Odd slingbox problem

Sam Vimes

I'm trying to use my slingbox abroad and i'm having a weird problem that I hope people can help with.

When I connect to the slingbox, it connects and seems to be working. I can change the settings and see what IP and port it's on etc and it says it's streaming but it's streaming 2kbps or 0fps and the screen is just black

if i plug my phone into the laptop and use it as a modem it connects and streams fine so it's not my firewall. i also checked its logs and it isn't blocking anything. it's a symantec firewall package btw

the weirdest things is my friend has a slingbox too and i can connect to his fine using both the internet in the apartment and using the phone as a modem

so it's only when i connect to my own slingbox using the apartments internet that it won't stream.

both slingboxes are set to use port 5001

my slingbox is connected to my sky box and his to normal NTL cable. he has IBB DSL and i have BT DSL

i can vnc into my computer connected to the same router so it's getting that far anyway

does anyone have any ideas?

Biggins

Hi Sam, sorry to see you here having problems.

You mentioned you tried the device on a friends machine.
Did you try it in his place or did you try it (his Slingbox) at yours.
My first though is that it might be a service provider server (if one exists) somewhere that is controlling your net access through your mobile phone (or apartment - even a server somewhere that is possibly controlling net usage to the apartments).

Trying his box at your place will help further define if it's a Slingbox issue or an net use issue strictly applying to the incoming/outgoing data to your place (could there be local environmental factors as bizarre as that sounds?).

Is it possible to borrow his and test it in your place to see will you get the same result?

Sam Vimes

Biggins wrote: »

Hi Sam, sorry to see you here having problems.

quiet you :P

Biggins wrote: »

You mentioned you tried the device on a friends machine.
Did you try it in his place or did you try it (his Slingbox) at yours.

i didn't connect via his machine, i'm abroad and from my laptop i can stream fine from his slingbox but not my own. it just streams 0kbps. i haven't moved slingboxes between houses

Biggins wrote: »

My first though is that it might be a service provider server (if one exists) somewhere that is controlling your net access through your mobile phone.

Trying his box at your place will help further define if it's a Slingbox issue or an net use issue strictly applying to the incoming/outgoing data to your place (could there be local environmental factors as bizarre as that sounds?).

Is it possible to borrow his and test it in your place to see will you get the same result?

i could get him to go to my house and plug his slingbox in but i don't know if that'll help. my slingbox is working fine. he can connect to it from his house and i can connect to it using the slingplayer mobile program and through my laptop using the phone as a modem.

and i don't think my isp here is blocking anything because i can connect to his slingbox which is working on the same port and is using all the same protocols of course.

the only differences between the two setups is that his is cable where mine is sky and he's ibb where i'm bt

Biggins

Himm its a tough one. It could be the way BT is handeling data packets. Its a possibility.
Honestly, I think you might need to speak to a BT rep. Going direct to the source of your net service.
If you have changed all the other variables completely and still have the same problem with BT alone, it has to be the way they are sending data.

Sam Vimes

Biggins wrote: »

Himm its a tough one. It could be the way BT is handeling data packets. Its a possibility.
Honestly, I think you might need to speak to a BT rep. Going direct to the source of your net service.
If you have changed all the other variables completely and still have the same problem with BT alone, it has to be the way they are sending data.

i don't think the problem is with bt tbh. it works fine and has worked fine for months streaming to my phone and my friend's computer.

this is the first time i've tried to use it on my laptop so it's possibly a problem with it but again i don't think so because it can stream from my friend's and mine if using a different net connection

that leaves the apartment's net connection but that works for my friend's box. it's wrecking my head at this stage

Biggins

Would there be any Slingbox settings different from your friends box than yours?
Your sure they are exact when you use his?

Sam Vimes

i found out what the difference is. his slingbox was running older firmware than mine. i upgraded his firmware and now i can't stream from his either

and of course the slingplayer software won't allow me to downgrade. fantastic!

Biggins

Opps!

Hope his still works in his place!
Glad you tracked it down though. At least you know.
Time to get on to the slingbox folk and let them know about a possible fault they should clear up.
Maybe they can advise you as to how to possibly down grade - you never know, they might know a way even if you have to send it back to them.

Sam Vimes

i solved the problem

i found this website:
http://www.slingcommunity.com/forum/thread/29637/Roll-back-Firmware/


it explains that v1.2 beta of the sling player software is the only one that allows firmware downgrades so i installed that version.

i still had the old firmware files on my home pc so i vnc'ed in and downgraded the firmware to the old version and voila

and i'm in the process of downgrading his back to the old one too

Biggins

Nice one. Well done.

Now get you bum back to AH so I can pester you. LOL