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After 3 weeks my pros and cons

It's been almost 3 weeks since I purchased 4 Chromecasts. I have some Pros and Cons about my experience. I encourage you to add your own Pro/Con list.
Pros:
- Cheap. At $35 it's an impulse buy. I expect to see it at the checkout aisle of the supermarket next to the gift cards.
- Cheap will make it ubiquitous. Every app developer will rush to make their app Chromecastable.
- Extremely easy to set up. Some have had troubles as we've seen on this forum but my daughter set hers up without a single phone call to me. And she has absolutely no tech skills.
- I absolutely, positively love the ability to queue YouTube videos. I wish Netflix had that and I hope other app developers pick up on that. I wish there was one central queue where I could queue up Netflix, YouTube, Google Music, et all in one big queue. I could plan a whole night's viewing and then just sit back and watch.
- Shared control. It's nice that I can start a video and leave the room and my wife can take over control of it on her device. Very clever.
- Doesn't tie up my device. I can do other things while watching a video. Multitasking as it were.
- I can start a video on my phone then cast it to my family room TV, then pause it and start playing it on my bedroom PC, then pause it and finish it on my tablet. Very versitile.
- Video quality is superb. 1080p is very nice from the Chromecast. As good as cable TV.
- Audio is also superb. 5.1 is a nice surprise.
- If you have multiple wifi routers with multiple SSIDs you can control a Chromecast across SSIDs. And you see all the Chromecasts no matter which SSID you're currently using.
CONS
- Using the phone/tablet as a remote is not as convenient as a real remote. We have an unwritten rule in our house that when someone starts a conversation we pause the TV. With a real remote I can do this in a split second without looking at the remote. Using Chromecast I can't. Not only do I have to look at the phone, thus ignoring the person that is talking to me, I have to find the app that cast the video and start it up again to be able to pause it. This has made for an awkward situation more than once.
- It's not a perfect device, lots of app tweaking needs to be done.
- Sometimes I get spinning circle on my phone and it never casts.
- Sometimes I get spinning circle on my phone but the cast actually starts. This is not good at all as I have no way of pausing or stopping it from my phone. Same thing happens to my tablet so it's not a device specific issue.
- There's no ability to reduce picture quality. If I'm in a hotel using my phone's hot spot capability I could easily eat up 5gb of data watching a 1080p movie when 480p, or even less, would have been satisfactory.
- It has connectivity issues with some routers, especially Verizon FIOS' Actiontec router. There's not much in the way of documentation to help with this. The help information refers to turning off a feature that the router doesn't have.
BOTTOM LINE
The Chromecast is not a perfect device, like all devices, but the low cost and ease use make up for a lot of its misgivings. Almost all of the Cons I have listed can be corrected by software updates. I only see this product as getting better and better. The only fear is that it becomes another Google castoff like Google TV or Google Reader or Google Q or Buzz. But at $35 there's not much risk.
This product is a sign of the future and the future is bright. With many devices battling for this space, Apple TV, Roku, etc. we will all be the winners. Just as many people have multiple game consoles so will many people have multiple streaming devices. This is going to be a fun ride.

TabGuy said:
There's no ability to reduce picture quality. If I'm in a hotel using my phone's hot spot capability I could easily eat up 5gb of data watching a 1080p movie when 480p, or even less, would have been satisfactory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, what? Have you been able to get it to work using a hotspot? Everything I've read says it's not currently possible.

We need more app's....

TabGuy said:
- Extremely easy to set up. Some have had troubles as we've seen on this forum but my daughter set hers up without a single phone call to me. And she has absolutely no tech skills.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I was setting it up, I had no idea I needed a WiFi device for first time set up. I was using my desktop connected to my router with the WiFi turned off. So quickly I assumed it was because of that. (I have a WAP broadcasting another SSID so i turned off my router) After I turned on my router, I was still getting the same problem stating my WiFi was off. Then I feared that my desktop needed to be a WiFi device to work with the Chromecast. After some quick searches I found that the WiFi device was just for setup which I did on my phone and got it up and running smoothly.
TabGuy said:
- If you have multiple wifi routers with multiple SSIDs you can control a Chromecast across SSIDs. And you see all the Chromecasts no matter which SSID you're currently using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So my setup was kind of like this, and i feared that it would not work. After the setup, I just installed the extension on Chrome for all my computers in the family and it showed up on all of them. Relieved and happy that it was simpler than I was dreading.

andrewhchiu said:
As I was setting it up, I had no idea I needed a WiFi device for first time set up. I was using my desktop connected to my router with the WiFi turned off. So quickly I assumed it was because of that. (I have a WAP broadcasting another SSID so i turned off my router) After I turned on my router, I was still getting the same problem stating my WiFi was off. Then I feared that my desktop needed to be a WiFi device to work with the Chromecast. After some quick searches I found that the WiFi device was just for setup which I did on my phone and got it up and running smoothly.
So my setup was kind of like this, and i feared that it would not work. After the setup, I just installed the extension on Chrome for all my computers in the family and it showed up on all of them. Relieved and happy that it was simpler than I was dreading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Common sense should tell you that you can't connect to the Chromecast through your wireless network before it get connected to your wireless network. Assuming it's protected with a password how do you suppose Chromecast would connect to it? And for open networks I think it's illegal to just auto connect to open networks. I would think that most people buying a Chromecast would have a smartphone or tablet.

rkirmeier said:
Common sense should tell you that you can't connect to the Chromecast through your wireless network before it get connected to your wireless network. Assuming it's protected with a password how do you suppose Chromecast would connect to it? And for open networks I think it's illegal to just auto connect to open networks. I would think that most people buying a Chromecast would have a smartphone or tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured it was going to be something like connecting a bluetooth device where it would broadcast its own signal and then you can connect to it. but i guess i wasn't thinking.

