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Which is best for live streaming outside of home?

  • TiVO Stream

    Votes: 8 17.4%
  • Slingbox

    Votes: 34 73.9%
  • Belkin @ TV

    Votes: 2 4.3%
  • Vulkano

    Votes: 2 4.3%
  • another not listed

    Votes: 0 0.0%

Which is best for out-of-home streaming for live channels?

6K views 27 replies 15 participants last post by  tarheelblue32 
#1 ·
I am looking to maybe try and do some sort of out-of-home streaming of live channels (I am with Comcast). I have a 4-tuner Premiere so the Stream is an option. From my understanding though, you have to basically initiate a recording first on the TiVo in order to get it to your iOS device (via the Stream). This sounds like simple channel changing outside of the home would be a challenge. Also, since I am with Comcast and they flag premium content, my understanding is that I wouldn't be able to live stream my HBO channels/content either with a stream (since it more or less treats it as MRV content).

I have also looked at some other products; Belkin, Vulkano and Slingbox seem to be the main ones out there right now, but there may be others I am not aware of. I have a non-subscribed series 3 TiVo HD (w/ a cable card) that I could dedicate it's outputs to one of these other devices. I realize I would only be able to watch live channels & REW/FF. No access to recorded material (networked or local) and no programming information, but that is ok for me for now. I also could attach it to a 2-tuner Premiere that is located in a basement guest bedroom that isn't usually occupied so that wouldn't affect anyone else while trying to stream something outside of the home.

Which seems to be the best these days? Adv or disadv? Or any other thoughts on any of the options listed in the poll?
 
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#2 ·
Slingbox all the way. Despite the slight "lag" with navigating, I find it to be far superior than anything that the Tivo Stream capabilities of my Roamio Plus can currently offer.

Pros:
1. No restrictive CCI bit (using component connection)
2. Adaptive streaming and access over cellular data
3. Android device support

Cons:
1. Navigation "lag"
2. Cannot remotely download content for local playback
 
#5 ·
From my understanding though, you have to basically initiate a recording first on the TiVo in order to get it to your iOS device (via the Stream). This sounds like simple channel changing outside of the home would be a challenge. Since I am with Comcast and they flag premium content, I wouldn't be able to live stream my HBO channels/content either with a stream.
You don't need to initiate a recording yourself, the Tivo does that on its own.
 
#6 ·
Not sure if this is a factor for you, but I think development & support is pretty much a dead end for the Belkin and Vulkano options and those products are more or less coming to an end. Slingbox & TiVo products are still being developed and fully supported.
 
#7 ·
Sling is is also supported on some connected devices such as WD Live for viewing directly to a TV and that app is included FREE with the connected devices. However, Sling's mobile app costs a one-time purchase of $15. Also, is it still the case that even with younger competitors and TiVo Stream, Sling's proprietary algorithm still provides for the best PQ and best at adapting to low bandwidth and providing best PQ at low bandwidth? I've read some recent articles/reviews in which Sling is still easily providing the best PQ overall. One downside is that the Slingbox does take over the STB so that no one at home can use it without interfering with what you are streaming, while TiVo Stream and Dish's Sling Adapter and Hopper with Sling merely use on of the available tuners while allowing others at home to use the same box.

However, even with that taking over the box limitation of the Slingbox, the Slingbox is still the best overall today (IMHO) and seems to have the most flexibility or at least the best just like at home experience because EVERYTHING on your remote box is available because you are controlling the ENTIRE box, not just limited access.
 
#10 ·
Sling is is also supported on some connected devices such as WD Live for viewing directly to a TV and that app is included FREE with the connected devices.
Actually, I JUST discovered this last night. I have both a WDTV Live and a WDTV Hub media players and both are great little boxes for my needs. I saw how both have a "SLINGPLAYER" app available to them. This might have pretty much sealed the deal for me.

Along with this and the fact that there is continued support for Slingbox versus some of the others and Slingbox seems to be the no brainer here. I was concerned about the fact that it totally takes over the TiVo, but as I mentioned, I can easily dedicated a non-subscribed Series 3 to the Slingbox if I am looking to just view items.
 
#15 ·
Not sure if this is a factor for you, but I think development & support is pretty much a dead end for the Belkin and Vulkano options and those products are more or less coming to an end. Slingbox & TiVo products are still being developed and fully supported.
The Belkin product was based on Vulkano. Between settling with Sling and what I presume to be poor sales, I've been informed they are done in this space. Vulkano suffered a major setback by not responding to Sling's complaint and in theory are not supposed to sell infringing product in the US.
 
#16 ·
OK, Best Buy had the Slingbox 350 on sale earlier this week for $99. Between some reward zone coupons I had & the poll here heavily suggesting that the slingbox is the better product, I decided to pull the trigger & get this Slingbox 350. So far, its a great product & I am very pleased.

I have it connected to my home network via an ethernet connection so a pretty stable connection. I have it connected to a basement bedroom TiVO that isn't used much so it works out great and I'm usually not disturbing anyone. Its also connected to the component outputs of 2-tuner Premiere so I have the option of an HD picture. Within my home, I get a great HD picture on my mobile devices (Nexus 7 tablet and Samsung S3 phone). Outside my home I tend to only get HQ and SQ quality, but that is OK.

Since I am with Comcast, I recently got the Xfinity OnDemand feature on all my Premieres and it works great. I can also access it with the slingbox so that is a benefit I didn't see before, but am happy to have. Combine this all with using pyTiVo on this Premiere as well to watch my own personal media with the slingbox & its a worthy product to have.

