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New Chromecast 2015
- unclek 11y agoDoes this mean the Chromebit is dead in the water? Or a poorly timed April fool's joke? Asus and Google have been silent since the april announcement.
- news_to_me 11y agoFinally 5GHz wifi support. I wish they had a "What's New" section though.
- simonlc 11y agoAs far as I can tell, that's the only difference. I just bought mine yesterday knowing there was a new one on the way, I don't think I'm missing much.
- seedifferently 11y agoThe original model was 802.11 b/g/n, the new model also supports 802.11ac.
- izacus 11y agoMore importantly, original model supported only 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n which can be a very very congested band in cities.
- simoncion 11y ago> ...original model supported only 2.4GHz... That's what's implied when you say 802.11b/g/n rather than 802.11a/b/g/n or 802.11ac. Both 802.11a and 802.11ac are 5Ghz-only protocols [0], and 802.11ac implies[1] support for 802.11a/b/g/n. :) [0] And 802.11b/g are 2.4 Ghz-only protocols. [1] Or it might dictate support, I haven't read the text of the standard.
- CountSessine 11y ago802.11n can be and commonly is 5GHz as well. If I saw a device advertising 802.11b/g/n I would not assume 2.4GHz only.
- simoncion 11y ago> 802.11n can be and commonly is 5GHz as well. It only is 5Ghz when there is a 5GHz radio in the device. I gather that world-wide 5Ghz operation not-infrequently requires the ability to do DFS. [0] This is an added engineering and testing burden that -I guess- many companies just don't want to undergo. [1] I've spent an absurd amount of time looking for and at WiFi network adaptors. Devices that advertise just b/g(/n) support contain only a 2.4Ghz radio 99.9% of the time. Look at the first-gen Chromecast, the 3G Nexus S, or the 2012 Nexus 7. They all advertised b/g/n support, and all operated only in the 2.4GHz band. [0] There are regulatory domains in which the majority of 5Ghz channels require DFS and/or transmit power control. [1] You'd think that all the engineering work would be done already, and only the testing would be left, but who knows?
- rektide 11y agoI'd be pretty shocked if the under the hood didn't get some small subtle boosts. There's no incentive for them to advertise this though, I feel.
- libraryatnight 11y agoEven if this is all that's new, if this improves streaming of large files I'll be happy with the upgrade.
- brucehart 11y agoYes the "what's new" section is the first thing I looked for! Does anyone know if this new version supports HEVC/H.265 video? I would upgrade my existing Chromecast if more codecs were supported but I didn't see any information in the articles I read. 5 GHz Wi-Fi is not as important to me because the 2.4 GHz band is not very crowded in my neighborhood.
- dchuk 11y agoIs this thing just a new shape? What exactly has changed here?
- guyzero 11y agoNew SoC, 5 GHz Wifi, BLE for easier setup from iOS, Chromecast Audio is all new, Chromecast Audio will support multi-zone.
- cdnsteve 11y agoSo if you have a current Chromecast nothing worth upgrading for?
- fumar 11y agoMulti-room support is really neat feature that will compete with hardware like Sonos. With Chromecast audio you can use existing speakers to create a multi-room listening experience.
- hamxiaoz 11y agoThat means the music app needs to support chromecast, right?
- guyzero 11y agoChromecast audio supports audio mirroring
- Relys 11y agoI believe that is the case. I highly recommend just purchasing an RPI 2 and throwing the OSMC distro (Debian+Kodi) on it. Kodi supports the AirPlay protocol, so once you enable it in services you can use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.airaudio&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.airaudio&hl... and basically pipe AUX out from your phone to multiple devices on your network. :) This obviously requires the dependency of your phone, but I prefer the flexibility.
- eatonphil 11y agoDoes this still require a usb cable for power? That was a big disappointment in the first iteration.
- talmand 11y agoWhere else would it get power?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- vvanders 11y agoWasn't there a spec for power over HDMI?
- guyzero 11y agoMost TVs don't implement it.
