I'm probably late to the party on this one, but I discovered the Hola Unblocker extension for Google Chrome last night. I also activated tab casting to the Chromecast so I can watch Netflix from various countries on my TV. That means I won't miss out on Better Call Saul via Netflix UK since they premiere each episode one day after it airs in the US.
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Chromecast |OT|
- Thread starter ThatObviousUser
- Start date
RobotChant
Member
What do you plan to use it for? It's not as versatile as a laptop to tv hookup, but for video streaming and such it works well.
It's a wifi dongle you connect to your tv via hdmi. From there you can use Chrome browser on your pc/laptop to cast video streams to your tv. Or you can you can use smartphone/tablet apps to cast video streams to your tv. You can also stream your own movie/songs on your PC/Laptop to the TV if you purchase the Plex app.
Here are the apps that support casting:
https://www.google.com/chrome/devices/chromecast/apps.html
I use Youtube, Plex quite a bit and have been using the Twitch app to cast the Ultra Music Festival to the tv.
Lashley
Why does he wear the mask!?
Just stream live streams to my TV from the computer if I'm watching the football or something.
RobotChant
Member
I would ask around to see if anyone has experience casting the source you you plan to use. Video could be choppy if your source doesn't support casting officially.
Lashley
Why does he wear the mask!?
Ah, I know my Dad wants one anyways so could always test with his.
Just got one of these today. Man, I wish I'd done this earlier. Granted, it's more functional than it used to be, but still. What an awesome little stick.
Coming with 3 months of Now TV free is perfect too, since I was planning on getting a few months of that to watch the upcoming Game of Thrones season. With that money saved, this cost me about £9!
Doesn't work flawlessly though, as most of y'all have probably discovered already. Refuses to connect here and there and gets laggy with certain apps while mirroring, but it works well enough that I cant complain too much. Especially for the price.
Coming with 3 months of Now TV free is perfect too, since I was planning on getting a few months of that to watch the upcoming Game of Thrones season. With that money saved, this cost me about £9!
Doesn't work flawlessly though, as most of y'all have probably discovered already. Refuses to connect here and there and gets laggy with certain apps while mirroring, but it works well enough that I cant complain too much. Especially for the price.
You Are Viewtiful
Member
Guys, I've been thinking about buying a Chromecast, but I've heard that you can't use Hola in conjunction with Chromecast to access Netflix USA (if you live outside the USA), but others are saying it works fine. Any Chromecast owners willing to confirm?
DiddysKongQuest
Member
That's true, but the workaround is to block the Google DNS and then add the Hola DNS in your Router menu.
You Are Viewtiful
Member
Aw that sucks >_< thanks though! I'll look into playing with the router. Is it possible to go onto Netflix and use screen mirroring though? Or would it just default to casting Netflix from the Chromecast itself?
DiddysKongQuest
Member
Tab mirroring results in casting and therefore an error. It works when you mirror the whole browser, but the video stutters a lot (just tried it).
If you use Hola on your phone and then try to screen mirror, you'll get an error on your Chromecast as well.
You Are Viewtiful
Member
Thanks for checking it out for me, I really appreciate it. I think I'll buy it tomorrow and go the blocking Google's DNS route.
DiddysKongQuest
Member
No problem! You really should, it's a great little device.
And be sure to check out the Chromecast offers like a free movie rental and 90 days of Google Play Music once you get it.
I'm feeling kinda stupid right now. I just realized after you mentioned this that I have the digital audio cable from the directv box to sound bar. I could probably just switch the cable to the TV, can't I?
Edit: eureka! Had the right idea. It was the Bluray player that had the digital audio cable. Connected that directly to the TV and now it works! Minimal inconvenience having to switch the cable.
Thanks!
I absolutely love my new Chromecast. If this technology keeps evolving, it's going to be amazing.
One of the things that I don't like is how some of the streaming apps don't work too well. Sometimes it needs to buffer, but it seems like you can't pause and let it load (assuming it's a RAM limitation -- maybe a Nexus Player is better for me).
Anyways, what are some good apps that are not on the app store?
One of the things that I don't like is how some of the streaming apps don't work too well. Sometimes it needs to buffer, but it seems like you can't pause and let it load (assuming it's a RAM limitation -- maybe a Nexus Player is better for me).
Anyways, what are some good apps that are not on the app store?
I've been having major issues with my chromecast lately, mostly with youtube. I posted on the chromecast sub reddit and it seems i'm not alone. It disconnects, removed my watch list, freezes, won't stop playing the same video over and over. It's most probably a youtube app problem as it was updated recently.
I hope they fix it soon because its extremely annoying.
I hope they fix it soon because its extremely annoying.
