![]() ![]() In 2014, the Slingbox M1 served up most of the 500’s features in a smaller, cheaper package. The Slingbox Pro-HD from 2010, for example, was the first Slingbox to support HD video streaming, while 2012’s Slingbox 500 finally added Wi-Fi support. Later versions of the Slingbox would rectify the original’s (often painful) limitations. Looking back 15 years later, I have to keep reminding myself that-oh right!-you couldn’t just rent a TV show and watch it on your iPhone (there were no iPhones yet), nor could you stream CNN in a browser, mobile or otherwise. It’s hard to remember what a revelation the Slingbox was, partly because it’s difficult to imagine a world without Netflix (which didn’t start streaming video until 2007), Hulu, YouTube (which wouldn’t launch until the end of 2005), Amazon Prime Video, and all the other ways we stream video, both live and on demand, to any screen at our disposal. Oh, and no monthly subscription fees, either. Then you installed a software client on your PC (Mac support came later, as did apps for the Symbian-powered smartphones of the time), and … presto! Live TV on your computer, streamed from your DVR, and it worked anywhere that you had an internet connection, from across the room to across the country. ![]() ** Please note I tried the lower priced Multicom modulator, but for some reason the Recast box would not tune in the ATSC signal.All you had to do was hook the Slingbox up to your DVR via an S-Video input (remember those?), connect the player to an ethernet cable, and plug in an IR blaster for DVR control. Bring your Firestick along and watch it on the big screen. When I'm out of home I simply use the FireTV app on my iPad or Android tablet. Plus now I can just use a Firestick and watch my Directv and OTA channels through the Recast box via WiFi. Having this setup I can view my Directv on any TV in my home that is connected to my roof antenna. Plus you might need to weaken the signal from the modulator with an attenuator so it doesn't interfere with the other OTA signals. You'll have to set the modulator to output a channel that's in your area that you don't get on your antenna. You've got to play with the Recast a bit because they seem to have a database of channels and will only tune in ones that are in the area so they can display two weeks of guide data. To change channels on the Directv I use their app on my iPad. I use my Recast to view it when I'm out of home. So basically the output from my Directv becomes another OTA signal to my Recast. The Recast box only receives OTA/ATSC signals. The modulator converts the HDMI signal from my Directv receiver to ATSC and I connect the ATSC coax coming from the modulator to a splitter from my antenna that feeds the Recast box. I purchased a Thor HDMI to ATSC modulator and an Amazon Recast. I've come up with a work around, but it's a bit expensive and more involved. I've been searching for a Slingbox replacement, but it seems that everything out there is now obsolete. ![]()
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