Google Chromecast (1 Viewer)

[Keerock]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

This is decidedly false. My wireless router is an easy 50+ feet from my ChromeCast.

 

[jamny]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

This is decidedly false. My wireless router is an easy 50+ feet from my ChromeCast.

Mine is in my basement. My office is a floor above it but my living room is over 20 feet away.

 

[NutterButter]

So, if you're streaming a video to your phone, can you cast it to your TV?

Yes, if it's youtube or netflix (HBO Go and Hulu soon)

Also, you don't use your phones battery or data once the connection is made.

I other words, your phone (or tablet, or whatever) is telling the Chromcast "Hey, I'm watching 'this'" and the Chromecast says "Ok, I can take it from here."

Right?

Yeah, basically. The chromecast is kinda like it's own browser. Your phone connects it to the cloud and it does the rest. You can still control it from your phone if you want but your phone/laptop/tablet can be used to do whatever else you want while the video plays on your tv.

I don't get this. How does it not use your phone's data or battery if you are streaming video from your phone via wifi?

You're not streaming it from your phone. Your phone is being used to make the wi-fi conection to the chromecast. Once that happens, your wi-fi streams to your chromecast and to your TV. Your phone is pretty much taken out of the loop, although there is still control for pause/stop and volume.

I think this only applies for the apps. If you're casting a chrome tab, then the computer still does all the heavy lifting.

 

[jamny]

You're not streaming it from your phone. Your phone is being used to make the wi-fi conection to the chromecast. Once that happens, your wi-fi streams to your chromecast and to your TV. Your phone is pretty much taken out of the loop, although there is still control for pause/stop and volume.

I think this only applies for the apps. If you're casting a chrome tab, then the computer still does all the heavy lifting.

Just did a quick test to check this out. I played a youtube video from Chrome on my desktop, closed the browser and even put my desktop to sleep and the video kept playing on my TV.

 

[NutterButter]

You're not streaming it from your phone. Your phone is being used to make the wi-fi conection to the chromecast. Once that happens, your wi-fi streams to your chromecast and to your TV. Your phone is pretty much taken out of the loop, although there is still control for pause/stop and volume.

I think this only applies for the apps. If you're casting a chrome tab, then the computer still does all the heavy lifting.

Just did a quick test to check this out. I played a youtube video from Chrome on my desktop, closed the browser and even put my desktop to sleep and the video kept playing on my TV.

Youtube maybe smart enough b/c there's an app for it. Try some random streaming site like say the daily show.

 

[jamny]

You're not streaming it from your phone. Your phone is being used to make the wi-fi conection to the chromecast. Once that happens, your wi-fi streams to your chromecast and to your TV. Your phone is pretty much taken out of the loop, although there is still control for pause/stop and volume.

I think this only applies for the apps. If you're casting a chrome tab, then the computer still does all the heavy lifting.

Just did a quick test to check this out. I played a youtube video from Chrome on my desktop, closed the browser and even put my desktop to sleep and the video kept playing on my TV.

Youtube maybe smart enough b/c there's an app for it. Try some random streaming site like say the daily show.

Yeah, you're right there. As soon as I close the browser, the video stops. I can open a new tab or minimize the browser and the page stays up but I don't know how I'd be able to go full screen and still do other things on my computer. I guess that's why most will have to be app driven.

 

[NutterButter]

you can't full screen the browser and just alt tab to another app; even another instance of chrome?

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

This is decidedly false. My wireless router is an easy 50+ feet from my ChromeCast.

This is getting to be more trouble than it's worth, methinks. Anyone want to buy a ChromeCast?

The only message I ever get is that I need to disable my AP/Client isolation. Anyone know how to do that on a Belkin router?

 

[NutterButter]

sell it on ebay and make a few bucks.

 

[jamny]

you can't full screen the browser and just alt tab to another app; even another instance of chrome?

Ah, ok...yes I can. Didn't know that...thx!

