New Plug-N-Play Solution
This new solution will literally
allow you to just plug your video source into the encoder,
then plug the encoder into your router and then
watch your
video source from anywhere!
It's that simple.
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NO NEED to setup the encoder
to work on your network!
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NO NEED to make changes to your router!
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It will work through any firewall!
(for example if you are sharing an
internet connection with someone else's
router)
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You will simply enter your Personal
Stream viewing URL (website address) into
the popular VLC media player app to watch
your video source from anywhere!
-
This is the perfect
solution for users who feel the
other DIY solution is a bit too technical
and they do not feel comfortable trying to
do it
This Is Why
The Original Slingbox
Was Easy To Setup
If you remember, setting up your
slingbox was pretty easy. The reason why it was
so easy to setup is the same reason why your
slingbox no longer works - Cloud Servers.
Let me explain this in more detail...
One of the main functions of
your home internet router it to prevent unwanted
incoming connections on the internet from
reaching
into your home network. The "Firewall" part of
your router "blocks" such unwanted incoming
traffic. This is normally a good thing, but it
is not so good when you want your slingplayer
app to connect into the slingbox located in your
home because your firewall will block that
unsolicited incoming connection attempt. So, one
way to get around this problem was to have the
slingbox make an "outgoing" connection to a
cloud server. A firewall will always allow
outgoing connections made from within your home
network, so it will allow this outgoing
connection from the slingbox. Your slingbox will
then stay connected to the cloud server, all
ready to connect to your slingplayer app. Then,
when you want to watch your slingbox video, the
slingbox player app would instead connect to the
cloud server and the cloud server would link the
player app to your slingbox, and like magic you
are now watching your slingbox video even though
your slingbox is behind a firewall. So, the
point is that without the cloud server, a
connection normally can not be made between the
player app and the slingbox because your router
would block the "incoming" connection attempt
that the player app would make trying to connect
to your slingbox. But, by using a cloud server,
the slingbox is able to make a "reverse"
connection (an "outgoing" connection through
the firewall because the firewall does not block
outgoing connections from your home network), and
then the cloud server will link the slingbox to
the player app and allow you to watch the
slingbox video. And the reason why your slingbox
no longer works is because they shut down their
cloud servers, preventing the slingplayer app
from connecting to your slingbox.
There is however another way to
get through a firewall without having to make an
"outgoing" connection to a cloud server. This
method uses a "Port Forwarding Rule". A port
forwarding rule tells the firewall to allow a
very specific type of incoming connection
through the firewall, such as allowing a video player app to
connect *into* a video encoder in your home.
However, to configure the firewall to do this,
it requires you to log into your router's
settings and modify it to add this port forwarding rule. My
Do-It-Yourself article dives into the
technical details of how to make this change to
your router and the use of a new video encoder
to replace your slingbox. But since each different brand and
model of router has it's own way of creating
this rule, anyone attempting to make such a
change should have at least some basic
networking knowledge, otherwise they may
negatively effect the operation of their router
if the change is not done properly.
So, if you are not comfortable
attempting to make changes to your router, that
is why I created this Plug-n-Play solution.
Just as slingbox
originally had, my solution uses our own cloud
servers, allowing for an easy plug-n-play
operation
without you having to mess with your router at all!
However, cloud servers are not free.
There is a monthly cost to keep them
running and that is why
my solution includes a small monthly fee. By
having this monthly fee, it allows us to
operate a
sustainable business model, which will significantly
reduces the possibility of a cloud service
shutdown, similar to what happened with slingbox.
Smart Cloud Network Interface: Our
Plug-N-Play solution includes a special
smart cloud interface module (an electronic
hardware device) that connects in between the
encoder and your router and allows the encoder
to keep an active connection to our cloud
servers. This device comes pre-programmed, so
the only thing you need to do is just plug it
into your router.
In
Summary: Slingbox was easy to setup
because it used Cloud Servers. But since cloud
servers are not free, so they eventually had to
shut them down because they were loosing money.
My Plug-n-Play solution also uses cloud
servers, so it is very easy to setup and use,
but I need to charge a small monthly fee so I
can keep them running. However, if you are
technically inclined, you can save yourself the
monthly fee and configure your own router (using
Method #2 of
My DIY instructions) so you won't need cloud
servers to get your slingbox replacement up and
running. But, if you don't feel comfortable with
the DIY method, you can get your own Plug-n-Play
solution below.
Here's how to get your Plug-n-Play solution:
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You will purchase your video
encoder from Amazon and have them delivery
it directly to my business
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I will then configure your encoder to be compatible with
our new smart network interface
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I will also configure your encoder with my
year-long road tested settings for the best
possible video quality under various connection
speeds
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I will setup a new account
on our proprietary cloud
service and create your own personal stream viewing URL (DDNS) that
you can use in VLC to watch your stream and
this URL. You also do not have to worry if
the IP address of your house ever changes
because this URL will never change.
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We will determine what
method would work best to control your video
source (Broadlink, Xfinity app, etc.)
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I will ship the system
(consisting of your configured encoder
along with the smart network interface) to
your
address in the US
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Full phone
and email support is available if you need
any help getting your system up and running
The cost for our solution has two
parts:
-
$299.00 - This is a
one-time cost which includes: The
Smart Cloud Interface Device, the configuration of
it along with the configuration of your encoder, and
the shipping cost of both items to you at an address in the US
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$199.00 - This is for a FULL YEAR of our
Custom
Cloud Service - This cloud service is required for
the smart cloud device to function properly (each additional year of
our custom cloud service
is $189.00 (=$15/mo)
Note: Our plug-n-play
solution requires an Ethernet connection near
the video source (wifi is not supported, but you
can use Ethernet extenders).
If you are interested in this
new Plug-n-Play solution, please email me at
SlingboxPnP-com@max-soft.com