Echo the majority of the above comments, still too early to be overly concerned that Google hasn't yet released their chrome cast API.
I'm in UK so had to wait slightly longer than others for my US bought one (first day purchase) to arrive here in the UK, but its here I love Google play , Google movies and YouTube integration
Waiting for CM casting to go live and hopefully be implemented into aokp.
Not tried casting chrome tabs from my laptop yet or my hard wired pc workstation, is it true that sounds cabled PC's can have issues connecting to chromecast
Am I meant to be able to cast from chrome browser tabs on my N4 ?

WiFi Network dependency

Hi,
Do I need a standalone WiFi network available to cast from my device to the TV or not?
Will I be able to go to friend and cast something from my tablet to his TV even thou he does not have WiFi at home?

Yes, you need a WiFi network and an Internet connection accessible from that.
If you just have your tablet and Chromecast, the Chromecast won't be able to find a network, as your tablet is not a WiFi access point.
I don't know of anyone who has tried setting up their phone/tablet as a WiFi hot spot and connecting Chromecast to that. I'm not certain how Android hotspot NATs and/or isolates clients.
Best to just bring a small wireless router. There are a number of "travel router" devices that have an internal battery or can be powered via USB.
Connect it to your friend's Internet connection, then off you go.
If the goal is just to show stuff from your tablet on your friend's TV, it might be easier/cheaper to just go hardwired with an HDMI or VGA output adapter for your tablet, if it has that option.

bhiga said:
I don't know of anyone who has tried setting up their phone/tablet as a WiFi hot spot and connecting Chromecast to that. I'm not certain how Android hotspot NATs and/or isolates clients.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ooOOoo interesting idea.
I'll have to try that this weekend.

-Lawless said:
ooOOoo interesting idea.
I'll have to try that this weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember that Chromecast still needs a connection to the Internet in order to negotiate the application launch.

Thus the Hotspot. Just might work.

My friend is technologically challenged
He's got no internet at home apart from out mobile phones which we can use for internet at his place...
So, can I use my phone's Wifi hotspot to and use my phone/tablet to stream the web to his TV?
How does the Chrome cast work? Is the tablet interphase only used to set up a link between the dongle and the wifi sender/ router?

For native apps, Chromecast works more like a your phone/tablet in the fact that it pulls the requested data and plays on its own. The video isn't going from the Internet to your phone/tablet, then from your phone/tablet to the Chromecast, your phone/tablet "hands off" the request to the Chromecast and the video goes directly from the Internet to the Chromecast. The control via tablet/phone is done through a "side" channel that Chromecast listens on, which also lets your phone/tablet know what Chromecast is doing.
For example, YouTube...
You open YouTube on your phone/tablet
You find a video
You cast it to your Chromecast
Chromecast "phones home" to Google to figure out how to handle the request (I think)
Google replies with "Use the YouTube app"
Chromecast runs its YouTube app to open the link and starts playing
While it's playing on, Chromecast sends its status to your phone/tablet and listens for control commands.
So... Using your phone's WiFi Hotspot for the Chromecast might (should?) work, and what'll happen is Chromecast will connect to your phone via WiFi, and your phone will connect to Internet via mobile network.
In this case the streaming performance will be limited by both your phone's mobile data speed as well as the WiFi connection speed/stability between your phone and the Chromecast.
While I don't necessarily think this will provide a good viewing experience, it's an interesting experiment.
If you have a rooted Chromecast with Kyocast, you should be able to use the un-timebombed AllCast/AirCast to stream video stored on your phone to the Chromecast. It'll still use mobile data to "phone home" (to the Kyocast server) to figure out how to deal with the request, which will launch the AllCast/AirCast magic. From there I believe the video data will stream directly from your phone to the Chromecast, not using your mobile data... I think.