 

[KCitons]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

Ask your Mom if it's alright to move your router upstairs.

 

[NutterButter]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

Ask your Mom if it's alright to move your router upstairs.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Hey. Mom said it was okay to move the router so I did. Now it works!

Have to say it is kind of neat.

 

[jamny]

Hey. Mom said it was okay to move the router so I did. Now it works!

Have to say it is kind of neat.

So was the distance to the router really an issue? That would definitely limit some of its usefulness on the road and at job sites for me.

 

[Mr. Ected]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

The other thing, and I don't think it is too much $$$, Is to get a wireless repeater. Here is one for about $30.

 

[Fennis]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

why is that a requirement?

 

[DrJ]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

why is that a requirement?

The bandwidth you're capable of is directly proportional to the distance to the router. At a certain distance it will have trouble giving you a quality video stream. Actual distance it can pull it off will vary based on your environmental conditions as well. To make it easy to support they can say 20 feet and then basically not have to support any such issues.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Hey. Mom said it was okay to move the router so I did. Now it works!

Have to say it is kind of neat.

So was the distance to the router really an issue? That would definitely limit some of its usefulness on the road and at job sites for me.

Absolutely. It's the only thing I changed. The router was in a corner part of the basement before and didn't work (I would guess probably 50ish feet away) so I moved it to an area of the basement that's directly below the Chromecast and now it works like a charm.

I would bet you could use it with a wireless hotspot and network it and your phone together no problem though. Just a guess.

 

[KCitons]

Hey. Mom said it was okay to move the router so I did. Now it works!

Have to say it is kind of neat.

So was the distance to the router really an issue? That would definitely limit some of its usefulness on the road and at job sites for me.

Absolutely. It's the only thing I changed. The router was in a corner part of the basement before and didn't work (I would guess probably 50ish feet away) so I moved it to an area of the basement that's directly below the Chromecast and now it works like a charm.

I would bet you could use it with a wireless hotspot and network it and your phone together no problem though. Just a guess.

So I guess you're not selling it anymore?

Still waiting for someone to get them back in stock. Not paying $70 on ebay for one.

 

[Wingnut]

I read on another site it does not charge through the HDMI port, it needs to be unplugged & recharged every so often (can't permanently live plugged into the TV).

Also, it doesn't play local content (files off your hard drive on the network).

Otherwise, a pretty ingenious little doohickey.

And there's the deal breaker.

Does roku even do that?

I have a WDTV Live that streams anything stored on my computer. My Samsung S3 can do the same.

Wat

 

[drummer]

I read on another site it does not charge through the HDMI port, it needs to be unplugged & recharged every so often (can't permanently live plugged into the TV).

Also, it doesn't play local content (files off your hard drive on the network).

Otherwise, a pretty ingenious little doohickey.

And there's the deal breaker.

Does roku even do that?

I have a WDTV Live that streams anything stored on my computer. My Samsung S3 can do the same.

Wat

If you have AllShare you can pair it with an AllShare capable display or device. I stream audio from my computer to my S3 without it with a few Play Store apps, but haven't tried video yet.

 

[pats3in4]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

why is that a requirement?

The bandwidth you're capable of is directly proportional to the distance to the router. At a certain distance it will have trouble giving you a quality video stream.Actual distance it can pull it off will vary based on your environmental conditions as well. To make it easy to support they can say 20 feet and then basically not have to support any such issues.

With USB 2.0 as the primary power supply, there is a 2.5W ceiling that Chromecast can operate at. That's not a lot of juice to power the main chip, memory and Wi-Fi (and whatever else is there, but likely not much else). Increased range, or even 5GHz support, will require more power and I suspect the device is operating at its power limit.

It would be interesting to see if Google designed the thing to take advantage of the additional power the AC supply could provide. Maybe if you plug it into the wall, suddenly the Wi-Fi performance goes up (don't expect 5GHz, though...doubt the Wi-Fi chip selected does that for cost reasons), or maybe the main chip gets a boost in performance, making the tab casting faster.