Finally, I also got it working good with the slingplayers on two of my Western Digital devices (WD Live and WD Hub). I plan to take the WD Live on our beach trip in a few weeks so hopefully that works good too (depending on rental's internet speed). Will then theoretically be able to access my recordings, Xfinity onDemand, live channels I can't get and watch personal media (via pyTiVO). Glad I got it & just thought I would pass this along.
 
#18 ·
OK, Best Buy had the Slingbox 350 on sale earlier this week for $99. Between some reward zone coupons I had & the poll here heavily suggesting that the slingbox is the better product, I decided to pull the trigger & get this Slingbox 350. So far, its a great product & I am very pleased.

I have it connected to my home network via an ethernet connection so a pretty stable connection. I have it connected to a basement bedroom TiVO that isn't used much so it works out great and I'm usually not disturbing anyone. Its also connected to the component outputs of 2-tuner Premiere so I have the option of an HD picture. Within my home, I get a great HD picture on my mobile devices (Nexus 7 tablet and Samsung S3 phone). Outside my home I tend to only get HQ and SQ quality, but that is OK.

Since I am with Comcast, I recently got the Xfinity OnDemand feature on all my Premieres and it works great. I can also access it with the slingbox so that is a benefit I didn't see before, but am happy to have. Combine this all with using pyTiVo on this Premiere as well to watch my own personal media with the slingbox & its a worthy product to have.

Finally, I also got it working good with the slingplayers on two of my Western Digital devices (WD Live and WD Hub). I plan to take the WD Live on our beach trip in a few weeks so hopefully that works good too (depending on rental's internet speed). Will then theoretically be able to access my recordings, Xfinity onDemand, live channels I can't get and watch personal media (via pyTiVO). Glad I got it & just thought I would pass this along.
Unless things have changed, Slingbox forums were full of complaints about the 350, and far less complaints for the 500. I've got 500 and have two devices connected. VERY NICE. Love Slingbox.
 
#19 ·
It's not even close . The Slingbox blows away the Tivo Stream .

I don't even bother with the Tivo Stream unless someone wants me to show them how it works .

Well did it the other day and error message came up . Could not connect to the stream .

Slingbox controls are sluggish , which is the only complaint I have about the Slingbox .


I also wouldn't recommend the Slingbox if you have slow DSL or slow internet speeds . 5/2 Mbps or thereabouts
could be too slow for a good picture .
 
#20 ·
I love the TiVo stream and use it all the time. My. I gets complaint is that the stream seems to disconnect from the iOS app fairly regularly.

The quality is fantastic on my FIOS network and the immediate controls and picture quality are impressive.

Just this freezing issue that continues to be an issue.
 
#21 ·
Unless things have changed, Slingbox forums were full of complaints about the 350, and far less complaints for the 500. I've got 500 and have two devices connected. VERY NICE. Love Slingbox.
Hmm, I wonder what they are? I have both and I think the 500 was the one that is poorly designed. Including HDMI input made the setup much more complicated than it needed to be since you can't actually stream anything from a TiVo over it. So you still need to use component. Granted I never use the local media options of the 500 so HDMI pass-thru seems pointless for me.

I've never had to manually reboot my 350 but have had to several times on my 500 due to it not being available for streaming. Other than that, both the 350 and 500 are much more stable products than previous Slingboxes. Plus, they are much easier to setup now.
 
#24 ·
Yes, we have established that YOUR stream doesn't work for you. That means very little for anybody else, given your comments.
It works .Sometimes. The picture is TERRIBLE! Audio quality is TERRIBLE!
sounds like someone trying to talk underwater.

Cant work on 4g/lte .My LTE Slingbox streaming in a busy mall was much better then Tivo Stream on wifi.

Cant watch premium channels or DOWNLOAD them on Tivo Stream.
 
#25 ·
Hmm, I wonder what they are? I have both and I think the 500 was the one that is poorly designed. Including HDMI input made the setup much more complicated than it needed to be since you can't actually stream anything from a TiVo over it. So you still need to use component. Granted I never use the local media options of the 500 so HDMI pass-thru seems pointless for me.

I've never had to manually reboot my 350 but have had to several times on my 500 due to it not being available for streaming. Other than that, both the 350 and 500 are much more stable products than previous Slingboxes. Plus, they are much easier to setup now.
hdmi with HDCP was the entire reason I never even considered the Slingbox 500 when it launched. Instead I got the Slingbox 350 when it launched since I knew that the analog inputs would be all I would be able to use anyway with what I wanted to watch over the SLingbox.

It was certainly an excellent upgrade over my HAva HD Platinum that I had been using for many years.

My only complaint about going to the Slingbox 350 over the Hava HD Platinum is that you can only view the Slingbox 350 from one device. With my Hava HD I could view it concurrently from multiple devices remotely. But the Hava HD was also only SD. So I'll take the Slingbox 350 with HD and only one stream over the HAva HD Platinum with SD and multiple streams.
 
#26 ·
I want the Tivo Stream to surpass the Slingbox but right now it's not even close .

The Tivo Stream is a bad product , IMO . At the moment .

If they improve the software , it could end up being just as good or better .

I just don't see the effort from Tivo but they sure have marketed the feature a lot .

Jimmy -dictator of television. Ooh streaming
 
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