Sling TV from Sling Media the new 500 Model

I just bought the sling box called sling TV, the new one with 500 listed in the model number. I have a newer Naxa TV that the TA sells with HDMI and a USB slot in the back. I bought a Google Chromecast and installed it to the back of the TV. The Chromecast is a pretty good product for transferring (casting) Sling TV from my IPad to the TV in the truck. It also works with Netflix but the reviews are horrible for the netflix App casting. I like the Chromecast for my use though.

The Sling Box it self is hooked up at home to my U-Verse cable service. The cable service it self is very good but the internet upload speed is not fast enough. It is recommended that the upload speed at the house is at least 3 Megs per second. I'm switching to Comcast on Thursday which has 10 Megs upload and 100 download. The Uverse was only 1.8 on upload causing the sling box signal to buffer a lot in the truck. I also had to lower the viewing quality to lessen the pausing from buffering issues.

The Sling Box can remote control the cable box from the iPad or iPhone while out on the road. It took a few calls to Sling Box support and AT&T to get the box to work through my fire wall so I could access it while traveling. Both were very helpful. Once you have set up the box in your home network and you know it is working the next trick is to get it to the truck. I use AT&T wireless. They currently have a huge Data promotion on 30gig plans and higher. You pay for 15 you get 30. Pay for 20 you get 40 and so on. With the download speed needing to be around 3 Meg's a second, AT&T's network is just fine.

To Set up in the truck you need to download the sling TV App to the Cell phone or Tablet. You could do both but I prefer to have the App on my IPad mini. The screen is much bigger obviously, and I don't want to pay $14.99 twice to have this App on Both devices. By using the Hot Spot feature on my IPhone 5 you first have to set up and follow the messages on the TV to set up the Chromecast. Once that is set up, use the Utube App on your phone to verify that casting works to your TV. Once you know you are connected and it works you can just look on the TV and see your Hotspot name on the TV when the Chromecast is connected to the phone. Next you have to connect the IPad. When you see 2 devices connected to your phone you should be good to go. I open up the Sling TV App on the IPad connect, then click on live TV. I use this to watch all my DVR content so I don't have to stop driving to catch my favorite shows.

The flaws
1. Uses a lot of Data. 700 Megs an hour on lower quality setting. Over 1 gig per hour HD.
2. Initial cost. $300 for the Box $35 for the Chromecast.
3. Making sure you have 4g or LTE service when you park. No high speed cell data, no streaming TV.
4. Must have one cable box at home that is rarely used. I use the one in my bedroom. No one uses it while I'm on the road. If someone changes the channel it changes in the truck as well!
5. Chrome cast is not 100% reliable. Apple TV may be better, but for $35 I'll put up with the Chromecast.

Advatages
1. Watch your shows on your own schedule.
2. No monthly fee like you would have with a dish other than the cable and Internet you already pay for at home.
3. Can cut your Data usage by finding Free Wifi, or pay to use the Wifi at the truckstop. (Download should be over 3 Megs a second)

 

there are some older versions still out. This one is the newest that works with HDMI and HD. I'm waiting to get Comcast at the house today to check out the quality difference. Now that I think about it I'm not sure it's possible to use truckstop wifi for this but I'm going to try.