bhiga said:
For native apps, Chromecast works more like a your phone/tablet in the fact that it pulls the requested data and plays on its own. The video isn't going from the Internet to your phone/tablet, then from your phone/tablet to the Chromecast, your phone/tablet "hands off" the request to the Chromecast and the video goes directly from the Internet to the Chromecast. The control via tablet/phone is done through a "side" channel that Chromecast listens on, which also lets your phone/tablet know what Chromecast is doing.
For example, YouTube...
You open YouTube on your phone/tablet
You find a video
You cast it to your Chromecast
Chromecast "phones home" to Google to figure out how to handle the request (I think)
Google replies with "Use the YouTube app"
Chromecast runs its YouTube app to open the link and starts playing
While it's playing on, Chromecast sends its status to your phone/tablet and listens for control commands.
So... Using your phone's WiFi Hotspot for the Chromecast might (should?) work, and what'll happen is Chromecast will connect to your phone via WiFi, and your phone will connect to Internet via mobile network.
In this case the streaming performance will be limited by both your phone's mobile data speed as well as the WiFi connection speed/stability between your phone and the Chromecast.
While I don't necessarily think this will provide a good viewing experience, it's an interesting experiment.
If you have a rooted Chromecast with Kyocast, you should be able to use the un-timebombed AllCast/AirCast to stream video stored on your phone to the Chromecast. It'll still use mobile data to "phone home" (to the Kyocast server) to figure out how to deal with the request, which will launch the AllCast/AirCast magic. From there I believe the video data will stream directly from your phone to the Chromecast, not using your mobile data... I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx so much for all this data. Not sure whether I wanna try the rooting now. Will wait to see what Google has in store in the next month. It's rooting the dongle easy? Rooting phones comes naturally by now...
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 4

It's really easy with Flashcast but if your Chromecast has been connected to the Internet for more than a few minutes then it has probably auto updated to a non-root able state.

-Lawless said:
ooOOoo interesting idea.
I'll have to try that this weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been doing that for weeks now, if you access 3G (4G) from your device then set it as an access point, and connect to its network with CC. Then all you need is something else to connect to Netflix and the same WiFi access point (a tablet for example or another phone) and you can send it to CC.
The other device is necessary because the Netflix app doesn't show the CC share icon when connected to 3G, whereas on the other device because it's connected to 3G through a mobile WiFi access point it does.
You could use a MiFi instead.
I use it in hotels this way with the CC plugged into the hotel TV (if I'm lucky)

chromecast without internet

Appletv will have this feature, hope chromecast will have it too in the future. This will be useful for streaming local contents when on a different house or at a hotel.
http://blog.gsmarena.com/ios-8-lets-airplay-apple-tv-without-connecting-wi-fi/

The Chromecast will never operate without an internet connection because it loads its apps from the internet.
If you load an app like Plex that streams local content, you can continue operating without an internet connection until you exit that app.

krizz07 means without an access point so WiFi direct for streaming from device to device (something I'd love to have ). Chromecast does have a WiFi connection that you use during set up so this should be possible but who knows.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk

whitenoise81 said:
krizz07 means without an access point so WiFi direct for streaming from device to device (something I'd love to have ). Chromecast does have a WiFi connection that you use during set up so this should be possible but who knows.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't matter....It can not load an app from anywhere but the Internet. All Apps must first be checked against a whitelist kept on Google Servers so until such time as Google gets rid of the whitelist you will need an Internet connection to do anything with the device.

Sounds like something that could.be 'fixed' in firmware ,at least for simple pic/vid playback
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk

DJames1 said:
The Chromecast will never operate without an internet connection because it loads its apps from the internet.
If you load an app like Plex that streams local content, you can continue operating without an internet connection until you exit that app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if the chromecast can keep something temporarily, then it should technically just get it from the host device right? and since it can already broadcast an access point so it can function without internet initially.

Then it would be a Roku. Don't hold your breath waiting for Google, buy a Roku.

DJames1 said:
Then it would be a Roku. Don't hold your breath waiting for Google, buy a Roku.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesnt really work for teh way i wanted to use the CC. I Bought an ezcast dongle, its not as slick but its way more flexible

krizz07 said:
Appletv will have this feature, hope chromecast will have it too in the future. This will be useful for streaming local contents when on a different house or at a hotel.
http://blog.gsmarena.com/ios-8-lets-airplay-apple-tv-without-connecting-wi-fi/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems you can do that with your chromecast
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2791313
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I tried what is explined in the link. it still ask for internet. Fyi...i have new chromecast

How can I use chromecast on a closed network (no internet)

If the network has internet initially, it buys me the time to enable screen casting after which the link remains up. The problem is when powering on the chromecast without internet access. It effectively disables the device and makes it invisible to the screen cast search.
Is there any way to circumvent this limitation? I don't need the chromecast to have any access to the internet at all for my usage.

Xenosis said:
If the network has internet initially, it buys me the time to enable screen casting after which the link remains up. The problem is when powering on the chromecast without internet access. It effectively disables the device and makes it invisible to the screen cast search.
Is there any way to circumvent this limitation? I don't need the chromecast to have any access to the internet at all for my usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope the CCast needs Internet to load the app it uses to display your screen or anything that is being streamed to it!

Asphyx said:
Nope the CCast needs Internet to load the app it uses to display your screen or anything that is being streamed to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it might be theoretically possible to supply that app in the closed network?
It doesn't need the internet for screen casting at all, just the in-app chromecast link, which I don't use at all. I just use the mirroring functionality.

