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I gave this 4 stars, but then indicated it is not easy to set up (it isn't), and it isn't easy to use right away. The entire idea is a great one - take the cable you already pay for and "sling" it to another location when you are on the road. You can even sling it through a Roku or Apple TV or similar small device and take it with you on the road to have your home cable anywhere. A great, great idea. However, there are a lot of steps involved to getting it set up, not all of which are completely intuitive or easy to follow (I'm not a hugely technical person, but I am not inexperienced in setting up electronic devices and hooking up components either). My first several tries, I couldn't get it to work because only what was currently showing on the "home" TV showed up on the remote location. Finally got that part figured out. Then it was frustrating that there is a relatively difficult interface system in the remote location. You can install the Slingbox App on your Roku (or Apple TV or similar device) but it doesn't work with most Smart TVs or with many of the Blu-Ray components that are commonly used to get your Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime streaming services to your TV. You have to have one of the limited devices that works with this system. Then, you need a remote, which only occurs through either a free app for your cell phone or iPad (or the $15 app that avoids commercials). The iPad app is far superior because it is larger. The "remote" on your cell phone gives only limited instructions, limited menu choices, and requires substantial navigation to get to where you want. People accustomed to TV remotes that flip through pages and pages of listings are going to be disappointed. The pages do not scroll quickly, do not load quickly, and take a long time to connect once you do select a channel. It seems that the iPhone remote checks out fairly often, requiring you to reacquire the signal, run it through the Roku or similar device (because it likes to default right back to the phone or iPad itself, and requires you to click a different box to have it run through the device that is actually connected to your television). I would highly recommend getting the free Slingbox app for an iPad and leaving that around as a dedicated remote. Also, Slingbox has now introduced a stand-alone cable service (limited channels for $20 a month or something like that) called Slingplayer. Well, that is a completely different animal and has nothing to do with Slingbox (same company, but different systems). Slingplayer is a limited cable operation that streams through your connected device. Slingbox is a singular system that takes your home cable and sends it to one remote location. And it is one remote location. If someone at the remote location is watching one channel on the iPad, you can't "sling" another channel on the TV. It is a single signal. This would be ideal for a single person with cable at home who travels all the time. You could just bring your iPhone and your Roku and Roku remote (or Apple TV USB plug-in) and hook it up in your hotel and watch your local cable programming. Given that the box above is relatively affordable, and there is no monthly cost, that is a bargain and (again) a technological marvel. But don't be confused into thinking that this just instantly becomes your home cable in a remote location. It requires a healthy bandwidth, requires a cell phone or other app to use as a remote, takes a long time to change channels or connect initially, and you'd better have a wifi connection where you are or it will eat up huge chunks of data just to stream a single program. We initially hoped this would work at a lake house, but sadly there is no internet at the lake, so it is useless there. I'm not sure if anyone has been able to employ a wifi hotspot on their phone in conjunction with this device and stream to that location, but if you have a hotspot as part of your phone package, that might be a more universal solution. Once you get it hooked up and running, and learn some shortcuts (it is vital to put a list of the channels you regularly watch together as "favorites" and then just navigate the "favorites" menu because scrolling through the 150-channel cable lineup with the phone remote is more work than pleasure), it works. There is no substitute for it if you want your local cable system on the road (or at your office, or elsewhere). It does what it is supposed to do. Just don't mistake it for sitting in your living room running a remote with a fully operational cable system; it just doesn't work that fast or that well.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Refurbished
One of the most difficult electronic products to set up and get going. Two methods are available, including a hard-wired LAN/Ethernet connection to your home router (or modem/router) The web-based setup is not supported anymore (as well as all help from the SlingMedia company). The PC app/client is easy enough to understand, but it does not get the job done, or the SB500 is somehow a problem. After 3 days of attempting to set up - it miraculously went beyond the final stumbling block of the setup. No change to the unit, it was powered down overnight. Hard or soft resets did not do the trick either, regardless of the on-screen instructions. The 'cast function of the required Android app appears to be the next issue. The cast icon is not on the app's screen. It works well enough just viewing place-shifted TV on the tablet but the real goal is to watch on a big screen at another location. This may or may not be resolved.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Love, love, love this! Very easy to use, and does its job. Once I finally figured out how to set this up, it has worked anywhere I have been in the U.S. I have not traveled outside the country yet to see how in works outside of the U.S. , but am confident it will do its job. I did not give 5 stars for one reason only, there where no instructions on how to connect this to tv and then set up. I am guessing this is because it is a refurbished item??? But, this did not sway me for buying another one for use on a different tv in my house.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I am using this product to Sling my OTA HD broadcast up to my second home so I don't have to pay for cable and negate the need for an HD antenna (not that one would work where my second home is anways). This Slingbox requires a separate digital converter box to handle the coax cable from my indoor HD antenna (that's right I cut the cord from cable). I went with the iView 3500STBII from Amazon for about $40. There are others out there that are more fancy but more money. The iView worked just fine for me and I used the HDMI output from the iView to the HDMI input of the Slingbox and then HDMI output of Sling to my HDMI input on my TV. Yes DO hookup the component output from the iview to the component input of the Slingbox. The one minus with my set up was in order to order to get the remote function to work (and yes you need that) I had to find a remote .bin file that works with my iView remote. Luckily someone created one and I was able to find it on one of the Slingbox community forums. It does the job and I have tested the Slinging to my iPhone and up to my TV at my second home using a Roku player. I am happy to report that it works awesome. I would recommend getting the Slingbox 500. If you want to hear more about my cable cutting journey, feel free to reach me at binarym@(spam)hotmail.comRead full review
I purchased this Slingbox 500 device used, but in "Great CONDITION" and without the remote control. When it arrived, and I started to set it up, I thought I might be in trouble at 1st. The instructions referred to needing the remote control to configure it. Although this is my 3rd Slingbox, it is my first one requiring a remote control for setup. I found that an app for my phone, that I already had installed (Sure Universal Remote), worked just fine as a substitute for a Slingbox 500 remote. If someone else finds themselves in this situation, just make sure your smartphone model has an IR (infrared) blaster built in. Many cellphone models now days have done away with that feature for some reason. The Sure Universal Remote cellphone app will not control anything, via infrared, if the phone doesn't have an IR blaster installed by the cellphone manufacturer.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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