Ideally, your best bet would be to use the android via WiFi instead of 3G. The phones run a different compression and bitrate than using a laptop, so they use less bandwidth to get a good picture. If you do not have Wifi, then I have come to the end of my helpfulness. I do know that whatever you see on your android does come out pretty close in quality with the hdmi. I wish you luck. On At&T, streaming just was never an option for me with my plan.

Rich · 06-09-2012, 07:01 AM

Thanks, this is a help. Unfortunately I don't have wifi at my dock, unless I can pick up a neighbor's open wifi.

Perhaps I test it later and see.

I know the bandwidth and video quality is lower on a 3G cell connection, so I am worried how bad that picture will look after I drive a 22inch HD tv.

I know other (non slingbox) video feeds look very good.

Bryant239Dad · 06-10-2012, 06:09 AM

I use the slingbox on my android frequently over 3G, but I find the limiting factor is my DSL connection at the house. I live on a dead end road and we don't have a broadband connection. On the the other hand, I have dialed into a friend's slingbox that uses FiOS and I would say the picture quality is fantastic. Even with mine, it's good enough nd It's better than paying another cable bill.

Rich · 06-11-2012, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryant239Dad

I use the slingbox on my android frequently over 3G, but I find the limiting factor is my DSL connection at the house. I live on a dead end road and we don't have a broadband connection. On the the other hand, I have dialed into a friend's slingbox that uses FiOS and I would say the picture quality is fantastic. Even with mine, it's good enough nd It's better than paying another cable bill.

Do you then connect your android to a larger TV via the micro HDMI cable? How does the picture look on the larger screen after coming over the 3G connection via slingbox?

I can imagine the picture will look ok on a small phone screen, but I'm worried it may look too pixelated (or digitized) when magnified by the larger tv screen.

Thanks for your input!

brk-lnt · 06-11-2012, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich

Do you then connect your android to a larger TV via the micro HDMI cable? How does the picture look on the larger screen after coming over the 3G connection via slingbox?

I can imagine the picture will look ok on a small phone screen, but I'm worried it may look too pixelated (or digitized) when magnified by the larger tv screen.

Thanks for your input!

Do you not have a TV at home you can try the HDMI connection with?

You'll probably get a decent enough image on a 22" screen. The 3G coverage at the lake is very sporadic, in my experience over the last 6 years with a Verizon 3G card and various smart phones.

Also, your unlimited 3G isn't *really* unlimited. You WILL get hassled if you start going over 5GB/month regularly, which can include them throttling your download speed (sure, you can still download "unlimited" amounts of data, you're just doing it a dial-up speeds). For example, this past weekend was HORRIBLE for me with Verizon (my iPhone4, wife's 4S and my 3G/4G USB card all got horrible throughput all weekend).

It might be easier to look into getting TV shows via torrents or whatever and just watching TV that way.

Formula · 06-11-2012, 11:55 AM

I wnat to dump my cable TV.
I tried Apple TV not happy, pay for off air content
I tried Nextflix, don't watch many movies.
We mostly watch expanded cable, HGTV, Local news, TBS...
HAs any one done the sling box (or other) using more than one box?
I have thre TV's that we use only on weekends at the lake. I would like to have content on all 3 at anytime. Can you do 3 sling boxes connected to 3 tv's at home?
Any suggestions?

Rich · 06-11-2012, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brk-lnt

Do you not have a TV at home you can try the HDMI connection with?

You'll probably get a decent enough image on a 22" screen. The 3G coverage at the lake is very sporadic, in my experience over the last 6 years with a Verizon 3G card and various smart phones.

Also, your unlimited 3G isn't *really* unlimited. You WILL get hassled if you start going over 5GB/month regularly, which can include them throttling your download speed (sure, you can still download "unlimited" amounts of data, you're just doing it a dial-up speeds). For example, this past weekend was HORRIBLE for me with Verizon (my iPhone4, wife's 4S and my 3G/4G USB card all got horrible throughput all weekend).

It might be easier to look into getting TV shows via torrents or whatever and just watching TV that way.