Xenosis said:
So it might be theoretically possible to supply that app in the closed network?
It doesn't need the internet for screen casting at all, just the in-app chromecast link, which I don't use at all. I just use the mirroring functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope!
Not unless it is rooted and you have your own local Whitelisting that points to your own app....
And you would STILL have to fnd some way of downloading and storing a local version of the mirroring app that is normally loaded from the internet to point to with your custom whitelist.

Asphyx said:
Nope!
Not unless it is rooted and you have your own local Whitelisting that points to your own app....
And you would STILL have to fnd some way of downloading and storing a local version of the mirroring app that is normally loaded from the internet to point to with your custom whitelist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im not able to do any kind of "offline" playback
which was a big part of me rooting ...
so how would i go about trying to have a local app for the whitelist etc ....

miniminus said:
im not able to do any kind of "offline" playback
which was a big part of me rooting ...
so how would i go about trying to have a local app for the whitelist etc ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Next to impossible....
The playback will stay offline but it still needs an internet connection to load the player that will do the playback....

i've been googling for hours. the whole world is crying out for this.. Give me Chromecast mirroring without internet!
Surely with a rooted phone and rooted CC it must be achievable.
Anyone ever log where the CC goes looking for the streaming app? If we can work out that surely we can:
Download it manually.
Host the app on laptop/tablet - Redirect via DNS or webserver.. proxy.. something!..
I may try and hook up my CC through my wifi internet sharing so i can wireshark to see where and what its doing via the internet.. so i can then attempt to spoof it..
(I really want to get this working on WifiAP alone - no internet). (I got a lot of places with no internet whatsover available).
Any other suggestions would be appreciated..
(I dont have a rooted CC at this point so i may have trouble).

Sage said:
i've been googling for hours. the whole world is crying out for this.. Give me Chromecast mirroring without internet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you want to look at using is Miracast....But it requires having a device that supports it.
Most Miracast Dongles also have a DLNA Mode that will allow you to send streams of content to directly play on it allowing you to use other apps on the launching device.

Asphyx said:
What you want to look at using is Miracast....But it requires having a device that supports it.
Most Miracast Dongles also have a DLNA Mode that will allow you to send streams of content to directly play on it allowing you to use other apps on the launching device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I happen to be in a particularly rare (I hope) situation as the HTC One m7 that I have cannot properly do miracasting but can do chromecasting very well. By not properly, I mean netflix screen remains black on the receiving device when attempting to miracast.

Xenosis said:
I happen to be in a particularly rare (I hope) situation as the HTC One m7 that I have cannot properly do miracasting but can do chromecasting very well. By not properly, I mean netflix screen remains black on the receiving device when attempting to miracast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep there is a lot involved in getting any of these to work due to the limitations of both systems...
There are other ways to go about getting what you want...
1 - Get a Roku which you can send content to using a variety of means or control directly if you get a model with a remote.
2 - Get one of the many Android Sticks and load up a DLNA player (like aVia) that most CCast capable apps can send content to directly.
3 - If you have a cell phone simply buy and add a Mobile Hotspot device to the account that shares your data allotment. You won't be using a lot of data if all you are doing is streaming local content, just the small data needed to load up the receiver app the CCast needs. And you have Data and Internet capability anywhere when you need it.
But the CCast itself is meant to be little more than adding some smart capability to a TV which in most cases requires internet access.
That's why it's so cheap because it doesn't require any storage to keep Apps on the device it gets it all from the Internet....
Unfortunately it also gives Google complete control of what can be displayed on the device which is why everyone was so quick to root the device.
Perhaps in the future some Developer will make a custom rom that allows direct streaming without the need for Internet connection...
But who knows what kind of hornets nest that might stir up with the content providers. Right now everyone agrees the most important thing is to get more support from content providers for the CCast Device and concept.
Anything that might get them to shy away is probably not worth doing right now

Asphyx said:
Yep there is a lot involved in getting any of these to work due to the limitations of both systems...
There are other ways to go about getting what you want...
1 - Get a Roku which you can send content to using a variety of means or control directly if you get a model with a remote.
2 - Get one of the many Android Sticks and load up a DLNA player (like aVia) that most CCast capable apps can send content to directly.
3 - If you have a cell phone simply buy and add a Mobile Hotspot device to the account that shares your data allotment. You won't be using a lot of data if all you are doing is streaming local content, just the small data needed to load up the receiver app the CCast needs. And you have Data and Internet capability anywhere when you need it.
But the CCast itself is meant to be little more than adding some smart capability to a TV which in most cases requires internet access.
That's why it's so cheap because it doesn't require any storage to keep Apps on the device it gets it all from the Internet....
Unfortunately it also gives Google complete control of what can be displayed on the device which is why everyone was so quick to root the device.
Perhaps in the future some Developer will make a custom rom that allows direct streaming without the need for Internet connection...
But who knows what kind of hornets nest that might stir up with the content providers. Right now everyone agrees the most important thing is to get more support from content providers for the CCast Device and concept.
Anything that might get them to shy away is probably not worth doing right now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello. I'm trying to mirror my new Nexus 6 to my TV using a Microsoft Wireless Display adapter. The N6 does not officially support miracast, but I enabled through a build.prop edit and using WiFi Direct. It works perfect for everything except Netflix and Hulu (just audio works with a black screen and controls displaying). I'm guessing this is a HDCP/DRM problem. Anyway around this? Would Chromecast work? The N6 does support CC., but I DO NOT have internet in my home. I don't want to stream anything on the TV. Just stream on my phone and display on the TV. If I use hotspot to establish an initial connection for the Chromecast, then turn the hotspot off, would mirroring still work?
Thanks

