Screen Casting in RV?

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by bikendan

We have the T-Mobile 55+ unlimited plan and they told me that I could pay $5 or $10 extra per month and not get throttled. We plan to do it for our 3 month trip south. You can cancel it anytime.

There could be a gotcha with that. I'm convinced cellular providers are doing all they can to be more dishonest than used car, RV and airplane dealers. Except for Verizon the providers keep needed info from us by burying it deep into the fine print that 99% of us never read. Verizon?? Well, VZ will just look directly at you and smile while they tell straight out lies.

I mention that because the current offering from T-Mobile have some real limitations to their "unlimited" plans.

T-Mobile Magenta +UP: $80/Single Line
Magenta+ 'AMP UP' - smartphone and tablet plans include unlimited talk, text, and on device data. The '+ AMP UP' adds 20GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data to the ONE plan, then unlimited 3G speed mobile hotspot data. HD video is also permitted.

T-Mobile Magenta: $70/Single Line
Smartphone and tablet plans include unlimited talk, text, and on device data. Mobile hotspot data is 3GB then unlimited at 3G speeds.

T-Mobile Essentials: $60/Single Line
Plan focuses on unlimited talk, text and smartphone on device data but cuts out many ONE plan perks - like high-speed international data, a free Netflix subscription and HD video.

Notice that the top two plans slow the speeds back to 3G status after either three or twenty gig of use. Read carefully....notice they say "hotspot" data. This thread started out by asking about "casting" video to a TV, or connecting a smart TV to a device hotspot. Using the plan hotspot feature to view stuff on your TV can easily use 20 gig in a couple of days. When the hotspot becomes 3G restricted you still have unlimited data but good luck getting a decent video presentation. It doesn't say on-device data is slowed but it may or may not be in the fine print.

I don't know if T-mobile is taking advantage of the repeal of net neutrality rules ( with their affiliation with Netflix but it's definitely a possibility. AT&T seems to be taking advantage of the new rules with their DirectTV Now ownership. I've been in highly congested areas (ie, a Nascar race with 100,000 plus crowds) where I could only get download speeds in the less than one MBPS range but have still been able to view DTV in 1080p with no noticeable buffering.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Loefflerh

Just to clarify: If T-mobil really would throttle you (which never happened to me) it is just temporarily during high internet congestion!

Just talked to T-Mobile CS. My 55+ plan comes with 3 GB of 4g hotspot data usage, per line. After that, it has unlimited 3g hotspot data.
For $15 per line per month, you can upgrade the 3 GB to 20 GB of 4g hotspot data. You can cancel it at any time.
New 55+plan customers can get the 20 GB 4g hotspot upgrade for $20 per month for two lines.

[NXR]

We can burn between 3 GB and 5 GB per day on a trip. I opted for the FMCA Sprint unlimited hotspot for $50 a month. It's worked everywhere we've been, so far, although the speeds out in the country weren't so great. The second-last place it was about 1 to 2 M/bps up and down during the day but that was still enough to stream the Roku and Netflix via the Roku. It was better at night.

The Winegard/ToGo/AT&T (?) plan would be break-even at about 15 months so I may switch to that

$50 * 15 months = $750

$399 + $365 = $764

With the weather going to qwap soon, there probably isn't enough time to make a switch like that since the antenna needs to go on the roof.

Ray

[rockfossilman]

Originally Posted by Loefflerh

Glad I could help!
If the connection seems a bit slow it most probable is your cell phone connecting, slow connection. Sometimes it improves putting the cell near a window or at least in a different spot!
BTW I am on T_mobile unlimited. Reaching 50 GB I get a warning I might be throttled down periodically when the Internet is congested: that never happened to me, and I exceed the 50 on every vacation!
Coming next week for the cold one!

Loefflerh,
Until June (when our contract is up) we are stuck with our AT&T Plan, since it allows us to stream Direct TV programs with no affect on our download speed. I'll look into T_mobile in the meantime to see if they have coverage where we camp.

BTW, if you show up next week, I will buy the beer! If not, this will have to do...

