Thanks Brandon.  I'm not suspecting this is a latency issue.  I wish I could take a network trace on the slingbox side to see what he's sending.

However, I discovered that I can stream from our IPad to our AppleTV.  Works pretty nicely so this may relieve my need of the Slingcatcher.  I forced it to use UDP for a test.  So I'm assuming this will also work when I get home.

Thanks again.

I only mentioned the UDP because I wasn’t able to get port forwarding to work on my Slingbox located in Japan. Blocking UDP is not a requirement.  I was just trying to verify posts which stated TCP is a requirement for remote viewing with the IPad.

But I think it will work in either case because:

1)    I’m able to use my IPad to remotely connect to a Slingbox which has port-forwarding enabled.  I was able to stream it to the AppleTV.

2)    My mom was able to connect with here IPad to a Slingbox which does not have port-forwarding enabled.   She doesn’t have an AppleTV to test but I can’t see a reason why it would not work the same.

I was even able to use my son’s ITouch to stream to the AppleTV.  The Slingbox app got about 1800 Kbps while I was using Airplay.  I think the picture the IPad produced on the AppleTV was better.

An IPad is certainly much more versatile than a Slingcatcher. 

Here is what I’ve noticed. 

While I was in Japan, I was able to watch my US Slingbox without any issues.  I’ve had this set up for years and it works nicely.  In the past, I had lugged around the Slingcatcher.  But because of the amount of devices we took, two computers, two IPads, an ITouch and an AppleTV, it was starting to get a little crazy.

Additionally, I took a new, Slingbox HD that I bought in the US.  When I set it up in Japan, it seemed to work well on the local network.  I called someone in the US to briefly test it remotely.  It seemed to be working fine.

However, that was before I configured port forwarding on the router. I had read this was a requirement for the Slingcatcher.  After enabling port-forwarding, it completely stopped working for any remote viewing.  But locally, it continued to work well via TCP.  I ended up having to remove the port-forwarding to restore the remote viewing.

Then I tried the AirPlay option and this is what I observed:

In Japan, using AirPlay (streaming to AppleTV) worked well with the IPad while watching my US Slinbox remotely.   It would get about 1800 – 2000 Kbps throughput. 

I also tried my son’s ITouch.  It seemed to work very well for SD programs.  If you tried to stream an HD broadcast, the picture wasn’t very clear.  It normally had about 800 to 1400 Kbps.

I also tested the Japan Slingbox from another city in Japan (about 500 miles away.)  Using the IPad, quality would fluctuate often.  I could get above 2000 Kbps but at times it would be stuck at 500 Kbps.   Sometimes the connection would drop completely.  But from this location, my US Slingbox performed consistently.

Okay, now I’m back in the US.  Here’s what I’ve noticed.

As expected, the Slingcatcher cannot make a connection to the Japan Slingbox.  I just had to test for myself!

On both Mac computers, I get a great picture and rates about 2500 Kbps.  My IPads gives the same results as in Japan: the quality fluctuates and connection disconnects.

I just installed the Mountain Lion OS that allows you to use AirPlay from your Mac computer.  It works great!  Nice picture at about 2500 Kbps.  HD looks fine on my 55 inch.  There were very brief and occasional freezes but acceptable to me.

I believe the major performance consideration between the Japan and US Slingbox while remote viewing is based on the protocol used.  The US Slinbox uses TCP because port-forwarding is working correctly.  But the one in Japan must use UDP.

Although TCP cannot attain the same throughput as with UDP, TCP can offer the application a reliable stream of data, in order, complete and error free. 

UDP does not do any of that, it merely pushes the data to the Slingplayer and the application must manage it as best as it can.   The computers are able to process the data much better than the IPads because their CPU’s can likely handle the extra burden more effectively.

I’m sure if I get port-forwarding to work correctly on the Japan router, my performance will improve on the IPads.  But at that point, I back to using my Slingcatcher with the IPad as an option.

Now for your issue:

I believe the link you provided shows how to set up a router for port-forwarding. 

We're you successful in that effort? Or like me, after configuration, you were not able to remotely view from any device?

For more regarding TCP and UDP:

http://placeshiftingenthusiasts.com/forum/slingbox-and-your-netwo…..cp-vs-udp/

Hi,

It's interesting that you used a timer to periodically power on/off your router.  I suspecting it’s the type normally used to control a lamp etc…  That’s a great idea if you don’t have confidence in your router!  You just wait and the problem is eventually resolved?

Here is what I think is going on: When your router reboots, your Slingbox loses its Ethernet link.  That condition will likely cause your Slingbox to perform certain tasks once the link has recovered. 

I think you are correct in your observation that your router is not yet fully functional before the Slingbox link becomes active.  Once the Slingbox thinks his connection has been re-enabled, he likely will try to register with Sling resources on the Internet without delay.  I’m guessing your Slingbox is suffering from not completing these conditional tasks in a timely manner.

For the situation you described, I don’t believe the protocol is the issue.   Try this:  Install an external switch (not a router) between your existing router and your Slingbox.  Do not connect this switch to a timer.  Then when your router reboots, your Slingbox will NOT lose his Ethernet connection.  Of course, it will temporarily have no Internet access but guessing that will not cause your Slingbox to behave in the same manner.  Hopefully, it can withstand the brief outage without the need of a reset or re-config.

Good luck.

In general, I believe that TCP would provide better stability.

That said it would be a mistake to say this is always true.  I’m not an expert on Slingbox but I do have experience in analyzing network performance.  There many factors outside of the protocol which may be responsible for poor performance.

After connecting to my Slingbox, my Slingplayer shows the bit rate increasing slowly.  Since you say the stream breaks up after some minutes, could it be related to the bit rate?  If you have your Slingplayer set to auto, you may want to experiment with the quality setting.  You may find stability at a lower setting.

Additionally, I’m beginning to observe performance variations on different devices on the same remote network.  As in my previous post, I noticed I get a very stable connection when using my computer, but my IPad freezes and drops after some time. 

By the way, I don't believe the IP address on the support page is of any consequence.  I noticed my IP address and name are incorrect but it works fine. 

Enjoy your vacation.