Boating TV? Slingbox via Verizon 3G signal?

Rich · 06-09-2012, 06:26 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?

06-09-2012, 06:26 AM	#1
Rich Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Derry / Gilford Posts: 1,256 Thanks: 75 Thanked 348 Times in 237 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?