I used to be able to control my TV with SlingPlayer or Watch on Slingbox.com. Now it doesn't work. What's wrong?

Yes, this can be very frustrating.

Why does this happen?
Remember, your Slingbox doesn't control your TV directly. It controls a device that you have connected to your TV like a cable/satellite box, DVR, TiVo, DVD player, etc. That way, your TV doesn't have to be turned on and your Slingbox will work just fine. Anyway, if your Slingbox can't control that device, you'll probably be stuck watching the same channel or watching the same movie, over and over.


The first thing to check is the IR Blaster.
The IR Blaster is that black thing that should be hanging over the front edge of the device that you want to control. Make sure that it is sitting properly in front of the device, as shown below. Sometimes they get dislodged and aren't in the right place anymore.



Next, check the IR cable.
Make sure that the cable for the IR blaster is fully inserted into the proper port on the back of your Slingbox.

 

If that doesn't work, verify the software setup.

There are two ways to do this. You can do either:

• Go to Setup on Slingbox.com (there's a link below) and run through the setup of your Slingbox again.

• Launch SlingPlayer on your computer (PC or Mac) and go through the Setup Assistant again. On the PC, it's under the Settings menu. On the Mac, it's under the Help menu.

In either place, as you go through setting up your Slingbox, make sure that you specify the make and model of the device that you want to control.


If trying the steps above doesn't fix the problem, see the related articles.