Tell me what you know about Chromecast and Direct TV

[rockfossilman]

Originally Posted by Mikejfm

Hope I'm not repeating info on the many pages of this post, but I just set up Chromecast in our new Forester Class C. It works great especially in conjunction with the Dish Anywhere app. You need 2 devices including 1 cell phone in Wi-Fi Hotspot mode. The second device needs to be in Wi-Fi mode and can be a cell phone, tablet, laptop, whatever can run Dish Anywhere. Of course you need to have Dish as your provider at home with a Sling receiver. With this setup you can cast many different video apps and with Dish Anywhere you have access to your home receiver to watch any live channel (including your home locals) and anything on your DVR. Fair warning: this setup does use cell data so the best bet would be an unlimited data plan for your cell. We have Verizon. Anyway hope this all made sense.

That is how I would be set up if I had Dish Network AND an unlimited plan, Mikejm. We recently signed with Direct TV for a 2-year deal and ATT with a 2 Gig shared plan (wasn't willing to go the extra $80 for unlimited), so it will be a while till we change.

[ejohnson1144]

AT&T gives you free streaming for direct tv. I bought something called mirror cast from eBay which plugs into usb port of tv. You log on to the device and stream direct tv to your set. It basically shows what's on your phone when you connect.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Forest River Forums mobile app

[rockfossilman]

Originally Posted by mmmartin33

We cut the cable 2 years ago at home and now stream everything including live tv using internet and subscription to YouTube TV. We use our cellphones as hot spots and connect to the internet. Then connect our laptop to the tv. We also have a VPN Service HMA so we can simulate location using vpn. Then we can access our home town local stations for news and sports. Works great at home or in our travel trailer wherever we go.

My next research project is going to be setting up a VPN - mainly for security purposes. We have ended up with a nearly perfect solution to our problem - I will describe it in a separate post on this thread.

[rockfossilman]

Originally Posted by kfergiez

I can't answer that question because I don't have experience with it.

NORMALLY it's difficult to have your phone be the wifi hotspot AND try to have it be a client at the same time. I haven't tried it for about a year, maybe they've made it easier. But when I tried to pair my chromecast to my phone whilst simultaneously having my phone be the wifi hotspot, it was impossible since you're both the client and the DHCP server.

The way chromecast works is that when you initialize it, you connect your phone to a wifi signal that the CHROMECAST broadcasts. Then you tell it to connect to a wifi hotspot that your phone and chromecast will both be connecting to. BUT that's impossible because you can't simultaneously connect to a hotspot while also broadcasting one.

That said, what you read online MAY work, I just haven't tried it for a while.

You are correct, kfergiez - the cell phone cannot be hotspot and client at the same time. I found that out when I was setting up the Chromecast device.

[rockfossilman]

Originally Posted by rockfossilman

DW and I are looking to change our television provider--Comcast is bumping our price up when our two year contract runs out next month.

We have ATT Cell service and I have been offered a package that includes Direct TV. We are aware that we will still need Comcast for basic internet service. Told the ATT/Direct TV salesperson that we are interested in something we can access when on the road. He suggested buying a device called "Chromecast" that will project programming received on my cell phone to our television in our TT. Very inexpensive--$35 or less on various websites.

We were told that streamed programming does not count against our data plan. Web research suggests that, as long as you have a stable cell signal, the device works very nicely. It sounds, as they say, "Too good to be true."

Here is a link to the device: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Google-Chromecast/46708712

If you have any experience with the Chromecast or Direct TV service while on the road (or at home, for that matter), we would be forever in your debt.

Thanks for all the suggestions, fellow sojourners! We have made our decision, after several fits and starts.

We chose a Direct TV package for programming reasons. I bought and tried the Chromecast device and it does work.

BUT--yes, there's always a "BUT"!
1. If you use both cell phones, one must be the hot spot while the other is used to provide the streamed Direct TV. This ties up both of our cell phones, but if you use the Direct TV app on the streaming cell phone, at least it does not consume data.
2. If you use one cell phone as the hot spot and a laptop, you must log onto your Direct TV account in Google Chrome and cast from the laptop to the Chromecast device connected to your television. This data download is counted against our data plan with ATT. You could still get throttled after using too much data--this would slow down your download speed and make viewing difficult.
3. If you have excellent Wifi at a campground (which is seldom for us), Option 2 above would be fine.

I returned the Chromecast device and purchased an mhl adapter. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kentek-Mi...Zoom/786377903
It connects to a single cell phone and our television. Since we are using the Direct TV app on our phone, there is NO charge against our ATT data plan. The USB portion connects to a USB port on your television or camper power supply to power the unit and keep your phone charged. The two caveats to this system are:
1. We need a half-decent cell connection to provide the signal that is needed.
2. We need to get a new battery for my rather out-dated cell phone whose battery is well beyond its prime--it doesn't charge fast enough to complete more than an hour's worth of viewing.