 

[Bri]

There was a product named TVStik that did oh so well last december.

This seems like a total copy of it.

Granted the TVStik was Android powered and it's beauty was the Google Play Store and apps and all on your TV, but....

 

[NutterButter]

Lovely. Just found out that the Chromecast has to be within 20 feet of your wireless source.

That's a problem since my router is in the basement.

why is that a requirement?

The bandwidth you're capable of is directly proportional to the distance to the router. At a certain distance it will have trouble giving you a quality video stream.Actual distance it can pull it off will vary based on your environmental conditions as well. To make it easy to support they can say 20 feet and then basically not have to support any such issues.

With USB 2.0 as the primary power supply, there is a 2.5W ceiling that Chromecast can operate at. That's not a lot of juice to power the main chip, memory and Wi-Fi (and whatever else is there, but likely not much else). Increased range, or even 5GHz support, will require more power and I suspect the device is operating at its power limit.

It would be interesting to see if Google designed the thing to take advantage of the additional power the AC supply could provide. Maybe if you plug it into the wall, suddenly the Wi-Fi performance goes up (don't expect 5GHz, though...doubt the Wi-Fi chip selected does that for cost reasons), or maybe the main chip gets a boost in performance, making the tab casting faster.

 

[Disco Stu]

Set mine up yesterday. Super easy.

Video from Youtube and Netflix looks great. Video from Chrome (mlb.com is the one I tried) wasn't so great, but that depends on your computer.

I really hope they add Spotify. The browser version works but isn't visually appealing.

 

[Disco Stu]

Some good stuff here...

7 tricks to get the most out of chromecast

 

[Cliff Clavin]

I read on another site it does not charge through the HDMI port, it needs to be unplugged & recharged every so often (can't permanently live plugged into the TV).

Also, it doesn't play local content (files off your hard drive on the network).

Otherwise, a pretty ingenious little doohickey.

And there's the deal breaker.

Does roku even do that?

I have a WDTV Live that streams anything stored on my computer. My Samsung S3 can do the same.

Wat

If you have AllShare you can pair it with an AllShare capable display or device. I stream audio from my computer to my S3 without it with a few Play Store apps, but haven't tried video yet.

I use Mediahouse App with PS3 Media Server running on my PC. Streams both music and videos.

 

[NutterButter]

Set mine up yesterday. Super easy.

Video from Youtube and Netflix looks great. Video from Chrome (mlb.com is the one I tried) wasn't so great, but that depends on your computer.

I really hope they add Spotify. The browser version works but isn't visually appealing.

So your computer isn't good? My laptop displays streams fine using an hdmi connection, but its really just a $400 costco job.

 

[culdeus]

Installed mine yesterday. For awhile it gave me a red ring, then finally booted. Not sure what was up there. Got on netflix fine and streamed some redtube no issue. Took maybe 5 seconds to setup once it stopped the red ring.

 

[Disco Stu]

Set mine up yesterday. Super easy.

Video from Youtube and Netflix looks great. Video from Chrome (mlb.com is the one I tried) wasn't so great, but that depends on your computer.

I really hope they add Spotify. The browser version works but isn't visually appealing.

So your computer isn't good? My laptop displays streams fine using an hdmi connection, but its really just a $400 costco job.

My laptop is fairly decent... maybe two years old. I need to play around with this some more. With the site I was using I didn't see different quality options.

 

[Disco Stu]

Is it just me, or does this thing open some pranking options? As far as I can see there are no restrictions on what devices can use a specific Chromecast.

Say you're a knucklehead college student and you know your buddy and his girlfriend are watching a romantic comedy on Netflix in his dorm room. You could easily sit in your room or the hallway and cast some midget porn to their tv.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Is it just me, or does this thing open some pranking options? As far as I can see there are no restrictions on what devices can use a specific Chromecast.

Say you're a knucklehead college student and you know your buddy and his girlfriend are watching a romantic comedy on Netflix in his dorm room. You could easily sit in your room or the hallway and cast some midget porn to their tv.

