Beginner: Display Cable TV on Sony Laptop

[GeorgeF1]

Apologies for this question, but couldn't find it in the forums, probably because it's so basic.

I have a Sony Vaio laptop that does not have a tv tuner. I subscribe to cable tv (comes in through a cable, into a set-top box, and displayed on tv). I would like to access these cable channels that I pay for on my laptop. Is this do-able? If so, can you tell me briefly what I need to do?

(My guess is to first obtain a USB tuner (I have no slots available), and acquire appropriate software. But my confusion is how the cable tv signal magically gets from the cable to my PC. (I want to do this wirelessly - no cable into the laptop)

Anyway, thank you for your consideration.

George

[sub]

(My guess is to first obtain a USB tuner (I have no slots available), and acquire appropriate software. But my confusion is how the cable tv signal magically gets from the cable to my PC. (I want to do this wirelessly - no cable into the laptop)

Wirelessly isnt really possible. If you want to receive cable channels, then that cable is going to need to be connected to the USB tuner connected to your laptop.

You can kind of do it wirelessly by having another PC acting as a server (with tuner and cable connected there), then setup your laptop as a client (streaming over 802.11n etc), but it's not going to be great for live tv. It would be ok for playing back recordings recorded by the server though. You'd be much better off with the cable connected to the USB tuner connected to your laptop.