DiddysKongQuest
Member
Same here! I thought the new Youtube app update would fix it, but they somehow made it even worse. It's driving me insane.
My chrome cast woes continue, today it was saying to on the app and reconnect. Nothing was happening, so I hard reset by holding down the little button on the chrome cast itself.
Now it finds the chrome cast, but when I try and confirm the wifi password it just times out. This and the recent disconnecting issues on youtube and twitch have really annoyed me.
Now it finds the chrome cast, but when I try and confirm the wifi password it just times out. This and the recent disconnecting issues on youtube and twitch have really annoyed me.
bobs...onGaf
Member
So I have to say this device is awesome, I initially got it so that I could stream movies to my tv without having to lose access to my laptop but I have seen so many awesome apps and bits of functionality for it coming through
Can't wait to get home and see what I can do to put it through to its full potential
The one question I do have is, is it possible to stream video to my TV but keep the audio output as my laptop? It would be great to be able to plug headphones in to keep it quiet later at night whilst the TV displays the image
So far the result seems like a resounding no, but figured it was worth asking, I wanted to post to praise the thing anyway
Edit: just discovered googles chrome remote control app, that in conjunction with a chromecast has the potential to be Interesting
Can't wait to get home and see what I can do to put it through to its full potential
The one question I do have is, is it possible to stream video to my TV but keep the audio output as my laptop? It would be great to be able to plug headphones in to keep it quiet later at night whilst the TV displays the image
So far the result seems like a resounding no, but figured it was worth asking, I wanted to post to praise the thing anyway
Edit: just discovered googles chrome remote control app, that in conjunction with a chromecast has the potential to be Interesting
Gully State
Member
Is there any way to adjust scaling? I notice YouTube and twitch videos don't fit properly on my 1080p tv
Anyone know how to get a good signal on the Chromecast? It is working but sometimes I get a lot of buffering and loading. My Macbook near the Chromecast gets a great signal from the wifi, but the Chromecast itself only 2 bars. I am using the external power adapter and the HDMI extension thing.
My internet connection also seems fine as is around 10-14 MBps.
My internet connection also seems fine as is around 10-14 MBps.
I have a powerline adapter directly behind my TV that the Chromecast connects to so I always get full bars. There's also an Ethernet adapter that Google is now selling if you want a strong connection for the Chromecast (provided you have an Ethernet connection close enough)
Kibbles
Member
Hey folks, I was looking into buying a Chromecast but wanted to clear something up first. So any apps that natively support it should work great right? Like with Plex I should get 1080p/5.1 audio no problem? Reason I ask is because I bought some miracast device a while back and it degraded the quality of stuff so bad I regretted the purchase. Is this just more of the same or no?
edit: Nevermind, guess it's a no-go since HDMI to SPDIF converter doesn't work with it apparently. I have the 5.1 vizio soundbar which only has SPDIF
edit: Nevermind, guess it's a no-go since HDMI to SPDIF converter doesn't work with it apparently. I have the 5.1 vizio soundbar which only has SPDIF
Yes, the only way to get 5.1 out of a chromecast is to plug it directly into an HDMI compatible receiver. Almost all TVs will downsample to 2.1 over optical or coax.
only on the new chromecast I think
Certainly isn't working for my old googlecast devices. Kind of surprised they can limit like this. I figured it would either work with all googlecast devices or none.
IMACOMPUTA
Member
BIG QUESTION -
Can you play youtube videos (obviously audio only) on the Chromecast audio?
If not, this thing is dead to me. I'd like to use it as a jukebox (like i do with my original chromecast in the living room) but out on the deck connected to a set of speakers.
Need to be able to have multiple people queuing music on youtube.
Can you play youtube videos (obviously audio only) on the Chromecast audio?
If not, this thing is dead to me. I'd like to use it as a jukebox (like i do with my original chromecast in the living room) but out on the deck connected to a set of speakers.
Need to be able to have multiple people queuing music on youtube.
Baroquemantic
Member
There's an update for the og Chromecast going out that enables Spotify casting.
You could just use Google Play Music, but I'm assuming you want to circumvent having a paid subscription and not be limited to songs you own/have uploaded?
Loved my Chromecast, by far my most used gadget since I bought it. But seeing how CC2 doesn't offer that much new stuff I decided to try the Amazon Fire TV Stick and see where that would take me. I installed YouTube, Netflix and Kodi for stuff like GiantBomb and GameTrailers.
Initially I hated using the remote control. I don't watch any TV whatsoever so I never really use a TV remote anymore. It felt sluggish at first and was just terrible compared to the CC's ease of use. I found out though that you can do the same YouTube Smartphone TV magic with the stick just as as well. All you need to do is connect your stick with your YouTube account and voilà, it's just another Chromecast. Open video on smartphone, tap cast symbol and it's on the TV.