Direct answer I think is no if you need to get external content. If you enable a hotspot, you will be able to hook the chromecast up to your phone and it will have internet. You would then be stuck as to connect to the chromecast you would have to disable the hotspot. After doing that, your chromecast is thrown into the abyss and needs a new network to connect to.
If your intended usage is in-home then you just need a chromecast pushing device in an isolated wifi network. That wifi network can be your phone with tethering on. You can use another phone (doesn't need data, just wifi) to cast to your chromecast and get data over the tethered connection.
If you want to cast a local file to chromecast, you can get any cheapo router that would be connected to nothing and that should all work smoothly without even using a hotspot.
I happen to be in the same boat when it comes to black screen miracast and yes I think it is an HDCP problem. I am searching high and low for a way to disable HDCP checking when outputing over wifi.
Useful info though not about my phone or yours:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z2/help/how-to-skip-disable-hdcp-checkcan-t2854550
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nex...-mirroring-broken-t2599349/page2#post57456682
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660448&page=2
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49265142&postcount=118

ryan4a said:
Hello. I'm trying to mirror my new Nexus 6 to my TV using a Microsoft Wireless Display adapter. The N6 does not officially support miracast, but I enabled through a build.prop edit and using WiFi Direct. It works perfect for everything except Netflix and Hulu (just audio works with a black screen and controls displaying). I'm guessing this is a HDCP/DRM problem. Anyway around this? Would Chromecast work? The N6 does support CC., but I DO NOT have internet in my home. I don't want to stream anything on the TV. Just stream on my phone and display on the TV. If I use hotspot to establish an initial connection for the Chromecast, then turn the hotspot off, would mirroring still work?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No your Video issue is probably a codec issue with your wireless display adapter.
I'm pretty sure also that Netflix and Hulu have protected their displays so that screen casting would not work.
It's not HDCP/DRM per say but it is a way of protecting the content from being copied.

Xenosis said:
Direct answer I think is no if you need to get external content. If you enable a hotspot, you will be able to hook the chromecast up to your phone and it will have internet. You would then be stuck as to connect to the chromecast you would have to disable the hotspot. After doing that, your chromecast is thrown into the abyss and needs a new network to connect to.
If your intended usage is in-home then you just need a chromecast pushing device in an isolated wifi network. That wifi network can be your phone with tethering on. You can use another phone (doesn't need data, just wifi) to cast to your chromecast and get data over the tethered connection.
If you want to cast a local file to chromecast, you can get any cheapo router that would be connected to nothing and that should all work smoothly without even using a hotspot.
I happen to be in the same boat when it comes to black screen miracast and yes I think it is an HDCP problem. I am searching high and low for a way to disable HDCP checking when outputing over wifi.
Useful info though not about my phone or yours:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z2/help/how-to-skip-disable-hdcp-checkcan-t2854550
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nex...-mirroring-broken-t2599349/page2#post57456682
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660448&page=2
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49265142&postcount=118
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. This solution worked...sort of. I'm was able to tether my data from my Nexus 6 to an ipad and the chromecast to establish the initial connection. Now, I disconnect the ipad and the chromecast will still be connected to my tethered network. This allows me to stream Netflix and also mirror local content using only the chromecast and my tethered N6. It is a workaround, but I was hoping to use pure miracast and avoid tethering. But oh well.
---------- Post added at 05:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:55 PM ----------
Asphyx said:
No your Video issue is probably a codec issue with your wireless display adapter.
I'm pretty sure also that Netflix and Hulu have protected their displays so that screen casting would not work.
It's not HDCP/DRM per say but it is a way of protecting the content from being copied.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. That's what I thought too. See my response above.Looks like I'll be returning the microsoft adapter, unless the following will eventually work:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/help/nexus-6-miracast-t2952461/post57462471#post57462471

Asphyx said:
No your Video issue is probably a codec issue with your wireless display adapter.
I'm pretty sure also that Netflix and Hulu have protected their displays so that screen casting would not work.
It's not HDCP/DRM per say but it is a way of protecting the content from being copied.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there any way around this limitation?

ryan4a said:
Thanks. This solution worked...sort of. I'm was able to tether my data from my Nexus 6 to an ipad and the chromecast to establish the initial connection. Now, I disconnect the ipad and the chromecast will still be connected to my tethered network. This allows me to stream Netflix and also mirror local content using only the chromecast and my tethered N6. It is a workaround, but I was hoping to use pure miracast and avoid tethering. But oh well.
---------- Post added at 05:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:55 PM ----------
Thanks. That's what I thought too. See my response above.Looks like I'll be returning the microsoft adapter, unless the following will eventually work:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/help/nexus-6-miracast-t2952461/post57462471#post57462471
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Click to collapse
Even better solution - try this out:
You can set up a mobile hotspot, pair the chromecast to that hotspot one time with another android device, and than go into the chromecast app on the hotspot phone, and finally ignore turning wifi back on and just cast screen to the chromecast. It works flawlessly.

