Anyone used a Chromecast on ship yet?

[fletch1027]

Just curious if anyone has taken a Chromecast on board to stream stuff from laptop / tablet to the room tv?

 

I assume that all of the flat screen LCD / LED's in the cabins have HDMI ports and Chromecast seems like a easy thing to travel with to be able to stream local movies & tv from device to the cabin TV's...

[DrD]

1. As far as I can tell from online info the gadget has to be on a wifi network, even when streaming directly.

2. Cruiseship TV's generally do not allow external inputs, although I don't know specifically about RCCL.

 

So I'd guess no, but it'd be great for someone to try it out.

[Karter]

I don't know how many ships do this but I do know Freedom of the Seas disables all external inputs including HDMI.

[bilyclub]

There has been talk that Samsung remotes, universal remotes, and GS4 Apps, all work on the new TVs as far as getting the ports to work.

[reedl]

The Chromecast uses WiFi which means that you cannot use it on a ship since the chromecast has to connect to WiFi in order to work.

 

Now if you had a MiFi (a portable internet access device) which both your phone and the chromecast could connect to then it would work, but the MiFi would need to have its internet turned off of course to save roaming charges.

 

I would say the better idea would be to simply use an HDMI cable from your device to the TV, or use a laptop and play video that way. I brought my iPad and the composite video cable I have and plugged it into the TV and it worked perfectly. You need to use the TV's buttons on the back to switch inputs of course. This worked at least on the Allure. Your ship may vary!

[ahecht]

The chromecast needs an internet connection to work, so you would have to pay for a wifi package and deal with streaming at slow speeds.

[DrD]

The chromecast needs an internet connection to work, so you would have to pay for a wifi package and deal with streaming at slow speeds.

 

Not quite. It needs to be on a wifi network, but does not need to access internet for what OP wants to do (send video from laptop to TV). Not sure if you can join ship's wifi network without buying an internet package.

 

Speed would be that of the wifi, not the internet.

 

What I don't get is why is there that limitation? Why can't the device work peer-to-peer? There are several types of external drive that can connect to say a tablet over wifi using peer-to-peer, ie directly (not through a wifi network.) This is also how apple airdrop works. Seems they nerfed it a bit with that requirement. Maybe there's some technical reason.

[DrD]

The Chromecast uses WiFi which means that you cannot use it on a ship since the chromecast has to connect to WiFi in order to work.

 

Now if you had a MiFi (a portable internet access device) which both your phone and the chromecast could connect to then it would work, but the MiFi would need to have its internet turned off of course to save roaming charges.

 

I would say the better idea would be to simply use an HDMI cable from your device to the TV, or use a laptop and play video that way. I brought my iPad and the composite video cable I have and plugged it into the TV and it worked perfectly. You need to use the TV's buttons on the back to switch inputs of course. This worked at least on the Allure. Your ship may vary!

 

I wonder if something like apple personal hotspot on the iphone would work? It should. As long as cellular is off you wouldn't have to worry about data charges.

[Clarea]

Not quite. It needs to be on a wifi network, but does not need to access internet for what OP wants to do (send video from laptop to TV). Not sure if you can join ship's wifi network without buying an internet package.

 

Speed would be that of the wifi, not the internet.

 

What I don't get is why is there that limitation? Why can't the device work peer-to-peer? There are several types of external drive that can connect to say a tablet over wifi using peer-to-peer, ie directly (not through a wifi network.) This is also how apple airdrop works. Seems they nerfed it a bit with that requirement. Maybe there's some technical reason.

I've been able to use the ship's WiFi network without buying internet time, on every ship we've sailed on. I use it to print boarding passes from my laptop to the ship's printer.

Edited December 14, 2013 by clarea

[nin_man]

You're asking if a Chromecast would work on a routerless (ad hoc) network, where your laptop creates a point-to-point WiFi connection to another single device (or vice versa). Chromecast won't stream over an ad hoc network, at least in its current software version, and it won't work on an isolated WiFi network that requires a sign-in page, such as what you find onboard. In other words, even if you solve the HDMI port issue, the device still won't be able to stream.

