DIY SlingBox – Make your own Sling Box step by step

About ten years ago, the watching TV on the computer is an impossible thing. However, now it has really come true if you can DIY a Slingbox.

No matter where you are, you can catch any second of your favorite programs just with a computer, an internet line and a digital product called the Slingbox – a magical box.

Slingbox is a mini device often put on the TV’s top and is a connecting hub between TV and PC that is connected to the Internet. It includes a small collector and an A/V decoder chip with an Ethernet port. The main feature of Slingbox is to  directly convert the signals of TV’s video and audio into the MPEG compressed format and send these results to the PC via the Internet line, so this device enables the users and customers to remote control other AV devices, such as the digital video recorders.

The selling price of this useful device on the current market is a range of $ 200-250, or even cheaper for some types.

So, how to enjoy the home TV from afar with Sling Box?

DIY Sling Box – Make your own Sling Box step by step

In fact, DIY Slingbox is not complicated and there are many available sources for the users. However, following these steps below can help you set up a Slingbox in a simplest way.

Step 1: Understand the light sight

Usually, a Slingbox device often has only 2 lights on the right side: one for the power status and the other for showing an internet connection. Remember that this device is usually quite hot, so do not place anything on the top of it.

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Slingbox has some sockets in the back for plugging cables: one ‘ins’, one ‘outs’, S-Video/audio port and another for internet connection.

Step 2: Configure IP through Router

For internet connection, if your router is far away from the TV, you can use a router to make a network that take advantage of your electrical circuits at home. If Slingbox cannot pull an IP address from the adapter or your DHCP server, it will warn you by the status of LED blinks.

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Step 3: Set up Sling Player on your computer

For installing the hardware, you need to set up the SlingPlayer application on the computer which you would like to get access to the home TV programs. You can easily do that by purchasing an installation disk from any digital shop or download from www.slingmedia.com the newest version or check for updates when you are installing it.

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Step 4: Choose the right Input Video Source

The Slingbox’s British version is a PAL device (it means you cannot use it in France or the United States) and it requires you to identify your current geographic position. You are also asked to choose the input video source: S-Video, composite and the copper cable.

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Step 5: Set up cable

If you have a cable or set-top satellite, you have to find an IR special cable that is provided to enable the users to control your set-top box remote if needed. We must select the option of internal tuner. Then we can select between a similar substance and DVB-T (Freeview) tuner. Let’s follow as the picture below:

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Step 6: Scan for Available Slingbox Channels

Next, the user need to scan for available Slingbox channels. This process may take some minutes for all the Freeview channels – but if you scan for channels on the ground, this process will happen quickly. The app will offer a preview screen, but you do not need to be worried if nothing is shown here – television images often appears a little later.

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Step 7:  Fill in Password

At the moment, you need to type 2 kinds of password that are of the user and the administrator for restricting and controlling the Slingbox after finished. The users and customers can install the SlingPlayer application on not only 1 computer, but it can be used by only one person at a certain time. Only the admin account has the ability to click other users out of the system.

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Step 8: Set up UPnP

If the users want to visit their Slingbox remotely, the device must be able to “walk through” their NAT router. So, let’s set up UPnP (Universal Plug ‘n’ Play) to automatically configure the router, open the 5001 required port and then forward to the Slingbox’s IP address.

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Step 9: Enable traffic sending in router

Now, in this step, the users must make the router send the traffic of a specific port to a specific IP address forwarding the. Such forwarding port will send required data to the Slingbox device. To do this, you must create a “service” by clicking Add Rule and then pointing it at the default IP address which is 192.168.0.237.

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Step 10: Find your own Sling Box location

There is a free service founded by Slingmedia that can allow the user to identify their own Slingbox location on internet. All you need is to enter the Finder ID number to your inbox on a remote computer and you will be connected to return the Slingbox at home. It is difficult to remember 32 numbers of Finder ID, so you need to note it down somewhere to get it anytime you need.

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Step 11: Control panel remotely

You can take advantage of the controlling panel remotely instead of channel surfing. Furthermore, it’s faster to pin the favorite programs or which you often watch on the blank button below the screen of SlingPlayer. You can assign them the suitable icons of channel or if there is no proper icon provided, you can customize freely the design from your image store.

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Step 12: Customize Sling Player

It is quite simple to customize the SlingPlayer. There are 4 available types for your choice, from classic to Bauhaus kind. Moreover, you can download other proper themes if you like. There are so much different designs of remote controlling design simulated, so you can browse any brand which is suitable for your TV’s features. And remember that when the users connect remotely in the first time, they have to adjust the videos to optimize the quality of image.

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These are simplest steps to DIY a Slingbox. Hope you can set up it successfully!