Customer Reviews

Sling Media SlingLink Turbo Powerline Kit ( SL200-100 )

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In a large (brand new 5-bedroom, 3500 sq ft house) it works pretty well. NOTE: my specific objective was to support a SlingBox (original) with cable Internet elsewhere in the house.

I've used SlingBox and SlingLink Turbo in two different configurations:

1. SlingBox connected directly to my router; SlingLink supporting other wired + wireless computers elsewhere in the house via a wireless router.

2. SlingLink connected the Internet and SlingLink broadcasting to SlingLink supporting my SlingBox and XBOX 360 as "slave" devices.

The first configuration is better (obviously) because SlingBox can "broadcast" up to a full 2.5Mbps over a LAN connection. The second configuration is better for everyday use since I get maximum Internet bandwidth on computers.

Findings:

1. Internet speed test dropped from 18-19Mbps down / 2.5Mbps up (Comcast w/ SpeedBoost) to 2100Mbps down / 800Kbps up.

2. SlingBox over SlingLink drops to 1.2Mbps (video quality is a bit choppy vs. perfectly smooth otherwise). I've had it spike to 1.6Mbps over the LAN.

3. Additionally SlingBox over the open Internet (original intended use) maxes out at 600kbps, which is a hair below what it was without SlingLink in the middle.

4. The only real "issue" with SlingLink is probably due to home wiring (i.e. on a semi-related note I had to re-wire every cable jack and replace the primary splitter that my electrical contractor originally installed because the cheap original hardware was so bad that ).

5. Newer SlingBoxes (AV/PRO/SOLO) may be more tolerant of "spotty" Ethernet connections, considering they have newer H.264 compression chips.

All in all I'm happy. Wireline Ethernet isn't perfect and would probably work a lot better in a condominium or smaller house. A larger house would/could justify multiple cable modems.

This may or may not work for you. I've got it working in my house. I've got a Netgear router upstairs in my bonus room hooked up to a Charter Cable box. My Dish reciever is downstairs in another section of my house. The Slinglink Turbo works fairly well; however, if I plug anything else into certain outlets in my bonus room, the whole connection basically just fails. So be aware of what you have plugged into other outlets as it might cause the whole thing to fail.

Slingbox is on par with Apple on their packaging of there products. I have the Slingbox Pro, HD Cable, and now this Powerline 4Port link. Everything you need is in the box or was with the Pro (2nd cable) I had this thing setup and running in less then 4 minutes. You open the box and the the next most difficult thing if you are like me is opening the plastic bags that each unit is in. (I did not want to rip them in case I needed to send this back) Plug in and done. I removed the 25' cable I had running across the carpet from my router to my Slingbox. (now happy wife too, thanks Sling Media)

I am using the Slingbox with my laptop and cell phone and both have great pictures coming across. I am only using one port on the SlingLink now but can see needing the others for future components near the TV. (Santa - PS3)

Where my Internet router and the Slingbox are located are not close to one another. Since I can't do wireless with the Slingbox I got the SlingLink and it works awesome. I was a little worried because the two rooms are on different circuits, but no problems. Easy to setup and no problems!! Anyone who is looking to setup their Slingbox to their router without having to run a long cable across the floor, this works great.

It works just the way you would want the device to work. Don't plug it into a surge protector - go straight to the outlet and it will connect without an issue. Only complaint is it takes a little longer to load the channel at full KB and obviously it adds more of a delay Approx 5 sec behind. But I love it - now i have an HD tv down the hall without paying for an additional cable box plus I can get my TV at work :-P

I bought this to add internet connections to my Sony Bravia TV and Blu-ray player, along with my Dish Network box (all three are connected). The installation was super fast and extremely easy. I just plugged it in and it started working instantly. There was no need to add any IP addresses or anything else. It worked right out of the box. I can now easily access internet content from my TV with ease. The only drawback is the download speed. Because it's connected through power lines it's not as fast as a direct LAN plug-in or maybe a household wi-fi. The picture quality from Netflix (standard definition) is OK. I did watch some HD content from Sony and it was very good.

I was using my laptop via wireless network to connect to my Slingbox HD. Would occasionally provide a quality picture, but most of the time just average. Connected the SlingLink Turbo, increased my speed by almost 10 times what I was originally getting. I now receive a constant HD-worthy stream.

Would absolutely recommend.

Sling Media SlingLink Turbo Powerline Kit ( SL200-100 )

I've had this Sling Media Turbo kit for about 2-3 years now with the single port in the bedroom co-located with the router and the 4 port doing business at the other end of the house in the living room.

When I started, I might of had a Sling Box and a pc connected and found it quite acceptable.

However, today everything is internet connected. I have the 4 port behind the LCD TV chained together with an 8 port gig switch with 11, yes 11 (ELEVEN!) internet devices connected.

HP Multimedia PC
Sony Bravia TV (for firmware updates)
Sony Bravia Internet Link (Serving up Youtube, Amazon video and about 20 other Internet items)
Sony Blueray Disc player
Dishnetwork HD DVR
Standalone DVD Burner
Netflix Roku box
XBOX 360
XBOX 360 in the family room (that is what the second Slinglink will take care of - getting rid of 50 ft of cable running around thru the house)
Skype desk phone
And something I cannot remember at this moment (Oh, yea! the original Slingbox Turbo!). It is cable madness even with decent cable management behind the Sony.

Performance? Out freakin' standing - I cannot recall when bandwidth was ever an issue. Looking forward to just plugging in the 4 port, adding the XBOX, PS2 and the Wii and it will JUST WORK.

Oh, did I mention the OTHER 9 wireless devices sharing the same bandwidth? Gotta love technology and gotta love this device.

Or I just need to move the deep reaches of the Tennessee mountains and leave all this tech behind....

Get it!

Encouraged by some helpful reviews by other users here at Amazon, I purchased a SlingLink Turbo to extend my network to include a wall near my Blu-Ray and Roku. I DO NOT have a SlingBox. I have the cable, connectors , and expertise to hardwire the area, but lacked the will to climb into the attic, fish the walls, and run the cable.

The installation was simple. Then (10) minutes from the time I opened the box, the kit was installed, verified, and streaming HD video via the Roku.

Easy price. Easy installation. Easy decision.

Couldn't ask for more with this product. Really simple to set up, super fast speeds (I'm getting 20MB/sec!). I have this hooked up to my Tivo and my PS3 on the other side of the house, where wireless was spotty and slow.

The only hitch is I can't figure out if only one item can use the router at a time, because occaissionally I'll lose connection to the Tivo or the PS3 for no reason at all. There's nothing in any of the documentation about how the router works.

That said, I don't think that has anything to do with the SlingLink. I've tested it several times with my laptop and I always get great speeds.

------------------------

UPDATE: I've had this for about seven months now. With my main router downstairs and SlingLink connecting the upstairs Tivo & PS3, I was almost never able to use the streaming capabilities of either component. I tried everything, always blaming the Tivo and PS3 for the issues.

Finally, I moved my main router upstairs, plugged in the Tivo and the PS3 and everything works like a charm. I can play online with the PS3 and my Netflix-Tivo connection gets HD-quality downloads. Now it's my downstairs computer (my main work machine) that suffers from uneven speeds, because that's the one connected using the SlingLink.

With my 20MBPS services from Fios, I get only 10 MBPS down and, sometimes 2 MBPS up via SlingLink. But sometimes my up speeds are ridiculously slow, like 300K. Unacceptable. I wish I had figured out this problem before, because I would have been returning it.

There is very little support information about these, and the downloads they have available aren't compatible with Vista. Basically, I'm forced to limp along until I can afford and better option.