MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Ok folks,
I have a family google play account for me and the wifi. We have signed up the grandparents so they can watch things like the Gruffalo via their phones onto the TV. Unfortunately this is where it goes wrong. One set doesn’t have any form of WIFI or internet in their house. They are not tech savvy so my idea of buying them a chromecast seems to have failed.
It basically has to be plug and play. Getting the apps up on the TV didn’t work.
Any suggestions?
Getting the apps up on the TV didn’t work
What TV? And why/how didn't it work?
No WiFi, no Chromecast I'm afraid (or any equivalent).
It's pretty fundamental to how it all works.
doesn’t have any form of WIFI or internet in their house
VHS video tapes and players are v cheap on eBay!
Really, if there is no Internet in their house, an internet based media system is probably not for them...
You can download Google Play content to a device (say a phone with an SD card) and play it later (must be on same device). But really other grandparents either need the internet or a stash of DVDs oldskool.
It's like owning a tap with no water supply 🙂
they can download the films while at mine.
its just getting them onto the tv.
if there is no wifi in the house, are you just using direct wifi between the phone and chromecast?
Im sure it wont like that.
Even if that does work as a connection, if you try and cast from the google play app on the phone, all it does is tell the chromecast to go and source the file from the Play server, it doesnt play the local file over the wifi from the phone IIRC.
You might try and cast from the phone Os instead of the play app whilst playing the local version of the file, but I give that a 10% chance of working. I might try it later
Yep. Screen Mirroring.
as woppit says, depending on the TV (is it smart?) you might be able to use mirroring (which is kind of what casting from the OS rather than the Play App might be like)
I went through this. No wifi = no chromecast, as above
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/techy-time-chromecast-tablet-phone-but-no-router
Get a media player and a USB stick. Films onto USB, play though media player. I got a Sumvison Cyclone from amazon - I'm sure there are better ones available by now,
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cheapo-dlna-streaming-device
note, mine doesn't play videos encoded in h.265, the high compression encoding
Films onto USB
that's the challenge though. There's no legal method of moving legitimate media around offline.
There's always hooky sources.
Media sellers have decided that rather than create a portable digital solution to replace the DVD, they're just going to jump straight to licenced DLC media and wait for consumers to catch up, and damn those that dont have viable connections. For that reason Im very much not precious about using hooky sources if content providers treat so many people so contemptuously.
that's the challenge though. There's no legal method of moving legitimate media around offline.There's always hooky sources.
Phone to HDMI
http://www.alltech.com.au/en/cables-adaptors-/405-micro-usb-to-hdmi-cable-adapter-hdtv-for-samsung-galaxy.html
Buy a Samsung Galaxy. Connect the Micro USB Port to your Mobile Phone, then Connect this Adapter Cable to your TV or Monitor with HDMI Cable (NOT included in the package)
Connect your AC Power Source to the Micro USB Charger Port
Or.....
DL MP4 to USB, stick USB in side of TV, bosh!
I've done it before like this -
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-turn-your-windows-10-pc-wireless-hotspot
It's let me run chromecasts in hotels before, which is really useful, but would also help in this situation provided you have a laptop you can take round.
They are not tech savvy
so creating a hosted network might be considered a bit of stretch mb 😉
They don't have to be, he does 😉
You can buy a router for very little money. Doesn't need to be connected to the internet. Should be your best bet.
You can buy a router for very little money. Doesn't need to be connected to the internet. Should be your best bet.
I was about to suggest this.
Or they could play with their grandma's tin of spare buttons and some leftover wool, like the olden days?
The problem with this is that the phones will usually preferentially connect to wifi and will look to wifi for the internet. Which will be annoying.You can buy a router for very little money. Doesn't need to be connected to the internet. Should be your best bet.
Can't you share the internet from the phone?
If [i]you[/i] were tech savvy, you could sideload a video player onto a NowTV box and use a USB stick to put videos on. Should be very cheap (< £20) but of course requires updating periodically.
hdmi cable for your phone.
if you can get a hdmi cable for a z3 compact that would be fab ?