Xenosis said:
Even better solution - try this out:
You can set up a mobile hotspot, pair the chromecast to that hotspot one time with another android device, and than go into the chromecast app on the hotspot phone, and finally ignore turning wifi back on and just cast screen to the chromecast. It works flawlessly.
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Click to collapse
Thanks. Not sure I know what you mean. I'm really trying to eliminate the need for hotspot completely. I have an unlimited data plant and I'm worried AT&T will find out about my unauthorized tethering, then force me into a capped plan.

ryan4a said:
Thanks. Not sure I know what you mean. I'm really trying to eliminate the need for hotspot completely. I have an unlimited data plant and I'm worried AT&T will find out about my unauthorized tethering, then force me into a capped plan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what's great about using screen cast. The chromecast won't actually be pulling data from the hotspot. It's somehow piggybacking on the devices hotspot wifi network subnet and just pushing data directly to the chromecast. Your phone will authentically be pulling any stream data from your data plan as it would normally.
ie the chromecast is just a receiver in this configuration. In terms of actually casting an app, I'm not even sure if that is possible so I don't think you'd even accidentally be having your chromecast use data.
There would be the small amount of chromecast traffic checking for an update or whatever it does idly and that would go out over your phones data.
To be safe I would recommend something like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.formichelli.tetheringfix&hl=en
I don't think they could force you to change plans but they could charge you for the additional hotspot service. A working tether fix should spoof any hotspot traffic as your phone. Typically these giant companies aren't worried about the small-fry data users (talking insignificant here with a chromecast).

Xenosis said:
That's what's great about using screen cast. The chromecast won't actually be pulling data from the hotspot. It's somehow piggybacking on the devices hotspot wifi network subnet and just pushing data directly to the chromecast. Your phone will authentically be pulling any stream data from your data plan as it would normally.
ie the chromecast is just a receiver in this configuration. In terms of actually casting an app, I'm not even sure if that is possible so I don't think you'd even accidentally be having your chromecast use data.
There would be the small amount of chromecast traffic checking for an update or whatever it does idly and that would go out over your phones data.
To be safe I would recommend something like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.formichelli.tetheringfix&hl=en
I don't think they could force you to change plans but they could charge you for the additional hotspot service. A working tether fix should spoof any hotspot traffic as your phone. Typically these giant companies aren't worried about the small-fry data users (talking insignificant here with a chromecast).
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Click to collapse
Right...this method works for casting the screen and playing YouTube videos only. But if I want to use Netflix or Hulu, I have to cast it through the chromecast. When I try to simply mirror Netflix, I get the same black screen I get when using a regular miracast dongle. So the chromecast is using my data, but maybe it would be the same amount as if I was streaming Netflix directly on my phone.
And here is how I enabled tethering on an unlimited plant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wF2BZ2gx7r8
Not sure if this uses the same method as the app you referenced above, or if AT&T will notice.

ryan4a said:
Right...this method works for casting the screen and playing YouTube videos only. But if I want to use Netflix or Hulu, I have to cast it through the chromecast. When I try to simply mirror Netflix, I get the same black screen I get when using a regular miracast dongle. So the chromecast is using my data, but maybe it would be the same amount as if I was streaming Netflix directly on my phone.
And here is how I enabled tethering on an unlimited plant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wF2BZ2gx7r8
Not sure if this uses the same method as the app you referenced above, or if AT&T will notice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. That is too bad. I have the same miracast problem with Netflix but chromecast always worked for screen casting (whole OS) and normal app-based casting.

Chromecast : worst experience ever !

Hi guys,
Is it just me, or is the Chromecast about the most ridiculous device ever made ?
It does not only need a Wi-Fi connection (which is normal : the wireless signal has to come from somewhere) but it also needs an internet connection.
I would like to cast the screen of my smartphone when I'm not at home.
So I got me a wireless router.
I activate it.
The Chromecast can connect to it.
The Smartphone can connect to it.
And so the smartphone can connect to the Chromecast.
But that's it...
I can't cast anything because I have no internet connection.
OK.
So I turned on my phone as an access point.
I then configured the travel router to get the internet connection from the phone.
Cool... now the Chromecast says it's ready to cast.
But now I'm stuck because as soon as I want to cast something from my phone to the Chromecast, I have to turn Wi-Fi on...
But turning on Wi-Fi on my phone disables the AP.
And so the Chromecast refuses to display anything because it's not connected to the internet anymore !
Isn't that about the most stupid thing ever designed ?
Frankly, I then see only really little use to it...
And I think I am not the only one : there are about 10 apps that are Cast capable...
And that after more than a year the dongle has been released !
Will look for something that is able to cast without an internet connection.
Will probably be much easier... and maybe even cheaper !
If you have an advice on how to get this POS to work without an internet connection, I'll gladly take your advice.
If that is not easily achieved, if you have an alternative, I'll gladly consider it...
regards.

