SlingCatcher: Streaming the Web on TV

In theory and in practice, that's what SlingCatcher is supposed to do. But, as we know, practice makes perfect and SlingCatcher takes a load of patience to set up and get it going. This device is not plug-and-play by any means. You have to hook up the SlingCatcher to your home network and to your TV set. If those two items aren't physically near each other, you have to use Sling's wired or wireless solution to get the video from the SlingCatcher box to the TV. More about this in a minute.

It was easy to attach everything to the proper jacks and plugs but it took me two days -- along with the aid of the Sling help desk -- to figure out that my company's email software was interfering with getting the SlingCatcher up and running on my home network. Hopefully you won't have a similar problem, but it is a possibility.

Problems fixed. Sling Projector now "sees" and connects to the SlingCatcher. Because my wireless router and TV are on opposite sides of my living room, I decide to try Sling's wireless solution to connect my network to the SlingCatcher box. The "wired" solution involves a technology called Homeplug, which takes the audio/video signal and "transmits" it through your home AC electrical wiring system. Because I've spent lots of money to keep extraneous noise out of my home electrical system, the idea of installing Homeplug is ridiculous.

Once everything was up and running, it was easy to determine that wireless is not the best solution either. It works, but very, very slowly. Watching video via this wireless transmission system was like suffering through a slide show. Changing to a direct, Ethernet SlingCatcher-to-router connection made a huge difference. Now the video was simulating moving pictures. It's a hoot to be able to instantly watch Internet videos, including things like HD movie rentals, on your big-screen TV.