A friend of mine is a junkie! I don't know how many slingboxes he has now, and that's certainly not the only gadget he's basically collecting.

One of the great things about having a friend like this is that he loans me stuff from time to time. The latest was the slingbox. I was thrilled, because I think sling has a great thing going. So, I dropped everything to set it up. In summary, I have to say that everything in life should be as easy as getting my slingbox working.

So, the details...

My buddy dropped the box off in a ziplock bag with a bunch of cables. No manual. No instructions. Just, "here's your bag of future fun!" But no matter, the inputs and outputs on the box were very clearly marked, so it was easy to pair up the right cable to the right port. But I wasn't completely certain how to wire the slingbox into my existing media setup. (I wanted to watch my TiVo -- as apposed to my Media PC or other -- while on business trips, so that was my frame of reference.) I also needed the software (no CD in the bag) and wanted to make sure that I had the latest firmware for my box since I had to reset it to clear out my friends' passwores/configuration.

So, I jumped on Google and searched for "slingbox".

Hit #2 was the slingmedia site. I knew I wouldn't be the only one looking for this stuff, so I went straight to the sling community. A quick search led me to a very recent article posted by JeremyT on the availability of the latest software version. I clicked through that download link, and was back to the slingmedia site staring at download links for both the software update and documentation.

After downloading both, I had access to clear diagrams for how to set up the box in my environment. Using these pictures, it took little more time to setup the box than it took the software to install on my nearby laptop. I already had a network connection (for my Media Center), so inserting a hub and plugging in the slingbox was easy.

The software install / setup went off without a hitch, and I was immediately watching TiVo on my laptop. Now, the big test. I closed the slingplayer, launched my company's VPN client (to put me on another network), and tried again. I was amazed to find that it only took one attempt and I was immediately connected to my TiVo over the Net. The entire attempt took less than a half hour from start to finish, and I guess that's why I posted this article. I was just that impressed!