How is that a prank?

 

[Maelstrom]

Man...everytime I see this thread bumped I think someone saw more available somewhere.

 

[Fennis]

Man...everytime I see this thread bumped I think someone saw more available somewhere.

they have plenty:

http://www.roku.com/

 

[Otis]

Man, they make setup really easy...

So far, pretty cool.

 

[Ignoramus]

Email from Amazon:

Hello,

We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on July 25, 2013:

"Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player"

Estimated arrival date: October 17, 2013 - October 30, 2013

Swell... only three more months.

 

[Keerock]

I've got an extra one... think I should sell it on eBay and just wait until more become available elsewhere to grab another? Could probably turn a quick $40 profit...

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Ordered mine from Google Play last week with a delivery of 2-3 weeks and I got it yesterday.

 

[NutterButter]

Man...everytime I see this thread bumped I think someone saw more available somewhere.

they have plenty:

http://www.roku.com/

Who needs all those channels

 

[Jaysus]

I've got an extra one... think I should sell it on eBay and just wait until more become available elsewhere to grab another? Could probably turn a quick $40 profit...

do it.

 

[Ted Mullins]

Man...everytime I see this thread bumped I think someone saw more available somewhere.

they have plenty:

http://www.roku.com/

I have one of these, but am not aware of any way to broadcast a stream from my computer to a TV using the Roku - is there a way to do that?

I hope Google does a better job of getting these back in stock than they did with the Nexus 4 <_<

 

[Keerock]

I've got an extra one... think I should sell it on eBay and just wait until more become available elsewhere to grab another? Could probably turn a quick $40 profit...

do it.

Done.

 

[Keerock]

I've got an extra one... think I should sell it on eBay and just wait until more become available elsewhere to grab another? Could probably turn a quick $40 profit...

do it.

Done.

86 Page Views in the first 15 minutes.

 

[Slapdash]

Google Play seems to have shipped mine finally.

 

[dickey moe]

Ordered from Amazon the morning before the Netflix promotion ended. Just got this email:

Hello,

We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on July 25, 2013 (Order# 108-1095838-1961019):

"Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player"
Estimated arrival date: October 18, 2013 - November 06, 2013

 

[Mulletzilla]

I've got an extra one... think I should sell it on eBay and just wait until more become available elsewhere to grab another? Could probably turn a quick $40 profit...

do it.

Done.

86 Page Views in the first 15 minutes.

How much did you list yours at? I actually just sold mine for $80 within 1 day. Can't believe someone paid that...unfortunately the guy is in India and I ain't shipping there so we'll see how this goes.

 

[Keerock]

I've got an extra one... think I should sell it on eBay and just wait until more become available elsewhere to grab another? Could probably turn a quick $40 profit...

do it.

Done.

86 Page Views in the first 15 minutes.

How much did you list yours at? I actually just sold mine for $80 within 1 day. Can't believe someone paid that...unfortunately the guy is in India and I ain't shipping there so we'll see how this goes.

$74.99 + Shipping

 

[Fennis]

Ordered from Amazon the morning before the Netflix promotion ended. Just got this email:

Hello,We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on July 25, 2013 (Order# 108-1095838-1961019):

"Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player"

Estimated arrival date: October 18, 2013 - November 06, 2013

I know where you can get one for 74.99 + shipping

 

[Otis]

This is a great device. Just for easily streaming the kids movies from Netflix for my daughter. Really enjoying it.

 

[Keerock]

I've got an extra one... think I should sell it on eBay and just wait until more become available elsewhere to grab another? Could probably turn a quick $40 profit...

do it.

Done.

86 Page Views in the first 15 minutes.

How much did you list yours at? I actually just sold mine for $80 within 1 day. Can't believe someone paid that...unfortunately the guy is in India and I ain't shipping there so we'll see how this goes.

$74.99 + Shipping

SOLD! Guess I should have charged more...