- mathgeek 11y agoMHL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-Definition_Link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-Definition_Link Not widely supported, but it's basically power-over-HDMI among other things.
- xd1936 11y agoYes :( http://i.imgur.com/SNMwrjd.png http://i.imgur.com/SNMwrjd.png
- andrewchoi 11y agoGiven the microUSB ports in the third and fourth images, I'd say it's likely.
- Florin_Andrei 11y agoYes, because power over HDMI is rare. My concern is - can it still work with power provided by a regular USB socket on the TV? The specs claim it needs a 1 amp power supply, and most sockets can't do that much. Maybe the specs overstate it.
- ser_tyrion 11y agoHeh, I saw the "Supported Operating Systems" list (w/ Windows and MacOS X) and thought that was the OS that can be installed on device b/c of atom proc or something... but of course it was the supported client OS.
- Omni5cience 11y agoI wonder what prompted the new form factor. I rather liked the simple HDMI stick aesthetic.
- bossx 11y agoBecause the stick is easy to break, and this has a replaceable cable.
- DavideNL 11y agothe old one i have has a flexible extender cable as well
- xd1936 11y agoAgreed.
- JoshTriplett 11y agoTwo likely reasons. First, the previous form factor didn't fit in all TVs, so they had to include a tiny HDMI extender cable; this form factor has built-in tolerance for tight fits. Second, the new form factor allows more room for hardware bits and heat dissipation.
- bduerst 11y agoAlso probably because some television sets can block wifi signals up close. I had a weak wifi connection on mine and a 3 ft hdmi extender fixed it (which was probably overkill).
- pan69 11y agoI had this as well. Took me a while to figure out it was my Chromecast. When I watch TV I basically have to turn of my Chromecast because of the otherwise interference it causes.
- xpect0 11y agoTrue that.,
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- ohitsdom 11y agoYou can cast tabs from Chrome on Linux. What support are you asking about? Any developer can choose to implement the Chromecast API.
- lmedinas 11y agoWhere is the API ? The last I've known they only have it available in Android and iOS so no desktop yet.
- finnn 11y agoIt's available as a Chrome (and maybe Firefox?) extension[0], then websites can use some JavaScript APIs to control it (with user permission of course)[1]. [0]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-cast/boadgeojelhgndaghljhdicfkmllpafd https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-cast/boadge... [1]: https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/chrome_sender https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/chrome_sender
- geofft 11y agoOn developers.google.com just like you'd expect. :) https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/downloads https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/downloads I downloaded CastHelloVideo-chrome, put it on my webserver, opened the URL in Chrome, and it worked as advertised. Granted, it does require Chrome and the Google Cast extension, which is as far as I know proprietary.
- lmedinas 11y agoAgain it's Chrome only so not a general Desktop API
- vidarh 11y agoWhat Linux support do you want exactly? Controlling a Chromecast from Chrome on Linux works fine.
- Brakenshire 11y agoHow is the Chromecast for direct local streaming? Does everything have to go through Google's servers?
- phasmantistes 11y agoVery little goes through google's servers, actually. "Casting" something from your phone/tablet to the chromecast is just sending it a url (and a timestamp if you were already watching on your phone). Then it streams locally. So, for example, you can stream from Plex and not touch Google servers at all.
- david_shaw 11y agoAs far as I know, Chromecast supports handoff very well. I've used my Chromecast for things like Netflix, but my primary use-case is Videostream for direct streaming of local files.
- pbhjpbhj 11y agoBut you can't just mirror a display to it, can you?
- joefkelley 11y agoNo. You can mirror a Chrome tab; that's the best you can do. And it doesn't work as smoothly as a purpose-built app.
- Negitivefrags 11y agoYou can mirror a whole display. It's an option in the Chromecast plugin for Chrome. It's labelled "experimental" but it actually works really well.