I have tried the HDMI connection to a larger TV. It works well with some content (youtube, Crackle, etc.), but I don't own a slingbox yet. I hear great things about slingbox when you have a wifi connection, but I'm told they lower the image quality with the lower bandwidth (3G) connections. So not knowing when (or if ever) Verizon will bring 4G LTE to the lake, I'd like to know how a slingbox will do over a 3G connection when connected to a larger screen.

Thanks for reminding me that Verizon will throttle people. I'm sure they will be more aggressive about this now that they are trying to get people to give up their unlimited data plans.

jrc · 06-11-2012, 06:47 PM

I had my verizon blackberry tethered to my laptop last year in Smith Cove. The bandwidth was around 400K during the week and dropped to 50K most weekends. Some days it was unusable even for browsing. I swear there had to somebody around there downloading tons of porn.

This year I went to an Ipad with ATT, bandwidth is noticably quicker. I haven't measured yet and the summer crowds are just starting. A slip neighbor still has a verizon USB stick and says the bandwidth is much better than last year, so far. The verizon coverage map now shows 3g where I think I remember they previously showed just digital.

We still get cable but I hate paying for it for how much we use it at the lake.

codeman671 · 06-11-2012, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrc

I had my verizon blackberry tethered to my laptop last year in Smith Cove. The bandwidth was around 400K during the week and dropped to 50K most weekends. Some days it was unusable even for browsing. I swear there had to somebody around there downloading tons of porn.

With the crew at the club you can bet on it...

MiFi · 06-12-2012, 06:01 AM

I use sling box on an iPad on AT&T but never tried on TV. I use it most topside when kids are watching cabin TV. However, you may want to look into the cost of the sling box and accessories needed to run, if you plan on putting on our home TV and it's not close to your cable router then you may need another wireless extender. It works well, I love mine, bought it for one of my sons who goes to college in NY, it's just that the cost and functionality limitations may not be worth just paying for cable at the dock. Of course you can use Sling when away from the dock but watching tv rather than enjoying the the lake is not my idea of fun.

06-09-2012, 05:26 AM	#1
Rich Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Derry / Gilford Posts: 1,226 Thanks: 69 Thanked 342 Times in 232 Posts	Boating TV? Slingbox via Verizon 3G signal? Considering that I'll be a weekend over nighter, I'm considering using a slingbox to bring my home cable TV to the boat. I just can't justify the monthly cable tv costs for the boat since we'll be there mostly on weekends. I thought that I may try to use a Slingbox and the slingplayer on my android. If you don't know what a slingbox is, see www.slingbox.com. It brings your cable tv (or satelite dish) to you over a network. To make it viewable on the boat, I plan to use the HDMI output of my Android to get the picture onto a 22inch (or so) TV on the boat so we won't have two people squinting at a tiny android phone to watch a show! So here is my question: Has anyone else tried this on the lake? We'll be relying on Verizon's 3G signal at the lake (luckily I have their unlimited plan, hopefully I can keep it). If you have done this, how does the picture look not only on your phone, but have you actually tried to connect your phone to larger TV screen for viewing? I'm concerned that the signal may allow TV channels to play, but it may look very bad once connected to a larger 22inch display as I'm not sure if the slingplayer (the app on the phone) can send HD signals over 3G? I don't have the slingbox yet, but I did check the video quality of other apps like Crackle connected to the external TV and it looks very acceptable. So at least I could use netflix, crackle (and others) if the slingbox doesn't work well. So before I spend the money on a slingbox, has anyone tried this themselves yet? While I'm mentioning Verizon, does anyone know if/when they ever expect to have 4G LTE on the lake?

06-09-2012, 06:17 AM	#2
Lakegeezer Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Moultonboro, NH Posts: 1,657 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 342 Thanked 618 Times in 278 Posts	3G is a thin straw What's your data limit with Verizon 3G? Didn't they rewrite the contracts to limit it to 4GB? If so, it could get expensive after a few movies. My experience with 3G at the lake is bandwidth maxes at about 350 kilobits/second. That may not be enough for a HD quality signal off your slingbox, but probably OK for LD. Let us know how it works, and especially how the HDMI output of the phone's picture works on a 22" TV. __________________ -lg

