Slingbox hosting companies

S

sat345rg

Member
My Satellite Setup
no dish
My Location
spain
Can anyone suggest some good slingbox hosting companies?
Has any member tried one of those?
I ask this because I can't find anything with google,the only company that pops up(slingboxhosting),usually mentioned by Rolfw,now only offers a few channels to pubs and not a full hosting service anymore.
 
I was looking for the same thing 3 months ago and found one. thetelly.net They don't offer sky but all the freeview channels which was fine by me. Been very relaible. Hope that helps. Steve
 
We provide such a service: _http://www.techwareit.com/hosting/slingbox/

I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has.

Cheers...
 
keefe007 said:
We provide such a service: _http://www.techwareit.com/hosting/slingbox/

I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has.

Cheers...
Click to expand...

Thanks.
Just visited the website and got cold feet when I saw that prices start at $45 per month.
If I am mistaken, then please post HERE the prices and a list of channel names with a link to their website. Most members outside UK would like to see British channels.
 
We provide a the full line-up of US channels, which totals about 250 or so. If you're looking for UK channels I'd recommend thetelly.net who has about 40 channels and prices starting at £ 49.00 per month.

Cheers...
 
@keefe007

I signed up for the demo and got the ticket id request in my email inbox.

I have no idea what to do next, could you pm me please?
 
@ keefe ..thanks I got the demo going and im impressed by the performance.

I got the 5min demo going no problem at all.

The control over the (sky like) egp guide was smooth and swift without much delay and I was quickly accessing the sports channels etc.

within a minute I was up to over 1000 kbps of of bandwidth. on full screen you could watch a movie or sports programme no problem and of course maybe over the next few years with highher bandwidth this could be improved.

the perfomance overall I would give 8.5/10 ...

but the price is an issue. 45 usd per month alone for the hosting, then packages ranging from 29-100 dollars to the tv direct sat company.

if you got the top package of 100 dollars plus the 45 dollars to the hosting company. its quite a bit money for streamed TV


but they also have an all in one 100dollar package of full package cable which is a bit better but still 50 uk pounds.

and above all you have to buy a slingbox for 130dollars
 
I use these guys - _http://statesidetv.net

You could Google for A2BTV, Fliptube and there are various people/companies advertising their services on IPTV Forums.
 
markmarshall said:
I use these guys - _http://statesidetv.net

.
Click to expand...

80 quid a month for the bottom package - thats NUTS You could pay for the full SkyUK package with ESPN thrown in and have some change - plus you get most of the decent programmes and none of the dross.
 
Steep? Almost vertiginous! :eek:
 
We've kept 'quiet' on this as we've been testing for eight months..

We've been running tests on a 100bit uplink network using various UK SKY receivers and UK Freesat kit

I now can offer to host Freesat kit / or SKY Receivers [without a package - SKY+ using S-video works well - but no record facility :( ] - provided by you ( we recommend a PVR model ) and the Slingbox solo - or we can provide these at cost.

Slingbox hosting is beneficial to those who are outside UK TV coverage via satellite.

Most folks UK ADSL / Cable providers uplink speeds aren't adequate for quality large screen playback.

Slingbox Classics give VERY poor rendition of TV Guides / Menus - compared with the Solo - but give VHS quality playback as opposed to near DVD quality with the Slingbox Solo.

Typically, folks can get up to 2.4 Mbps from a classic and 6 Mbps from Solo... so the limiting factor is our clients connection.

We would like to offer a SKY solution - but SKY's Ts and Cs expressly forbid place shifting - so THAT is why folks can't easily find a host solution.


Our charges are 29.99 GBP monthly.... If that sounds 'extortionate' - I'd like you to check out pricing for 100bit synchronous connectivity !

We think this will become an increasingly sought after facility - esp if the Astra 2 foot print contracts in 2014. When *I* first tried Slingbox - it worked fine over a hone network - but 'sucked' over a link from UK to Cyprus.. the UPLINK speed is the key...


