I confess. I’m an uber-geek. I have 4 Slingboxes, 4 Macs, 3 PCs, Gigabit ethernet, DVRs, media players, and more gadgets in my car than most people do in their homes. With cell phones, GPS, amateur radio and EVDO data, I have completely run out of power outlets in my car and that is after adding 3 additional outlets! What’s worse, I watch TV while driving. OK, fess up - how many of you also do that? Be honest.

In fact, the whole idea of being able to use the Slingbox with a handheld viewer is what motivated me to get a Slingbox in the first place. I had always noticed the Slingboxes after they first came out, but never purchased one because, as a Mac guy, there was not a client available for me to use.

Then I saw a TV advertisement for SlingPlayer Mobile and I knew I had to get a Slingbox and a Windows Mobile device. The Slingbox came first and, thanks to Parallels, I was able to view it on my Mac long before the Mac version existed. Then I convinced my boss to upgrade to a Motorola Q and give me his Treo700W. I’ve been Slinging mobile for the last 18 months or so.

However, my mobile data needs have changed. Due to some requirements at my job, and also my own personal obsession with being “connected”, last April I ended up purchasing an EVDO Express Card for use with my MacBookPro. It turned out the boss did not want to pay for two data plans, so I had to pay for the data plan on the Treo out of my own pocket - $40 a month just for the privilege of watching TV while out and about and being able to send/receive e-mails. Still, that’s a lot of venti coffees at Starbuck’s, and being both a caffeine addict and a net addict, I needed to do something to cut monthly costs.

Plus, the screen on the Treo was just a little too small, and I really didn’t need to lug around 2 cell phones (my Treo and my Moto SLVR).

The boss had an old HP iPAQ 6315 from T-Mobile sitting around. It has built in Wi-Fi and he gave it to me so I could mess around with it. I loaded SlingPlayer Mobile and it worked, but not well. That old PDA had a 160 MHz CPU and SlingPlayer Mobile would only run around 15 frames per second at most. But it inspired me. I loved the big screen and I ended up coming up with a brilliant plan!

A company called Cradlepoint Technology manufactures a mobile, battery operated EVDO to WiFi router. This little gem has a USB port that connects to either a USB EVDO modem (probably the most elegant solution) or a USB to Express Card Adapter (You can also get a USB to PC Card adapter, but these seem to be rather pricey.).

For my Sprint Novatel Express Card EVDO modem I ended up purchasing the SIIG USB to Express Card Adapter. I purchased my adapter from NewEgg. There are other brands of adapters available, but one nice thing about the SIIG is that it has a metal case and comes with a lifetime warranty. The router takes care of making the connection to the EVDO/3G network and you simply connect your wireless device via Wi-Fi to the router. The Cradlepoint PHS-300 is available from the 3GStore at www.3gstore.com.

The cost of the router, mobile power adapter and Express Card adapter will run you just over $200. The router has a rechargeable battery that gives you about 2 hours of run time for a truly portable hot spot.

There’s a large number of advantages to this arrangement. First of all, you can have multiple devices that are all sharing your EVDO connection. Second, you are now behind a secure firewall on your EVDO connection. The router has extensive configuration capabilities that blow away most consumer grade routers. It is also one of the most reasonably priced EVDO/3G routers on the market. Cradlepoint makes a couple of additional models that have ethernet on them but they are not battery powered and are not as portable as the PHS-300.

So I tried out this mobile hotspot with the HP iPAQ mentioned above... it worked great. I could use this as a WiFi only device just about anywhere with this router/adapter configuration. Sure it’s a little more bulky than just a phone, but where do I use my data connection on my Treo 700W? Mainly in the car. Other places I frequent have WiFi hotspots so I am covered and if I get really desperate I can always throw the modem/router combo in my laptop bag and be good to go for a couple hours w/o any problems.

Now, I just needed to get a PDA with a fast enough processor. I like the construction of the HP products so I went on to eBay and found a large number of HP PDAs for sale. I settled on the HX2790b model. It is still being sold by HP and runs Windows Mobile 5.0. A nice thing about this model is that it has both Compact Flash and SD card slots. New these PDAs run for about $500. I ended up purchasing mine via a “Buy it now” for $260 after losing several auctions. But a word for the wise: Don’t bid on items that close on Sunday evenings (which is what I did). The exact same PDA models that sold for $250 to $300 on Sunday evening were selling for around $200 on Monday. So I paid a little more than I should have but the PDA was in excellent shape and I am happy with what I purchased. My total set up costs about $400 and since I was paying about $40 a month for my Treo’s data plan, it will take about 10 months to break even. But after that, I’m Slinging for free!

I’ve now taken and made my setup a little more portable by using rubber bands to fasten the Express Card adapter and router together. I’ve also taped up the excess of the USB cable as well. I am thinking of getting a short USB cable with a couple right angle connectors on it to make it even cleaner, but it works okay as it is now. I wish I could get a short 1 or 2 inch cable!

How does this work? It works awesome. I regularly get better streaming speeds than I did with my Treo. I get full frame video, and watching it full screen on the iPAQ is a great mobile video experience. I think this is a great solution for someone who wants to get in the mobile viewing game but doesn’t want to pay for a second data package on a PDA phone.

This concept will also work if you are an owner of a first generation iPhone. You can now get faster mobile access with your iPhone by using the iPhone’s WiFi connection instead of the EDGE connection. If SlingMedia comes out with an iPhone client when the iPhone SDK is released, this is one way that fist generation iPhone owners can get past the limitations of the slower EDGE based networks. I do plan on getting an iPhone some day, but it has some limitations like no SlingPlayer and no ability to stream Internet radio at this time. I’m sure that will change once the SDK comes out. Anyhow, I have tested this router/modem combination with a friend’s iPhone and it works just fine.

Below are pictures of me streaming in the car and of the modem/rotuer setup:

These are shots of live streaming in the car (yes, I was stopped).

A picture of the modem/router on my dash board (above) and a close up/different angle below.

So in conclusion, one does not need to subscribe to two separate mobile data services in order to use your Slingbox on a mobile device. You simply need this simple to use and set up router, and you can Sling just about anywhere.