- izacus 11y agoYes you can - the UX isn't all that obvious though: Open Chrome, click on Cast extension, click on small arrow and select "Cast screen". It'll mirror your desktop to CC.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- rb2k_ 11y agoInteresting, there is also a Chromecast Audio: https://store.google.com/product/chromecast_audio https://store.google.com/product/chromecast_audio I've been looking for something similar, only on the iOS side of things. I've been thinking about just getting the little Sabrent Puck (http://amzn.to/1NZYp6w http://amzn.to/1NZYp6w) or an Airport Express and attach it to a studio monitor. Alternatively just getting a USB powered speaker and run both items from a powered USB Hub. Alternatively, there is also the "professional" way out using a Sonos Play or Bose Soundtouch. Two speakers would be for bathrooms (think: NPR in the shower, podcasts in the bathtub), one would be for the kitchen / living room area. Any one have any good/bad experiences with airplay compatible setups? I'm by no way an audiophile and most of my content is "spoken word" anyway.
- anoother 11y agoDoes it finally support MHL? The specs seem to imply it: Requirements TV with an HDMI port Wi-Fi network Wi-Fi enabled supported device But it still comes with a power supply... I've been looking for a usable (high enough performance), MHL-enabled Miracast dongle for a long time... The Microsoft Wireless Display Adapater comes close but doesn't support MHL and is too expensive. Hopefully this new Chromecast is it..
- izacus 11y agoChromecast is neither Miracast compatible nor does it receive power from HDMI.
- anoother 11y agoHow does it support Windows if not with Miracast? Is it just 'support' as in 'casting' (playing media locally) as opposed to actual streaming (eg. cloning) of the display?
- exacube 11y agoYou can cast a chrome tab, so it actually supports streaming. They're just protocols, why do you need to support Miracast for it to work on Windows?
- anoother 11y agoI'd like to actually have a wireless display. AFAIK, the official mechanism for that, on Windows, is Miracast. EDIT: Sibling comment says it's also supported via a Chrome plugin. That might be an option...
- izacus 11y agoYou can mirror the whole display or a chrome tab, but you need to use Chrome's extension for that. It streams via Cast protocol, not Miracast.
- bduerst 11y ago
- lvspiff 11y agoIs this intended to compete with the AppleTV/FireTV/Roku? If so Google just failed miserably. Not having its own OS severely limits its abilities it would seem. It looks like it continues to be nothing more than a wireless audio/monitor cable that makes use of your phone as a remote.
- TranquilMarmot 11y agoYou would be surprised. I've always found the interfaces for AppleTV/FireTV/Roku to be extremely clunky and not user friendly in the slightest. There's no reason not to use your phone that has interfaces that are much better designed and easier to navigate (a swipe of the finger to type some text, versus a hundred button presses to navigate an awful on-screen TV leopard). I think using remotes is pretty old-school and we're going to see them phased out pretty fast. AppleTV's interface is especially jarring, the Netflix app is borderline unusable.
- vollmond 11y agoI like choosing media from a phone/computer, but I love having my Roku's physical remote. Instant access to tactile playback controls is huge. I can pick up the remote in the dark and find the pause button with no effort at all. If I could have that on Chromecast, I'd be sold. Last night, I was watching something on Netflix on my Chromecast (using the Android app) and somehow the app and the CC got out of sync. It thought it wasn't casting anymore, so it took away my playback controls and I had no way to pause my show. IIRC, eventually I had to turn off the TV (and thus the CC).
- TranquilMarmot 11y agoI've definitely had that happen with my Chromecast as well. Not sure if the bug lies in Netflix's app, or the way Netflix and the Chromecast communicate. My TV also detects when the Chromecast starts casting and automatically turns on and changes to the input. Great if you want to watch something without finding the TV remote, but I've woken up numerous times in the middle of the night to find my TV on, just showing the Netflix title screen even though no devices are casting. Never had that happen with YouTube or Plex or anything else I use, so I wonder if it is just Netflix. A physical remote for the Chromecast for pausing/fast-forwarding/rewinding is a pretty good idea. I wonder how difficult it would be to interface with the Chromecast and make a WiFi remote? Or would it have to emulate the signals that the app sends over WiFi to the Chromecast? I wonder if you could sniff the packets for pause/play/rewind and emulate them? (I smell a good idea for that dusty ol Raspberry Pi that I have on my shelf)
- evook 11y agoStill no AC3/DTS passthrough is a huge disappointment for a 2015 reskin.