However, as the time went by I found myself abandoning the Chromecast-like usage, now I just grab the remote, press my way to the Kodi YT app, qeue videos relatively easy and all that jazz. I'm not missing my CC as far as YouTube goes anymore.
As far as stuff like Giant Bomb and Netflix go they both work great. GB let's you link your Premium account so you can get all the content you're paying for. Netflix's UI is slick and fast.
One thing I don't like as much is the (unofficial I'd guess) Kodi Twitch app though. Could be better.
Anyhow, that's just my experience with the Fire TV Stick after using and loving my Chromecast. I still have it around since its used prices bombed hard after CC2 came out and I still get promotions out of it. (Just recently grabbed another three months of Deezer Premium).
Initially I hated using the remote control. I don't watch any TV whatsoever so I never really use a TV remote anymore. It felt sluggish at first and was just terrible compared to the CC's ease of use. I found out though that you can do the same YouTube Smartphone TV magic with the stick just as as well. All you need to do is connect your stick with your YouTube account and voilà, it's just another Chromecast. Open video on smartphone, tap cast symbol and it's on the TV.
However, as the time went by I found myself abandoning the Chromecast-like usage, now I just grab the remote, press my way to the Kodi YT app, qeue videos relatively easy and all that jazz. I'm not missing my CC as far as YouTube goes anymore.
As far as stuff like Giant Bomb and Netflix go they both work great. GB let's you link your Premium account so you can get all the content you're paying for. Netflix's UI is slick and fast.
One thing I don't like as much is the (unofficial I'd guess) Kodi Twitch app though. Could be better.
Anyhow, that's just my experience with the Fire TV Stick after using and loving my Chromecast. I still have it around since its used prices bombed hard after CC2 came out and I still get promotions out of it. (Just recently grabbed another three months of Deezer Premium).
IMACOMPUTA
Member
That, and I would have multiple people in a party atmosphere adding songs to be played from their own phones.
I love GPM for listening to music when I'm alone. I use it all the time.
Works pretty well.
I just have a bit of a beef with google giving up on treating all googlecast devices all the same. I guess this compromise was made to get spotify to support it.
One thing I wonder about the new cc and audio chromecast is high quality audio. You'd think the video chromecast would be just as capable connecting to a avr over hdmi as the audio one is via optical. Is that true in practise? Or are the internals different as far as support for flac and 24/96 etc?
Don't see how. They'd need a device thats logged into your netflix account to send the chromecast commands I'd think.
DiddysKongQuest
Member
There is an option on the Netflix Website to log out out of every device. You should definitely do that!Thought so, thank you. Looks like my account was hacked then
Can someone help me with a Chromecast issue? Right now I have my Chromecast connected to my powerline/WiFi adapter. It worked fine last night, no issues.
I woke up this morning and suddenly I can't cast anything to it using a phone. It simply won't see the device, no matter what network I go on. I tried having my phone be on the powerline network, the regular wifi network, and the 5ghz network. Nothing. Last night it was fine.
I then reset my Chromecast and still nothing. I reset it AGAIN and put it on my 2.4ghz network instead of the powerline network and it was working for 30 seconds but now I can't see it again.
The weirdest thing is that when I had it connected to my powerline wifi, I could cast to it via my PC that I have connected to that same powerline via ethernet. What gives? Is my Chromecast dying?
I woke up this morning and suddenly I can't cast anything to it using a phone. It simply won't see the device, no matter what network I go on. I tried having my phone be on the powerline network, the regular wifi network, and the 5ghz network. Nothing. Last night it was fine.
I then reset my Chromecast and still nothing. I reset it AGAIN and put it on my 2.4ghz network instead of the powerline network and it was working for 30 seconds but now I can't see it again.
The weirdest thing is that when I had it connected to my powerline wifi, I could cast to it via my PC that I have connected to that same powerline via ethernet. What gives? Is my Chromecast dying?
Is this 1st gen?
I have issues with mine not connecting and usually unplugging it works. Other times, some of my older phones, like my 2013 Moto X won't see it so I'll have to close Netflix/Chromecast/Youtube/Google Play (swiping it away from recents) and then reopen them before that Chromecast icon appears. With my S6 it always stays connected somehow.
One good thing that's happened is the Chromecast app itself will auto-refresh, so even if Netflix itself disconnects/fails to see the Chromecast and thus, you lose remote access, Chromecast will have a play/pause/volume button that you can use to resume the show.
I don't know if your Chromecast is dying and wouldn't know what the signs are if it were. Not sure if it's a network issue.