How to use slingbox without a cable box
April 15, 2011 8:12 AM   Subscribe

How can I set up a Slingbox or Vulkano without a set top cable box?

My parents want me to set up a slingbox for them. They have wifi and cable but the tv within wifi range does not have a set top box. The tv with the set top cable box is beyond the range of their wifi.

Can it still work or do I need to extend the range of their wifi to the room with the cable box? And, if I need to extend the range of their wifi, what's a good (easy) way of doing that?
posted by ranunculus to Technology (3 answers total)
 
Easiest solution is probably to setup a power-line network, extending the network beyond wifi range via the house's electrical wiring. This way you can have the Slingbox or Vulkano next to the set-top box.

See this CNET explanation here.
posted by BobbyVan at 8:23 AM on April 15, 2011


If the home has coax, you may want to explore a MOCA adapter. I think those are generally a lot more reliable than powerline. So, what content do they want to sling around?
posted by reddot at 11:14 AM on April 15, 2011


Can it still work or do I need to extend the range of their wifi to the room with the cable box?

Not entirely sure what he situation is with modern Slingboxes (I set up an older one last weekend) but the one I just set up seemed to really want a wired internet connection. The other big deal is that there's a little cable that goes from the Slingbox to the cable box which basically blinks into its infrared sensors when you click the remote. So you sort of need to put the Slingbox on top of the cable box, but it's pretty easy to string an ethernet cable through a wall if you don't have powerline or COAX options. Ethernet's pretty hardy stuff.
posted by jessamyn at 1:52 PM on April 15, 2011


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