- LeonM 11y agoSource?
- mdeslaur 11y agoThree exciting colours to hide behind your tv! :)
- Navarr 11y agoNever underestimate the illusion of choice.
- choward 11y agoThe bragged about how it's smaller and easier to hide. Who gives a crap what color it is. They shouldn't have focused on the looks at all but made sure it had the lowest possible profile.
- bostonvaulter2 11y agoAh, in the pictures it looks larger than the previous one. Glad to hear that it's actually smaller.
- degenerate 11y agoYeah it looks HUGE in the opening pic. They goofed on that.
- netrus 11y agoThey want you to take it with you when you are visiting friends (who don't have streaming devices). Its a nice idea and I have done it in the past.
- bkjelden 11y agoI more or less accidentally found out that Google released an ethernet adapter for the original Chromecast[0]. Purchasing that has given me a lot more utility from my Chromecast. I love the device. I am loving how much support there is for it among sports streaming services: WatchESPN, BTN2Go, and NFL Sunday Ticket all support Chromecast streaming. My biggest issue with the device right now is the lack of official Spotify support. I would love to be able to stream spotify from my phone to my Chromecast. [0]: https://store.google.com/product/_ethernet_adapter_for_chromecast https://store.google.com/product/_ethernet_adapter_for_chrom...
- amalag 11y agoI didn't know that either. That is definitely interesting. That definitely can overcome the lack of 5Ghz. But that plus the original chromecast is now more than the new one. I only have a Roku so they only thing I am interested in is the chrome tab casting.
- ossama 11y agoSpotify support for Chromecast was announced today. http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/29/9409673/google-chromecast-spotify-support http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/29/9409673/google-chromecast-...
- mikeyouse 11y agoYeah, Spotify is the reason I use my Apple TV much more than the Chromecast.. There's no AppleTV app for it either, but at least you can do the Airplay from any Apple device and it will play from my good speakers and show the album art on the screen.
- marcusf 11y agoHappily we announced Chromecast support today: http://www.wired.com/2015/09/spotify-might-best-new-thing-new-chromecast/ http://www.wired.com/2015/09/spotify-might-best-new-thing-ne.... Hope you like it!
- 11y ago
- lr4444lr 11y agoDear Google, Wake me up when you and Amazon can stop hissing at each other like cats on opposite corners of the room so I can get Amazon Instant Video, and Firestick users can get Youtube natively. Until then, Zzz...
- Aleman360 11y agoWas excited about this until I saw that it doesn't support Amazon Prime video.
- mkozlows 11y agoAmazon Prime video doesn't support any TV-connected Apple or Google device. This appears to be a strategic decision Amazon has made.
- Spoom 11y agoFor a long time they didn't support Android at all, just their fork of it on their devices. They seem to be very big on lock-in.
- pyrocat 11y agoand yet they have Roku and Xbox apps.
- Aleman360 11y agoYea, bummer. I use my Xbox One because it supports everything and does Blu-ray too, but the thing uses like 80 watts while playing videos and is pretty clunky to navigate.
- pilom 11y agoI get around this by just casting my phone's screen. It works great out of the box. Just cast your phone's screen, start the Amazon Prime Video app and start your show. The phone will automatically full screen and orient correctly for the TV and all audio on the phone will silence in favor of using the TV's.
- pbhjpbhj 11y agoHang on, you can cast your phone screen? I understood that you could only cast a chrome-browser tab to chromecast or use an app designed for chromecast ... have I been misled? Is that a newer feature because it didn't seem to be there 9 months ago when I trialed one?
- coda_ 11y agoFor the multi-room audio they talked about (to be released later this year), has anyone seen anything that indicates if it will work with a non-audio-specific chromecast? For example, I hope to be able to play music to my TV through a chromecast (and be able to see album art on my tv), and then have the same audio playing in my living room coming out of a chromecast audio. Man i hope it will work regardless of type of chromecast.