06-09-2012, 06:55 AM	#4
gslpro Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Holden, MA Posts: 80 Thanks: 14 Thanked 26 Times in 18 Posts	Slingbox Rich, I use the slingbox via wifi. I have an iPhone 4s and the quality is good, but to output it to a TV, I had to use the laptop. I quality is okay on the laptop, and of course degrades just a bit more on the 22" screen in the boat. Ideally, your best bet would be to use the android via WiFi instead of 3G. The phones run a different compression and bitrate than using a laptop, so they use less bandwidth to get a good picture. If you do not have Wifi, then I have come to the end of my helpfulness. I do know that whatever you see on your android does come out pretty close in quality with the hdmi. I wish you luck. On At&T, streaming just was never an option for me with my plan. __________________ Gary and Diane 290 Fiesta Vee "Nauti Bonnie"

06-11-2012, 11:55 AM	#9
Formula Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 183 Thanks: 12 Thanked 28 Times in 16 Posts	This is a bit off topic I wnat to dump my cable TV. I tried Apple TV not happy, pay for off air content I tried Nextflix, don't watch many movies. We mostly watch expanded cable, HGTV, Local news, TBS... HAs any one done the sling box (or other) using more than one box? I have thre TV's that we use only on weekends at the lake. I would like to have content on all 3 at anytime. Can you do 3 sling boxes connected to 3 tv's at home? Any suggestions?

06-09-2012, 06:26 AM	#3
Rich Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Derry / Gilford Posts: 1,226 Thanks: 69 Thanked 342 Times in 232 Posts	As of the moment I'm still unlimited. I also heard (not confirmed yet) that I may be able to keep the unlimited plan, but if I do, I will have to pay full price for any phone I want. So that means paying $600 instead of about $200 for a new smart phone. Considering the TV streaming, unlimited even paying full price for a phone could be a good deal (and still cheaper than cable). I'll let you know how it works if i try it. The question is should I buy a slingbox, which will be used only for this purpose. So I'm wondering how it will work after the hdmi connection to the larger TV when streaming via 3G. I hope I'm not the first to think of trying this!

06-09-2012, 07:01 AM	#5
Rich Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Derry / Gilford Posts: 1,226 Thanks: 69 Thanked 342 Times in 232 Posts	Thanks, this is a help. Unfortunately I don't have wifi at my dock, unless I can pick up a neighbor's open wifi. Perhaps I test it later and see. I know the bandwidth and video quality is lower on a 3G cell connection, so I am worried how bad that picture will look after I drive a 22inch HD tv. I know other (non slingbox) video feeds look very good.

06-10-2012, 06:09 AM	#6
Bryant239Dad Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 4 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I use the slingbox on my android frequently over 3G, but I find the limiting factor is my DSL connection at the house. I live on a dead end road and we don't have a broadband connection. On the the other hand, I have dialed into a friend's slingbox that uses FiOS and I would say the picture quality is fantastic. Even with mine, it's good enough nd It's better than paying another cable bill.

06-11-2012, 06:47 PM	#11
jrc Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: NH Posts: 2,689 Thanks: 33 Thanked 439 Times in 249 Posts	I had my verizon blackberry tethered to my laptop last year in Smith Cove. The bandwidth was around 400K during the week and dropped to 50K most weekends. Some days it was unusable even for browsing. I swear there had to somebody around there downloading tons of porn. This year I went to an Ipad with ATT, bandwidth is noticably quicker. I haven't measured yet and the summer crowds are just starting. A slip neighbor still has a verizon USB stick and says the bandwidth is much better than last year, so far. The verizon coverage map now shows 3g where I think I remember they previously showed just digital. We still get cable but I hate paying for it for how much we use it at the lake.

06-12-2012, 06:01 AM	#13
MiFi Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 10 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	I use sling box on an iPad on AT&T but never tried on TV. I use it most topside when kids are watching cabin TV. However, you may want to look into the cost of the sling box and accessories needed to run, if you plan on putting on our home TV and it's not close to your cable router then you may need another wireless extender. It works well, I love mine, bought it for one of my sons who goes to college in NY, it's just that the cost and functionality limitations may not be worth just paying for cable at the dock. Of course you can use Sling when away from the dock but watching tv rather than enjoying the the lake is not my idea of fun.