Not joined yet? Register for free and enjoy features such as alerts, private messaging and viewing latest posts and topics.

Chromecast

General off-topic chat.
Post Reply
Mpower
Member
Member
Posts: 431
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 4:47 pm

Chromecast

Post by Mpower » Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:32 am

Hi all,

Does anyone use Android devices to stream/ mirror to TV via chromecast?

The problem I'm having that the IOS devices IPhone/iPad have limitations only able to stream Netflix and youtube,not from Internet browser that would be ideal.

I've tried streaming from my laptop but that's very laggy even running 8gb of memory maybe the processor is too slow?

What I had in mind is the Samsung Tabs or any other device that can stream effortlessly to tv…advice/comments welcome.

Lee

User avatar
X5Sport
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 18781
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: Planet X6......

Re: Chromecast

Post by X5Sport » Mon Apr 06, 2015 12:07 pm

From my experience they pretty much all suffer from some kind of lag, especially if streaming on the 2.4GHz WiFi band due to the sheer number of other users around me - even though none are on the same radio channel that I use. 

The fact that you also have to download, convert and then send to the TV also slows things down.  A good download speed well above the minimum 'recommended' also helps.  It needs to be at least 4Mbps, not the 2Mbps most say is the minimum.  Keep the distance between the WiFi router and stream receiver short too.  HD streaming needs 4x the bandwidth than SD which can clobber performance as well.

If you can scan your local area then check to see who else is close to you and what channels they use.  For example, all Sky broadband routers are on Channel 1 so if you can change the channel it might help.  Each ISP providing a router all use just one channel so you need to try and find a gap of 5 channels away from any other nearby WiFi user.

I use a 5GHz wifi set up and also stream from a local DLNA server over my mains. 

You can also stream via a sky box if you have one.  They provide the widest range of options compared to Apple TV, Chromecast, Amazon TV etc.
:ant: Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.

Mpower
Member
Member
Posts: 431
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 4:47 pm

Re: Chromecast

Post by Mpower » Mon Apr 06, 2015 12:50 pm

Richard thanks again for your valued response,I'm on Virgin running a very good download speed hitting 160mb/s and wifi on the 5GH so the traffic problem is not that.
Maybe I should have worded my situation better, my wife likes watching foreign programmes from the web and at present she does that mostly on the iPad which runs perfectly but it's not as comfortably as watching on the full size screen, hence the post on wether the android devices would allow streaming to TV via chromecast.
Lee

User avatar
X5Sport
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 18781
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: Planet X6......

Re: Chromecast

Post by X5Sport » Mon Apr 06, 2015 1:06 pm

It will certainly work - according to Google anyway.  That download speed will give you no bottlenecks either.
:ant: Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.

Post Reply