Podcast #638: Slingbox Sharing

Slingbox Sharing

You know we are fans of the Slingbox (Buy Now $265) and have used them to “Sling” our local TV from one side of the world to another. Ara spent a week in India and never watch a single minute of local television opting to watch football from the USA instead. Slingboxes are quite simply the easiest way to watch your local content wherever you want, provided that you have an internet connection.

This got us thinking, wouldn’t it be nice if we could watch other people’s local content. Say you want to watch news from say Chicago or Seattle, a Slingbox makes that possible but what are you going to do? Set up A slingbox in every city you may have an interest in? No, of course not. But you do have a few options:

AmericanTV2Go.com

With AmericanTV2Go you actually signup for a DirecTV subscription of your choice and are provided a dedicated Slingbox to access it with. You pay for the DirecTV subscription just as you would if you were living in the states. Then you pay an additional $80 a month for the hosting service. That service provides you with:

• A top-of-the line Slingbox

• Unlimited upload bandwidth

• A second network address for your DVR - This enables remote scheduling of recordings and access to over 7,000 On Demand shows and movies

• The ability to reboot your system instantly, 24/7/365, via our easy-to-use self-serve system

• Customer support

This service is probably best suited for the expat who wants to stay connected with the US. If you want to watch the American football you can purchase the Sunday Ticket package for additional fees. No word on local channels but they may be available for the Virginia beach area. Virginia Beach is the home of AmericanTV2Go.com.

Live American TV

LiveAmerican.TV is similar to AmericanTV2Go but rather than using DirecTV they use cable services. The best we can tell is that you get a Comcast or FiOS account. LiveAmerican.TV offer customers a fully managed Slingbox hosted television service from New York City and San Francisco. There is no hardware to worry about as LiveAmerican.TV hosts and maintains all the equipment. Your account includes a DVR box as well as a Slingbox when you sign up. No other fees are necessary.

• VPNs - Watch shows normally reserved only for viewers in the US, wherever you are in the world. $5/month or $45/year.

• DAILY RENTALS - Any San Francisco package tailored to your needs including MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass, NFL Sunday Ticket, NBC Sports Live Extra or BeIN sports. $8/day

• PREFERRED HD - Local (San Francisco Bay Area), news, entertainment, sports, kids, travel and non-stop music channels. 300+ channels. $90.00/month.

• PREMIER HD - Same as Preferred HD but with thousands of hours of on demand content, Playboy TV and tens of sports and movies channels. Add a 100-hour dual-tuner DVR for only $10/month extra. $120.00/month.

• ULTIMATE HD NYC - Over 300 channels in total. Includes the most High Definition channels available. All movie channels like HBO, Starz, Showtime etc. Includes Dual Tuner HD-DVR so you can watch all your shows anytime. All NYC local and Sports channels. Full access to all Free On Demand that FIOS offers. SPECIAL - Only $149.99/month.

Slingsharing.com

You can try and roll your own by using forums that join Slingbox owners from around the world. Slingsharing.com is one of those site that has two thousand members from around the world. The way it works is you read the forums that grouped by regions, USA, Canada, Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America. People are either looking for or offering Slingboxes for viewing. Typically its a trade. I grant you access if you do the same. It seems fairly safe, just be sure not to give out your administration password. You may want to avoid this if you have bandwidth caps as someone can really rack up the bits if they are constantly on it.

We see a day when content will be available to the entire world simultaneously. That may be a few years away. But for now Slingboxes are the best way to bring the world closer together! Now lets all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.