- biggc 11y agoI'd be willing to be not, unless Google invested a lot of effort in synchronizing the two streams.
- oaktowner 11y agoWhen you say "that they talked about"...where were they talking? I can't find anything on the site about multi-room audio.
- coda_ 11y agoAt the live press announcement they talked about multi-room audio... here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc-LEG0T_4c&feature=youtu.be&t=4215 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc-LEG0T_4c&feature=youtu.be...
- sankoz 11y agoWhen I bought my TV supporting Miracast protocol, I thought I would not need to buy a Chromecast. And it (the TV) worked beautifully with my Nexus 5 for some days. But soon, the phone stopped casting the screen on the TV. Another phone (Moto X Play) still works fine though, so pretty sure it is a phone problem. A conspiracy theorist would suggest Google intentionally breaking Miracast support to boost sales of Chromecast ;)
- mkozlows 11y agoMiracast turns out to be a terrible protocol in many ways. The way it uses Wifi networks is clunky, and requiring from-device streaming is fine for local content or screen mirroring, but terrible for streaming services (where you end up with Netflix streaming to your phone, then your phone transcoding and streaming to the TV via Miracast, which means two video streams on your Wifi and a lot of drain on your phone; by contrast, with Chromecast, Netflix streams from the internet to your TV with no intervening step).
- coryfklein 11y agoGood thing you're not a conspiracy theorist and wouldn't dare suggest such a thing.
- com2kid 11y agoI've never had good luck with miracast. It is supposed to have latency in the 10s of milliseconds, I have yet to see it under 100 or even 200ms. (and I am pretty sure I have seen it a lot higher!) This is despite having a nice fast Intel chipset and what is supposed to be a well reviewed Miracast receiver. It is a great idea, but it works so poorly. Next up for standards failure, DLNA! I am saddened that there are standards body tech to do what I want, and that none of them really work that well. If I want to stream from multiple platforms to my sound system, I am best off investing in a proprietary solution from either Google or Apple. :(
- peter303 11y agoI believe you can write apps for it. I have not tried myself, but been to some google/Android software meetups where people discussed the API and their apps. I am not sure what kind of apps you'd want to write. i believe the media niche has been pretty well filling, Gaming, engineering/science software probably not.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- IanCal 11y agoI've made a few, they're extremely easy to do since it's just a basic webpage.
- coryfklein 11y agoI'm sorry, but what is new besides the form factor? Everybody must be upvoting this for some reason other than the fact that they can buy something colorful to hide behind their TV.
- kllrnohj 11y ago802.11ac (2.4GHz/5Ghz). Aka, fixing the biggest issue with the old one. And also chromecast audio, which is new.
- simoncion 11y ago802.11ac support? Edit: See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10298026 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10298026
- rkuykendall-com 11y ago> I'm sorry, but what is new besides the form factor? That's actually WHY I found this really interesting. A slight change to the form factor for easier connection to some TVs is all they changed. No features only this model can use. New features every day coming to both models. That means they got it right on gen 1, which is absolutely incredible.
- simoncion 11y agoWhat new features are coming "every day" to the Chromecast? Other than new software written for the thing, and bug fixes, I've noticed 0 new features [0] over the year+ I've owned mine. (I would really like to be able to load an ICC profile into the thing. I have a nice, but wide-gamut monitor that would become my Chromecast's new best friend.) [0] Edit: I guess you can set your own wallpaper and slideshows now? So, make that one new -not really useful- feature that I've seen over the year+ that I've owned the thing.
- gavazzy 11y agoNo 4K?
- gwbas1c 11y agoNo one really pays attention to Android TV. Just got the Nvidea Shield, and apps run much more smoothly on it than via Chromecast. It also acts as a Chromecast, so I can still cast from my phone if I want to.
- darkstar999 11y agoAgreed. I just got a Sony TV with Android TV built in. I was hoping to hear some updates on this.