We have a client who tested in Barbados ( 6 mbps feed) who swears by the service and uses it on MacBooks and Laptops using the HD output to their large screen TV.

Naturally the best option is to use a Freeview / Freesat / Sky receiver in your home - but for some ex-pats that simply isn't possible.
 
While Slingbox technology is undoubtedly very useful and handy technology, the two avenues available for being able to utilize it basically make it pretty pointless for the majority of people.

On the one hand you can purchase your own Slingbox, connect that in your own home and stream. However, given that the vast majority of services supplied to a home user have an extremely low upstream, regardless of having a significantly fast downstream, makes it impossible to use.

Then there is the option of a hosting service whose upstream is clearly faster, making the service operational. But again, considering the significant cost involved to do so, and that is not trying to say that these companies are overcharging, obviously they have to make a profit as well as maintain the consistency of the service too, it is still far too expensive. Consider the other options.

A decent VPN for example, which has multiple offshore servers in many countries allows you to gain an IP in the vast majority of places around the globe. The major networks in the UK for example, stream their premier channels from their own websites and whilst there are a few broadcasts, such as certain shows and movies which are not available online, for the most part there is 24/7 live streaming of their service. Other than that you have free on demand players available from these networks, provided of course you have an IP located in that country which a VPN gives you, to watch as and when you want to. I am able to view pretty much all the US and UK, plus other countries TV, as and when I want to. The stream is consistant and the quality fantastic.

Another issue with live streaming of course is the problem of when 'primetime' tv is being broadcast. If you are located in Europe then perhaps primetime TV broadcasts are not too much of an issue. However, being located in a country around the other side of the globe causes problems. I for example am in China which means that primetime TV in the UK is only available to me in the early hours of the morning. You could use some media capture software to record said TV to watch at a more convenient time, but what is the point when you have aforementioned on demand services available to watch most of those shows when you want to anyway?

No disrespect to those who use these services or to those providing them. But in my opinion, and it is just my opinion, I feel that having the ability to stream everything live when you live much further away from the source you are viewing makes the service a waste of time. Perhaps if it was significantly cheaper then it may be worthwhile.

In the future that may change. There was a website which streamed all the UK freeview channels 24/7 and many people took advantage of this site from abroad by using a VPN. This site has managed to block access to those using a VPN now, something which they say is due to the legislation in the UK. So it is possible that in the future the major UK networks and indeed networks around the globe will take similar mesures to stop people using a VPN to access their services abroad, but that i not the case at the moment.

It is interesting to note however, that the site which streams all the freeview channels does allow one particular VPN service to access its streams, or so I am led to believe. Apparently this VPN services servers are located alongside the very same website hosting streams and payments for said VPN appear to be connected to the very same company so people need to decide for themselves wether the fact other VPN's are blocked really has anything to do with legislation at all. To me, if the ability to block them exists and major networks are that concerned with the availability of their broadcasts online then I am surprised that they have not done the same already.
 
The problem with low upstream was real issue a few years ago when this thread was started but most providers in the UK now have a good enough upstream to make using a Ѕlingbox a practical option for the individual user.
 
Dear Sir,

I am interested in Slingbox hosting. I tried it at home with my existing SKY box but as you can guess my upload speed barely reached 1 megs, which resulted in mediocre quality viewing. Please let me know if the service you provide is still available and other details. Thank you
 
Could you please send me further details of your Slingbox Hosting service.
Maureen Jacques
 
You'll be lucky to get a response - this Thread has died a natural death, for various reasons.
 
been using a2btv for -http://a2btv.com so I can view from the UK. You pay for hosting fees on top of your US satellite fees so it's not cheap, but the video quality has been great for the past 18 months. If you don't have a US satellite TV account they can get you one if you qualify (Social Security number, US address, etc)
 
Not cheap?? Its scandalously expensive - again it would actually be cheaper for folks in the UK to buy the full Sky UK package and get some change compared to the a2b service.

The a2b hosting charge would cover most of a full Sky UK package!
 
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