[Scrapnana]

I've been able to use the ship's WiFi network without buying internet time, on every ship we've sailed on. I use it to print boarding passes from my laptop to the ship's printer.

 

How do you connect to the WiFi network for free? Do you only do this for printing boarding passes? Does the cruise line charge you for printing?

[ehfl]

Just curious if anyone has taken a Chromecast on board to stream stuff from laptop / tablet to the room tv?

 

I assume that all of the flat screen LCD / LED's in the cabins have HDMI ports and Chromecast seems like a easy thing to travel with to be able to stream local movies & tv from device to the cabin TV's...

 

I doubt it would work. Remember that Chromecast streams directly from the internet, NOT from your device. Your device is merely the remote control for it. Even if it worked, the bandwidth would not be fast enough to stream movies, and you would still be paying the charge for Internet access.

 

Since wi-fi on the ship requires authentication, I don't think you could get the chromecast to authenticate. You have to use your device to control the Chromecast, and you can't connect to the Chromecast until it's authenticated, which it can't do without your device.

 

You'd be better off just bringing an HDMI cable to connect your tablet, phone, or laptop directly to the TV. If using a phone or tablet, remember to bring a mini-HDMI to regular HDMI cable (or use an adapter).

[Clarea]

How do you connect to the WiFi network for free? Do you only do this for printing boarding passes? Does the cruise line charge you for printing?

The ship's guest WiFi network is an open system, no password required. You are only presented a log on page if you try to access the internet. There is no charge for printing.

[DrD]

I doubt it would work. Remember that Chromecast streams directly from the internet, NOT from your device. Your device is merely the remote control for it. Even if it worked, the bandwidth would not be fast enough to stream movies, and you would still be paying the charge for Internet access.

 

Since wi-fi on the ship requires authentication, I don't think you could get the chromecast to authenticate. You have to use your device to control the Chromecast, and you can't connect to the Chromecast until it's authenticated, which it can't do without your device.

 

You'd be better off just bringing an HDMI cable to connect your tablet, phone, or laptop directly to the TV. If using a phone or tablet, remember to bring a mini-HDMI to regular HDMI cable (or use an adapter).

 

Again, this is not quite true. It's true for internet-based services such as netflix, but not if you want to stream a movie that is on local drive.

[fletch1027]

Again, this is not quite true. It's true for internet-based services such as netflix, but not if you want to stream a movie that is on local drive.

 

Agreed, this is what I was referring to (playing content already on laptop vs streaming new content). I guess it seems like the cruising may be more adaptable to something like Apple TV as opposed to Chromecast.

 

My goal was avoiding three of us huddled around a 13" laptop screen to watch a movie. :-)

 

Another option that was suggested that may work is a longer hdmi cable...

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[ahecht]

Again, this is not quite true. It's true for internet-based services such as netflix, but not if you want to stream a movie that is on local drive.

 

But chromecast doesn't let you stream directly from your local drive. The closest you can get is using Plex, Avia, or streaming a Chrome tab, but all of those require the chromecast to download the receiver app information from Google first.

 

Instead of posting guesses as if they were facts, just try it. Unplug the network cable from your WiFi router and then plug in your Chromecast. You won't be able to cast a Chrome tab to it, even though it is not an internet-based service.

[DrD]

But chromecast doesn't let you stream directly from your local drive. The closest you can get is using Plex, Avia, or streaming a Chrome tab, but all of those require the chromecast to download the receiver app information from Google first.

 

Instead of posting guesses as if they were facts, just try it. Unplug the network cable from your WiFi router and then plug in your Chromecast. You won't be able to cast a Chrome tab to it, even though it is not an internet-based service.

 

As I said in my first post I'm basing my info on stuff I'm reading online.

 

This is what I found out:

 

On the other hand, there’s been a way to stream local videos from your PC to a Chromecast since day one — and it continues to work even after the latest software update. All you have to do is install the Google Cast extension for the Google Chrome web browser, then drag and drop a video into a browser tab. Then hit the Cast icon in the Chrome toolbar and choose to display that browser tab on your TV. If you have a reasonably fast computer, it’ll transcode the video in real-time and send it your Chromecast over your WiFi network at resolutions up to 720p.