- thrownaway2424 11y agoNobody cares about Android TV because the worst thing that can happen when you turn on your TV is it displays "Optimizing app 15 of 189" for the next half an hour.
- coolnow 11y agoThat only happens when you factory reset (and with less apps than that) or you upgrade to another big version, doesn't it?
- darkstar999 11y agoIt notifies you of the update and asks if you want to install it. I haven't been forced into an update.
- robk 11y agoNo HDMI passthrough is a real irritation for me. I hate the fact it hogs one of the two HDMI ports in my office screen, meaning I need a HDMI switch for the Logitech videoconf and the Apple TV.
- arbitrage 11y agoCan't you streamcast to the apple tv, making the chromecast largely redundant? I'm genuinely curious; what do you get from the chromecast that you don't already have?
- JohnTHaller 11y agoThat would be a decently large extra expense for a feature used by only a fraction of users.
- pbreit 11y agoChromecast Audio is being reported poorly. Many articles suggest it works with "most any home speakers" and "old school speakers" when it only works with powered speakers.
- Raphael 11y agoWell, hopefully you have an audio receiver. You don't really expect to run speakers just by themselves.
- pbreit 11y agoWell, considering the Google page says nothing about needing power or an amp, yes, I do. And my original point noted that the news articles claim it works with "any home speaker" and "old school speakers" when that is not the case at all. Why would I have a receiver when Google says it works "on your best speakers"?
- nathanb 11y agoThis may be dissonance between audiophiles and regular people. When I see that it works with my best, old-school speakers, I wonder if it has red and black posts for me to crimp my speaker wire to. But of course I know better and know that it will just provide line out audio. When they say "old school" they mean it has an RCA out jack, and when they say "speakers" they mean boombox, receiver, or modern powered speakers (the sort which often have an iphone connector on top to plug your phone into). We as audiophiles know that the language used in the copy is imprecise and implies the wrong thing (hopefully we're also smart enough to know what it's actually implying). I suspect the average human would not be as confused.
- cbr 11y agored and black posts for me to crimp my speaker wire to They tried that and no one wanted it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexus_Q https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexus_Q
- deleted 11y ago
- aeturnum 11y agoI used to use chromecast quite heavily, but ended up getting tired of their relatively limited format support and use wireless HDMI now (which does everything I wanted but does require dedicated source hardware - like a pc).
- ciupicri 11y ago> The Google Store isn't available here yet. > We're working to bring it to more countries as soon as possible.
- forcer 11y agoI would love if at least one streaming stick support VPN. Otherwise its mostly useless for streaming shows outside USA.
- jonny_eh 11y agohttps://support.unlocator.com/customer/portal/articles/1284813-how-to-setup-chromecast https://support.unlocator.com/customer/portal/articles/12848...
- ParadigmBlender 11y agoFor the last month or two, chromecast has not been able to cast Netflix for me. It drops the stream evey few minutes. Looks like I am not alone as there is a long thread[0] on the Google's Chromecast Help Forum. Has onyone else been having issues with it? [0]: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/chromecast/WwvtHaI7PDo/Fbro99Q4BwAJ https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/chromecast/Wwvt...
- ewillbefull 11y agoYes, god yes I have. Chromecast used to work just fine last year, but this year it's been a disaster. * Almost all youtube videos start playing before they're buffered, the video is paused but the audio continues playing until the video resumes and it catches up. Makes watching any 15 second video impossible. The buffering in general is really broken. * Chromecast loves to play previous videos I watched when I start playing new ones. I frequently have to disconnect youtube from it and start a new session to get it to behave intuitively. I pretty much have to transcode all of my media to h264/aac in order for it to play on the Chromecast from my computer -- I thought this would get better over time but it hasn't.
- ParadigmBlender 11y agoIt is pretty clear that a large portion of device owners are having severe issues with the device. I am surprised it has not made the news nor been addressed for as long as it has been happening. With every update my experience seems to worsen though I still hope this will get addressed. I am tempted to buy the new version to see if that would fix anything.
