A slow Internet connection at home can affect picture quality when using Internet Viewing

One of the "must haves" for viewing over the Internet is a high-speed Internet connection at home. You need high-speed (broadband) Internet service at home in order to get quality video when you watch remotely.

The typical home broadband service has one "downstream" bandwidth and a different "upstream" bandwidth (Bandwidth refers to the speed and the amount of data being transferred). Usually the downstream bandwidth is faster—often by a big margin—than the upstream bandwidth. 

This allows you to quickly download big web sites and large files from the Internet. What you typically upload are much smaller files, such as emails and text documents. Uploading, in most cases, requires much less bandwidth.

When you’re viewing your Slingbox remotely, it’s uploading data, so the faster the upstream rate, the more video data your Slingbox can send out to the Internet. An upstream bandwidth of 256 Kbps (Kilobits per second) or more is recommended. Check with your ISP to find out what your broadband upstream bandwidth is, and to discuss upgrading to a speedier service, if necessary.

SlingPlayer and Watch on Slingbox.com display the upstream bandwidth in the lower right side of their windows (See the screenshots below).