I'm sure I've left something out of this explanation--will provide edits as I think of them.

Hmmm--this is a lot of energy expended on television while trying to "get away from it all"

[rockfossilman]

Originally Posted by ejohnson1144

AT&T gives you free streaming for direct tv. I bought something called mirror cast from eBay which plugs into usb port of tv. You log on to the device and stream direct tv to your set. It basically shows what's on your phone when you connect.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Forest River Forums mobile app

That appears to be what I ended up with--but mine is called an mhl adapter. I've explained how I got there in a post later on this page.

[frankraney]

Originally Posted by RacerRalph

Tried the hot spot approach couple times, a pain to set up and then it didn't work well. We have Verizon. Never have found a campground with strong enough wi fi signal to make it work

You will not find a campground with good internet, unless they have one you pay for..... And you don't use Wi-Fi to set up hot spot on phone...... You use your phone service to set up hotspot..... If you don't know how, Google it for your phone, or go too your providers local office..... It's just a setting in your phone's settings.

[rockfossilman]

Originally Posted by frankraney

You will not find a campground with good internet, unless they have one you pay for..... And you don't use Wi-Fi to set up hot spot on phone...... You use your phone service to set up hotspot..... If you don't know how, Google it for your phone, or go too your providers local office..... It's just a setting in your phone's settings.

Campgrounds with good wifi aren't common, but they do exist--American Heritage Campground near Williamsburg, VA and Sara's on Presque Isle near Erie, PA are examples. Neither one has charged us for wifi--of course, you have to assume the cost is included in their campground fee. Both are reasonably priced.

[frankraney]

Originally Posted by rockfossilman

Campgrounds with good wifi aren't common, but they do exist--American Heritage Campground near Williamsburg, VA and Sara's on Presque Isle near Erie, PA are examples. Neither one has charged us for wifi--of course, you have to assume the cost is included in their campground fee. Both are reasonably priced.

Yes, you can find a few that have good internet. Let me explain good. It might be a strong signal so you can surf and do email but I haven't found a place yet that's has enough bandwidth for say a hundred people to stream movies. If someone wants to stream they're either going to have to pay for more bandwidth or get their own internet, thus the hotspot on the phone and 4 G minimum.

An internet service that would be good enough to allow even 50 people 2 watch movies is very costly, that's why most places don't have it. That's why they bring in a company and allow them to install their equipment so that people can pay to get more bandwidth.

even the antennas and amplifiers to get a good strong signal throughout the park is very expensive, and that's why I most Parts only have one or two antennas in the signal is very weak in most of the parks. How good are VA for about 15 years and haven't found but maybe one or two parts like you say, most of them basically the internet is useless. So, I have my own, and anyone that wants to rely on it should do the same.

[MartiB]

Originally Posted by rockfossilman

Tried that - they seem willing to lose my business.

Did you speak with their Customer Solutions Dept? I couldn't get anywhere until I talked with someone higher up. They kept me at the same rate for at least another year. I only take internet and land line with them though.

[rockfossilman]

Originally Posted by MartiB

Did you speak with their Customer Solutions Dept? I couldn't get anywhere until I talked with someone higher up. They kept me at the same rate for at least another year. I only take internet and land line with them though.

Yes, I did--spoke with four different people, supposedly on up to the manager.
You must have hit someone on a good day. I was willing to stay at the same price, but still question the fairness of that offer, since they are giving much better long-term deals to brand new customers.

Ultimately, this is where I ended up (multiple changes):

1. Direct TV with a dish on the house roof is now our television provider.
2. Bought an hml adapter ($30) to use with our TT Television--I can (when we have 2 bars of cell signal on my phone) login to our Direct TV channels and DVR to stream programs. In the fall, I plan to get a new phone that will work better with the hml adapter.
3. Switched our landline from XFinity to Ooma for $140 one-time flat fee ($100 for device and $40 for number port) and ongoing $6.19/month fee.
4. Dropped our speed with XFinity to 60 mbps--Blast internet is not necessary for what we do on the internet. We are not gamers!
5. End result is we lost one channel in our package (Me-TV), but it is available as an over-the-air channel in many areas.

End result is an expense reduction of over $100/month long term.

We'll take it this way until a better arrangement comes along.

[MartiB]

I have heard that you can quit the service for a few days and then come back as a new customer. I haven't tried it. Come to think of it, now that I have unlimited data with Verizon, maybe I don't need Comcast anymore. Might be slower but a lot cheaper.

[rockfossilman]

All options have their drawbacks. Hauling a dish around would be great, but you have to get a site with exposure of the right part of the sky--not always an option. It's more fun to chat around the campfire with neighbors anyway. ��