What are you trying to send to your Chromecast? Netflix, YouTube, and other services that have the cast button basically act as remote controls for the Chromecast, but it needs its own Internet connection to stream the content as your phone is just inputting commands for it.
You could try (albeit I've never done this) connecting the Chromecast to your hotspot access point, and then just using the built-in screen mirroring feature of the Chromecast app. Granted, that would mean you'd have to leave your phone's screen on...but it would show the same thing that's on the phone, on the TV. And I'm not sure if that would even work since you still don't have WiFi on and your phone is acting as the modem and not as a device on the same network.
The only other things I could suggest, would be to buy additional hardware. You could go through your carrier to purchase one of those hotspot devices, then connect your phone and your Chromecast to that, and that will work. Though with that option you'll most likely have to pay an extra fee for the data line for the hotspot device. The other route you could take, would be to buy a cheap tablet or another phone and use it as the controller when your primary phone is in hotspot mode. The latter option is what my friend does as he uses his phone's unlimited data plan to provide Internet through his entire house when he's at home...and just uses his tablet to stream Netflix to the Chromecast.

If you have no internet connection, you'll be streaming everything over your mobile data connection anyway. That's going to get expensive, but whatever...
So why are you using the router if you can't get a wired or WiFi internet connection? Just turn on the WiFi access point mode on your phone, and have the Chromecast connect to it. Then both your phone and the Chromecast will be on the same LAN.

You even need an Internet connection when streaming local media because (1) the device has to constantly authenticate with Google, which I swear Google isn't going to be logging or abusing, and (b) the Chromecast is relatively stupid by streaming and spec standards, and you can't just give it a file and expect it to work.
That's why so many apps will take forever to load large pictures (slower than a picture CD) or even to unpause media... it throws its buffer away on pause.
Why not just try an HDMI cable? No WiFi needed, all local codecs are supported, etc.

I recommend you do basic research on a product before purchasing it next time. You should look into cheap miracast dongles.

I like my chromecast, but my android stick gets about 10x more usage. Chromecast seriously needs some more streaming services. If you don't have Netflix, in the UK it has about two widely used apps (youtube and iplayer), and that's it, not great this far on.

Ridiculous device ever made? Get yourself an internet connection for your house and then try the showbox app and allcast app to send the media to the Chromecast. I have 2 Chromecast in my house and I use it daily. If you simply want to cast your screen without internet. Get a slimport to HDMI cable.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

NexusPenguin said:
Is it just me, or is the Chromecast about the most ridiculous device ever made ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just you... Everyone else have internet connection at home, which is normal these days...

Hi Srandista,
Yes, everyboby has an internet connection at home.
But then again, everybody probably also has :
- a Blu-Ray player with Wi-Fi and/or Ethernet ;
- a television that is Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Ethernet enabled ;
- a media player/streamer that is Ethernet and Wi-Fi enabled...
So we're saying the same thing :
- at home everyone has an internet connection AND connected devices => the Chromecast is useless ;
- when you're not at home, the Chromecast is useless until you're somewhere where you can get an internet connection...
And even then : if I want to cast a Video to my Chromecast, I have to upload my video to the cloud BEFORE I start to stream...
Isn't that ridiculous ? Especially as using other software allows to stream directly ?
Just for your information : there are other devices like the Chromecast (they even look like the Chromecast) that can be used without an internet connection.
Sorry, but despite your answer, I persist saying that the Chromecast conception lacks some common sense and some analysis of the customer needs.
Regards.

DJames1 said:
If you have no internet connection, you'll be streaming everything over your mobile data connection anyway. That's going to get expensive, but whatever...
So why are you using the router if you can't get a wired or WiFi internet connection? Just turn on the WiFi access point mode on your phone, and have the Chromecast connect to it. Then both your phone and the Chromecast will be on the same LAN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thanks for your answer.
But that won't work. As I wrote in my post : if I turn on my phone as an AP, that disables the Wi-Fi. So I can't stream to my Chromecast that way.
Regards.

xFuGiToiDx said:
Ridiculous device ever made? Get yourself an internet connection for your house and then try the showbox app and allcast app to send the media to the Chromecast. I have 2 Chromecast in my house and I use it daily. If you simply want to cast your screen without internet. Get a slimport to HDMI cable.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Many thanks for your kind reply.
I would recommend you read posts before flaming people.
If you would have, you would have noticed that I was saying I was trying to use it WHEN I AM NOT at home.
I have a 100Mbps line at home. But also a networked TV, a networked Blu-Ray player and a networked Media player /streamer.
So I don't really have the use of a Chromecast at home...
Regards.

alton987 said:
I recommend you do basic research on a product before purchasing it next time. You should look into cheap miracast dongles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
That is what I usually do.
BUT : honestly :
1°) the need for an active internet connection for the thing to even work does not appear clearly ;
2°) I don't spend 5 hours researching for a 35 bucks device... my time is somewhat more precious than that.
I'll look into cheap Miracast devices. I only need to mirror my screen, so I guess that more than enough.
Regards.

primetechv2 said:
You even need an Internet connection when streaming local media because (1) the device has to constantly authenticate with Google, which I swear Google isn't going to be logging or abusing, and (b) the Chromecast is relatively stupid by streaming and spec standards, and you can't just give it a file and expect it to work.
That's why so many apps will take forever to load large pictures (slower than a picture CD) or even to unpause media... it throws its buffer away on pause.
Why not just try an HDMI cable? No WiFi needed, all local codecs are supported, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thanks...
Yes, that's what I am doing right now. Phone with a MHL adpator and HDMI plugged into the projector.
But that implies that I have a cable lying around my class and me or my student are likely to stumble on it...
That is why I wanted to use the Chromecast...
Regards.