- brento 11y agoI'm curious why they changed the form factor. It seems like the last form factor was simpler and more minimalistic. The new design seems like it would just dangle from your TV, especially if you plug it in one of the side HDMI ports.
- ZeroGravitas 11y agoApparently it's to avoid interference. The old device came with an optional extender cord for the same reason, but now you're forced to use it.
- igravious 11y agoAsked and answered already here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10298058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10298058
- lucaspottersky 11y ago"Chromecast Audio" is a bad name for the product. It brings ambiguous search results... say for instance you have a problem with your Chromecast audio output
- iridium127 11y agoLarge companies appear to like to use common terms as product names for some reason... e.g.: plus, alphabet, etc...
- darren 11y agoAny word on whether it will have support for wifi behind captive portal? I've got a Chromecast v1 that I was excited to bring it on trips with me to watch Netflix from the hotel room, but I could never get it to connect to hotel networks which always have the stupid captive portal authentication scheme.
- uiri 11y agoWhy not change your laptop's MAC address to that of the chromecast, authenticate on the laptop and then plug in chromecast?
- spinchange 11y agoMost hotel WiFi networks enforce device isolation too, so I don't think you can 'see' the chromecast even if you could authenticate it. The workaround is to create your own hotspot, bridging the hotel's WiFi to your own 'travel router,' using a laptop. At that point, it's probably easier just to watch Netflix on the laptop... :-/
- habosa 11y agoChromecast has guest mode now, you can set up without being on the same WiFi network.
- HeavenFox 11y agoSome hotels I stayed at went as far as disabling HDMI ports on their TVs, which is extremely annoying.
- ecobiker 11y agoTo summarize how great chromecast is - my mother who could not figure out the smart tv (or apple tv or a computer), streams youtube/netflix effortlessly via chromecast and a tablet.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- wenbert 11y agoI live in NZ. And not being able to easily change the DNS settings in Chromecast sucks for me. If I would have known this, I would have bought AppleTV. :(
- ripdog 11y agoIf your router can enforce local DNS server usage or allow creation of static routes, you can redirect Google DNS to your own DNS server. Most half-decent routers will allow you to make static routes. Here's a good resource: http://help.unotelly.com/support/solutions/articles/192836-why-do-i-need-to-block-public-dns-lookups- http://help.unotelly.com/support/solutions/articles/192836-w...
- thoughtexpt 11y agoDoes the Chromecast allow the user to change routing (set default gateway) and /etc/resolv.conf (DNS settings)?
- jordanthoms 11y agoNo, there's very limited network configuration available and it's hardcoded to Google's DNS. You'll need to use a static route on your router to redirect that to a different DNS server.
- thekevan 11y agoAm I about the only one who considers my Chromecast almost useless? Specifically, I don't want to use it with my phone because when I would use it, I am already on my computer. I really dislike how when it came out and I bought it, their tagline was all about casting what you have on your phone and your browser, then they immediately seemed to move away from the PC browser and straight to the phone. About the only thing I use it for is sometimes when people come over, we go on YouTube and take turns adding music to play, or sometimes go back and forth showing each other ridiculous, stupid or funny videos.
- hornetblack 11y agoThe only thing I've seen people use it for is casting Netflix to the TV.
- oaktowner 11y agoI cast Netflix, HBO Go, YouTube and a couple of different music streaming services. Occasionally even Google Play Movies when there's something that Netflix doesn't have in their library.
- baldfat 11y agoMy family uses it daily. We mostly use it from our desktop computer but I like the app also. Best Hardware for consuming videos for us. My kids are 4, 9, 21, 23
- ericdykstra 11y agoReally happy with Chromecast. I can be watching something on my phone, and as I'm walking up the stairs, hit the chromecast button and it turns on my TV and is already continuing whatever I was watching. I mostly use it with Twitch, and have no complaints at all. Will probably get a new one for the 5Ghz support.
- bipin_nag 11y agoWhy Google ? Why leave India ? I want to buy chromecast but not the old one.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- myrmi 11y agoSo with this new form factor, I plug it into my TV, and then it just... hangs there?