[mwdilday]

I have iPhone and got the little adapter that plugs into the phone with a HDMI and charging port on it. That way I get full bandwidth on cellular. Works great.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by mwdilday

I have iPhone and got the little adapter that plugs into the phone with a HDMI and charging port on it. That way I get full bandwidth on cellular. Works great.

Yep...the Lightning to HDMI adapter works great. About that, here’s an interesting thing:

If using DirectTV Now (aka AT&T TV) on an iPhone or iPad and connected via cellular signal (not WiFi) you can use all the data you want. There is no charge against the allotment on your regular data plan. My usage for the current billing period shows 187 gig used with two days remaining, but my regular data use is only 23 gig out of a max of 28 gig.

Now, if one decides to “mirror” the screen display to a TV via an AppleTV box that data free benefit disappears and the data used is charged against a your regular plan. However, connecting the lightning adapter between the device and the big screen TV (via HDMI cable) results in all data being free when viewing DirectTV Now video.

[jimmycaps]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

Yep...the Lightning to HDMI adapter works great. About that, here’s an interesting thing:

If using DirectTV Now (aka AT&T TV) on an iPhone or iPad and connected via cellular signal (not WiFi) you can use all the data you want. There is no charge against the allotment on your regular data plan. My usage for the current billing period shows 187 gig used with two days remaining, but my regular data use is only 23 gig out of a max of 28 gig.

Now, if one decides to “mirror” the screen display to a TV via an AppleTV box that data free benefit disappears and the data used is charged against a your regular plan. However, connecting the lightning adapter between the device and the big screen TV (via HDMI cable) results in all data being free when viewing DirectTV Now video.

I use Verizon, I use three iPhones with unlimited data, well it says 25 gigs of cellular data on two phones and 75 gigs of cellular data on my phone. My phone has 30 gigs of hotspot data. Last month I used 360 gigs of cellular data. I got one year of Disney plus for free, it’s great. I stream all I want as long as I have a good signal. Sometimes Avatar gets a little fuzzy but it uses a lot of bandwidth. No problem with Amazon Prime or CBS All Access. I used 150 gigs last month on my iPad. Disney plus is great

[tdiller]

I use a roku stick connected to my trailer tv. No need for internet access so long as my phone has service. I screen cast my hulu subscription from my phone to the roku. Works pretty well. No internet access needed.

[DavidBo]

Originally Posted by tdiller

I use a roku stick connected to my trailer tv. No need for internet access so long as my phone has service. I screen cast my hulu subscription from my phone to the roku. Works pretty well. No internet access needed.

I tried that with my Roku TV but it said I had to be on a network. What's your secret?

[tdiller]

Originally Posted by DavidBo

I tried that with my Roku TV but it said I had to be on a network. What's your secret?

It's been a month or two since I did it so memory is not exact. I set mine up at home the first time so it had access to the network. But then when I got to the campground it gave me that message again and I think there was an option to skip or bypass it. When I did that it worked. The roku right out of the box has to "register" which needs a network but after that it may show the need a network but I skip or bypass it.

[OcalaGuy]

I have Chromecast and it works great.

I cast .... http://ustvgo.tv to my tv and it works great.

[Trailer traveler]

Originally Posted by DavidBo

I tried that with my Roku TV but it said I had to be on a network. What's your secret?

I have a Roku TV and a Roku box. If I use the Smart View feature on my Samsung phone, I can get some channels to display on the TV after they are paired. This setup counts as on device data not hotspot data. Some channels/apps will display a message that the channel can only be viewed on the phone or other device not by mirroring or with an HDMI cable. We have Xfinity at the house. The Xfinity streaming app on the Rokus only works when I am on the home network. If the Roku is connected to my phone hotspot or tablet hotspot, it displays a message to view the Xfiinity Stream programming on the device. Other apps work fine when the Roku is connected to the phone hotspot, but use hotspot data which on my plan is throttled severely when the limit is reached. Amazing what these devices know/can detect.

We like to travel in many rural parts of the country. Cell service is getting better but still not universal with every provider. We encounter areas fairly often where the speed of the cellular connection allows viewing on the phone or tablet, but not on other devices when using the hotspot feature due to the inherent loss of speed associated with repeating wifi signals.