 

 

So my understanding of that info is that you don't need an internet connection for that.

 

So not exactly a guess, but as always I could be wrong.

[ahecht]

As I said in my first post I'm basing my info on stuff I'm reading online.

 

This is what I found out:

 

On the other hand, there’s been a way to stream local videos from your PC to a Chromecast since day one — and it continues to work even after the latest software update. All you have to do is install the Google Cast extension for the Google Chrome web browser, then drag and drop a video into a browser tab. Then hit the Cast icon in the Chrome toolbar and choose to display that browser tab on your TV. If you have a reasonably fast computer, it’ll transcode the video in real-time and send it your Chromecast over your WiFi network at resolutions up to 720p.

 

 

So my understanding of that info is that you don't need an internet connection for that.

 

So not exactly a guess, but as always I could be wrong.

 

I've tested it, and you do need an actual internet connection to start casting a Chrome tab. Once you've started casting you can disconnect the wifi router from the web and it will continue to work for a while, but it needs to be able to load a "receiver" web page from Google each time you start a streaming session.

[Scrapnana]

The ship's guest WiFi network is an open system, no password required. You are only presented a log on page if you try to access the internet. There is no charge for printing.

 

Thanks for the answer. I thought you meant you were able to get onto the internet.

[Clarea]

I've tested it, and you do need an actual internet connection to start casting a Chrome tab. Once you've started casting you can disconnect the wifi router from the web and it will continue to work for a while, but it needs to be able to load a "receiver" web page from Google each time you start a streaming session.

Makes sense, otherwise how would Google keep track of what you are viewing?

[reedl]

As I said in my first post I'm basing my info on stuff I'm reading online.

 

This is what I found out:

 

On the other hand, there’s been a way to stream local videos from your PC to a Chromecast since day one — and it continues to work even after the latest software update. All you have to do is install the Google Cast extension for the Google Chrome web browser, then drag and drop a video into a browser tab. Then hit the Cast icon in the Chrome toolbar and choose to display that browser tab on your TV. If you have a reasonably fast computer, it’ll transcode the video in real-time and send it your Chromecast over your WiFi network at resolutions up to 720p.

 

 

So my understanding of that info is that you don't need an internet connection for that.

 

So not exactly a guess, but as always I could be wrong.

The Chromecast needs to be connected to a WiFi network in order to work. And it needs to connect to the Google servers to even work. Now in your home, that is not an issue since most home WiFi networks may have a security key, but do not have a login page. OTOH the Chromecast cannot login to the RCCL network since it does not have any way to do so.

 

So bottom line, the Chromecast will not work on the ship. Bring an HDMI cable instead. It is much easier, and does not rely on any external requirements.

[mo&fran]

On a recent cruise on a refurbished ship, I looked at the back of the TV and found all the connections you would find on todays sets. The TV was connected with coax cable, but there was an HDMI port there also. You would need a remote that allows you to acess the input options to select HDMI.

[fletch1027]

Sounds good. This has been an interesting discussion to follow. I will probably buy a Chromecast because for $30, it will be fun to play with, but for cruising purposes I will not bring it along. :-)

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[chadbeck]

On a recent cruise on a refurbished ship, I looked at the back of the TV and found all the connections you would find on todays sets. The TV was connected with coax cable, but there was an HDMI port there also. You would need a remote that allows you to acess the input options to select HDMI.[/quote

 

I have never needed a remote to plug into the hdmi ports. Seeing as the hdmi port is the default port for tv's once you plug in a device that has signal the tv will switch automatically to that port. If they disabled the ports you can still access the menu to select with out a remote or at least I could on Allure and Liberty when I tried it.

[DrD]

I've tested it, and you do need an actual internet connection to start casting a Chrome tab. Once you've started casting you can disconnect the wifi router from the web and it will continue to work for a while, but it needs to be able to load a "receiver" web page from Google each time you start a streaming session.

 

Thanks. That settles it.

 

Too bad they designed it that way. Maybe a software update can change it.