Screen Casting in RV?

[campers302]

Originally Posted by richp

Hi,

I set up my smartphone hotspot to get the necessary network, and then use it to Chromecast from my tablet to my TV. Easy and quick...

FWIW.

Rich Phillips

Does this use your air time minutes?

[richp]

Hi campers302,

I have an unlimited data plan, so I confess I pay little attention to this issue, and have never been noticeably throttled at my level of use.

But as I understand it, if you are simply using the phone as a passthrough device, the data used is that of the computer actually talking to the network. I would not be surprised, though, if there is some small amount of "overhead data use" associated with maintaining the hotspot. And this whole thing might vary from carrier to carrier.

Long way of saying that I really don't know with any amount of precision...

Rich Phillips

[njfishing]

Originally Posted by richp

Hi campers302,

I have an unlimited data plan, so I confess I pay little attention to this issue, and have never been noticeably throttled at my level of use.

But as I understand it, if you are simply using the phone as a passthrough device, the data used is that of the computer actually talking to the network. I would not be surprised, though, if there is some small amount of "overhead data use" associated with maintaining the hotspot. And this whole thing might vary from carrier to carrier.

Long way of saying that I really don't know with any amount of precision...

Rich Phillips

I have ATT and the wife has Verizon, both with unlimited plans and while camping in Shenandoah with poor campground wifi we both got throttled using our phone as hotspots and streaming with Amazon Firestick. Took about 2 nights for each of us to get throttled and after that we slowed down to a crawl. I think some it might depend on how much traffic is on the cell tower you’re hitting but not sure about that.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by campers302

Does this use your air time minutes?

It uses data amounts not air minutes. Using your phone as a hot spot, has nothing to do with air minutes.

[njfishing]

Originally Posted by bikendan

It uses data amounts not air minutes. Using your phone as a hot spot, has nothing to do with air minutes.

What Dan said, voice minutes are not used, it’s based on the amount of data you download/upload... If you’re unfamiliar with how much data you might use here’s a good article https://www.reviews.org/mobile/how-m...ata-do-i-need/

[chuck9997]

Well.. this has kinda gone sideways. I'm the OP. I appreciate all the input.. but I was asking about screen casting movies, videos, pictures, tv shows, etc that you have downloaded on your phone or a tablet or laptop,.. to the TV in your camper. Using a wireless display adapter. Like the screen beam or the Microsoft adapter. You don't need internet.. you are just mirroring your telephone or tablet on your TV.
Thanks.

[njfishing]

Chrome Cast will work with all your devices if you want wireless streaming https://support.google.com/chromecas.../6059461?hl=en Otherwise get an HDMI cable for your phone, tablet or laptop and plug it into the HDMI port on your TV. Your phone or tablet will need a unique cable since they likely don’t have an HDMI port but your laptop will likely have one so any standard HDMI cable will do. The limiting factor for many phones and tablets is storage capacity so you’ll only be able to store so many movies on them and for this reason I usually store everything on my laptop.

[njfishing]

PS if you are a netflix subscriber they have an app in the windows store you can download on your laptop and download movies online and play them offline.

[REL]

If you have a smart TV you can screen share without a network...device directly to tv

[JWood422]

Originally Posted by REL

If you have a smart TV you can screen share without a network...device directly to tv

I just tried that at work. Huh. It works. Thanks!

[chuck9997]

Originally Posted by njfishing

limiting factor for many phones and tablets is storage capacity so you’ll only be able to store so many movies on them and for this reason I usually store everything on my laptop.

Thanks... storage not a problem. I download a movie or two... maybe a couple of TV shows.. just for the camping trip. I have an SD card in my phone just for this. After the trip I delete the files.

I ordered a USB C to HDMI cable, with an extra charging connection. I think it may be more reliable than the wireless adapters. I'll give it a try.

[DavidBo]

Here's a little heads up concerning wireless screen mirroring. I've had good success using miracast between my phone and TV, but once I enable the phone's VPN, the feed to the TV freezes. I guess it's because the VPN changes my IP address.
I don't know if Chromecast or other systems are affected the same, but I have tried a hardwired adapter that works fine regardless of VPN status. As always, YMMV.

[njfishing]

Originally Posted by chuck9997

Thanks... storage not a problem. I download a movie or two... maybe a couple of TV shows.. just for the camping trip. I have an SD card in my phone just for this. After the trip I delete the files.

I ordered a USB C to HDMI cable, with an extra charging connection. I think it may be more reliable than the wireless adapters. I'll give it a try.

That’s a good plan!!

[sbrookssc]

I don't cast from my PC or phone. I use the phone hot spot and a Fire TV stick plugged into the TV for streaming from Hulu, Amazon, etc. I only use this when there aren't any Over The Air channels. Streaming does use a lot of data

[Flat_twin]

Screencasting? At our Halloween group camp we go old school "screen casting" A white sheet hung from the nearest camper! LOL

[wkener]

I use Miracast frequently and am very satisfied with it.

[Ramblinrick]

As I am reading your comment I am in my RV using a screenbeam mini 2 to watch TV using my smartphone. The screenbeam has worked flawlessly for me. The only conditions of using the screenbeam is that it only works with Android devices with screen mirroring built in, which most of the phones have. I am also a tech blogger and recently posted a review on the screenbeam. See link below:

https://whatsonmypc.net/2019/07/04/screenbeam/

Most cable and satellite providers give you online access to channels. With that understanding install FitzyTV from the Google Play Store (it is free), enter the login for your cable or satellite provider and this app will pull down your channels. Then you can stream to the TV using the screenbeam. Makes it a lot easier. Another free TV service is PlutoTV and XUMO. They will give you something to watch.

[lmw77]

I tried to use a Chromecast for a while from my iPad as a hotspot but ended up running out of hotspot bandwidth too quickly and it cost too much money (no plan is truly unlimited from Verizon!). So I ended up just buying a USB-C TO HDMI see cable that plugs into each HDMI port on my TV AND THE USB-C port on my iPad and now I display my Netflix and such that way. Works great.

Originally Posted by chuck9997

Anyone using a wireless display adapter (miracast)... like the Screenbeam or others.. to mirror movies, etc from your phone or tablet to the television in your RV? What are you using? Are you happy with how it works?

[Savannahdan]

We have iPhones and iPads. They AirPlay to an Apple TV with no internet needed. It’s a peer to peer connection. No lag. No issues.

[lme8200]

Sorry not sure if this has been said, but fire sticks allow you to screen mirror from your phone(at least my Samsung note) without a wifi connection. Have used it this way many times.