Hi,
OK, to make things clear, here's what I would like to do.
I am a teacher.
During my class I pass .ppt slides on a VP.
During my class, I don't sit behind my desk : I walk among the students.
So what I would like to do is following :
- 1°) connect my phone to the VP with the Chromecast ;
- 2°) have my phone displaying the slides => a simple mirror of the screen will do ;
- 3°) use a tablet in "Presentation mode" as a remote for the phone so I can go the next slide when I want to.
I can achieve everything using a MHL adaptor to connect the phone to the VP.
But I would like to be able to make that wirelessly...
Chromecast is a no go... unless of course I add another device in the whole bunch : smartphone + 2 tablets. Phone as access point, tablet 1 as caster ; tablet 2 as remote. then of course, I will need some chargers, an external battery pack... Not really the simplification I was looking for.
Regards.

Goodness, the supporters of Google Cast are rather quick to throw down the gauntlet today. =( As somebody who is constantly critiquing devices, I can say with certainty that there are many things that even reading reviews will not disclose, and even if the information is available, it might be hard to find.
Telling somebody they should get internet access in the snobbish manner seen here really doesn't help matters at all either.... less bile equals a greater percentage of useful content, right? Talking about MHL or Miracast or discussing manufacturer specific options or suggesting different CC compatible devices (Matchstick anyone? It's coming in 2015) might be more helpful.
For example, as it stands, I can't believe using a phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot would knock out its data functionality... or at least that it would make it impossible to connect to a CC. That seems like a fundamental problem there.

Here is the best possible solution for you nexus....
You will have to give up on the Phone showing the slides because you are attempting to stream to two devices which doesn't work.
You really shouldn't need the phone to display...
Plug the CCast into the Projector....
Turn on the Hotspot feature of your phone, It will still get it's data and email and tweets ect ect ....
Set up the CCast to get it's internet from the Phone WiFi Hotspot and then connect the tablet to the Hotspot as well.
You should then be able to cast the screen of the tablet to the Projector and run your slideshow.
You might even be able to use some other powerpoint viewer app that supports CCast (I think VBU kit does that) but you can just as easily screen cast the tablet to the projector if your tablet supports it.
You should be good to go the only thing that you will be missing is the display of the slides on the phone and since you are manipulating the slides on the tablet there really is no reason to see them on the phone as well.

I was pretty much going to recommend a similar fix. I have an old crap phone with no data plan that I play movies on while traveling. I just setup my actual phone as the hotspot and have my crap phone and CC connect to it. I have heard :? that the app that shall remain nameless thing works pretty good. I use Avia to throw those shows to my CC.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

hell yeah!

NexusPenguin said:
Hi Srandista,
But then again, everybody probably also has :
- a Blu-Ray player with Wi-Fi and/or Ethernet ;
- a television that is Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Ethernet enabled ;
- a media player/streamer that is Ethernet and Wi-Fi enabled...
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love my Chromecast. Prior to buying it, I had:
- A Blu-Ray player with internet connectivity... with a slow, horrible interface, and poor streaming services support.... that also didn't stream from local devices.
- An HDTV with no network support
- A "media player" that didn't work with most/any of the pay-for streaming services, that I had to constantly troubleshoot, with a low Wife Acceptance Factor.
With the Chromecast I can stream locally (from a Plex Server), watch most of the pay-for streaming services I want (so I can "cut the cord"), and it "just works" as far as the Wife is concerned, so she's happy. Even my kiddos can use it. Given that the Chromecast remains the top seller in the Electronics category at Amazon, I think Google hit the nail on the head with this one. Far from a "stupid", "useless", "ridiculous", concept that "lacks some common sense and some analysis of the customer needs" that results in the "worst experience ever".
Just because you're pissed that the square peg you bought won't fit in a round hole doesn't mean the device is stupid or useless. It's like the saying goes that "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". Go get yourself a screwdriver, because you have the wrong tool for your particular job. I mentioned Plex once already: If you're looking for a simple, offline streaming experience with that works like the Chromecast does get yourself a Raspberry Pi, and install RaspPlex on it. If you're trying to playback from a local disk, put XBMC on it instead. I plan on putting a media center in my kid-hauler, and one of these two will probably end up being what I use. There are many options out there for offline playback, but the Chromecast it not one of them.

Well said. I have two chromecast and they are exactly what I need. Very useful.
Sent from my SM-N910V using XDA Free mobile app