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Chromecast Gets a Hardwired Ethernet Adapter
Mark Wilson writes: Google's Chromecast has gained quite a following of people looking for a cheap, simple way to stream content to their TVs. Part of the device's appeal is its easy of use and extensibility through the use of apps, but it is reliant on a steady Wi-Fi signal. If this represents a problem in your home, there's now a solution. The new Ethernet Adapter for Chromecast does very much what you would expect — it adds a wired Ethernet port to Google's streaming dongle. This is great news for anyone with a flaky Wi-Fi signal, or those looking to use Chromecast beyond their router's normal range.
Finally, it was always annoying when the movie cuts out when I start making the popcorn...
What's dat?
Google makes Android so why do they release a device that doesn't have the newest and a full version of Android. Its just stupid. Being able to easily install apps means you can add products like Kodi.tv .. SiliconDust and Streaming Apps but it would also attract new developers for their app store.
I can buy a $15 Android Stick on Ebay from China and install apps or even root it.
But the maker of Android thinks I should be restricted in what I can do...
Full Android and a Keyboard with touch pad means you can install word processing apps and you have an extra computer in your home that kids can do homework on, you can do household stuff on, and work from home or work in a hotel room.. or just have a backup computer to order parts to fix your desktop if it goes down.
Chromecast all but requires another smart device running (continuously) to control it. You can't control it directly.
Google TV, on the other hand, AKA "Android TV Sticks", are a full-on Android device, just like your phone or tablet, but without the screen. You control it with something like a mouse/keyboard.
You can turn off your phone/laptop while using a Google TV. You can browse the Internet on your Google TV, without using anything else to help. You can plug in a keyboard/mouse and use it like a computer! You buy apps on it from Google play, just like any other android device, and it's very compatible!
I just loved my first TV stick that I bought on Amazon (MK808b) for $35! I just bought an MK809 when my MK808b finally died after 3 or 4 years of daily use, and it has (so far) been a nice upgrade. Faster processor, better wifi reception, more memory/storage. Still runs just fine off the power from the USB port on the side of my TV...
PS: To control one of these, you want a "flying mouse remote". It's a keyboard that "mouses" by waving it in the air.
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
Well given that most of us end up with the cable modem next to the TV, and the chromecast is plugged into the TV, it sort of makes sense to have Ethernet on a chromecast. In my case a 3ft cable would be more than enough to reach.
This is wonderful. The Chromecast's 2.4GHz 802.11n tops out at 72Mbps -- barely better than 802.11g. And while it is begrudgingly slogging in that 72Mbps data, it also is hogging timeslots from devices that could be at ~150 or ~300Mbps if the channel weren't full.
I couldn't reliably stream HD video from the Chromecast app on my Samsung S5 to the Chromecast on 802.11g*. Frames were dropped frequently enough to be a real usability problem, and various disconnects happened enough to make it useless.
I expect that this new adapter will solve the problems with the device that I was experiencing. (Not that it owes me much: I paid $23, shipped, for it on Black Friday, and it came with $20 of Play Store credit that I surely would've used sooner or later anyway.)
*: Incidentally (yes, really incidental) I moved the wireless network that my Chromecast and my phone use from 802.11g to 2.4GHz 802.11n this very afternoon. The streaming of BBC iPlayer via a VPN got a lot better: It didn't freeze or outright stall. It's still a bit rough, though. The phone syncs at 144Mbps, and the Chromecast can't go more than 72. I'd love to say that bandwidth shouldn't be a problem in these modern enlightened times, but apparently it is.
**: As an unreferenced footnote, fixed devices such as Chromecast should always have a hardwired option. Every other*** fixed device on my network is hard-wired; why should the Chromecast not be? I've never carried the Chromecast between TVs, although it's easy enough to do so.
***: Except for the Wii, because that costs extra and its wireless burden is not all that burdensome.
****: The other option I was exploring today was setting up a dedicated access point just for the Chromecast. I've got the hardware, and a bit of room on the outskirts of the ISM band, but fuuuuuu.
*****: TL;DR shut up and take my money
Kid-proof tablet..
I don't recall what ports the Nexus Player has - anyone know if this will work with one of those?
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
Does anybody buy those things?
Like, really?
I just play my media through one of the several devices most of us already have plugged in in our TVs....
It's not racist if he's an African-American, I guess.
Actually, I'm going to get one of these.... not for any of the reasons mentioned above, but because the native chromecast does not support WPA2 enterpise. For this reason, I had to add a WPA2 PSK AP to my network just for the chromecast. A wired connection would preclude this work around.
"BadTimes will make you fall in love with a penguin" - Laika
I'd take a single rape over a lifetime of slavery any day...although that would qualify as "the worst day of my life" lol
Wouldn't it be nice if this was a PoE dongle?
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
My first thought was that this might fix all those MAC gymnastics needed to get Chromecast working on in a hotel room - at least cheaper than bringing a second router/AP to plug into the hardwired outlet..
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
The Google, Apple, and Amazon cults aren't worth joining. A good system should be able to play anything.
I agree in principle. So where is this system that can play anything? Or do you mean to say there are no good systems?
It would be real nice if Chromecast supported Power over Ethernet with the hardwired port.
There are several times I had thought of getting a Chromebook, but the hangup has always been the lack of an Ethernet connector. Now that the silly Chromecast dongle is getting Ethernet, maybe Chromebooks will too.
Yes! The lack of a remote really is the main issue for us. Why do we need to have any other device near the TV at all?
Also where is the remote and minimal browser to get passed stupid hotel logins screens?
Mpeg2 and xvid/mp4 support? Sucks to need a Plex Server to transcode all that content.
Oddly, the chromecast wifi is the only device that has been working in our living room. Never stutters. No buffering after the playback begins.
A Roku3 wifi connected, but stalls about 10 times in 2 hrs.
A USB wifi dongle added to a WD TV Live HD barely connects - stutters terribly - so bad as to be useless - like every 10 seconds. Plus it gets HOT!
Guess I need an amazon fire stick?
Really I just need to add a Ubiquiti AP to the network. After over 1,000 wifi deployments around the world, I know how cheap/great these are compared to any home wifi-router. $89 makes all these sorts of wifi issues go away.
Some things simply didn't need to be "improved". Give me a real remote and a built-in Ethernet connection anyday like my WDTV Live has.
It is true that some things don't need improvement but remote controls are not on that list. I should NOT have to own or use a different and usually crappy remote for every device. I should NOT have to have a universal remote which has no way to determine the state of the device it is controlling.
Device manufacturers need to get together and come up with a standard for remotes that includes TWO WAY communication (to and from the remote) from every device AND the devices need to be able to talk to each other AND they need to use RF instead of IR in most cases. Yes this will be more expensive and I'm fine with that. I have a Logitech Harmony and it's not bad but ultimately it fails because it has no way to query the devices for their state so it gets confused rather often. Every stupid DVD player and TV has just an IR receiver but no transmitter which is inexcusable in 2015. It's not hard and not terribly expensive so I fail to understand why this hasn't happened yet.
And you can't see your backlit phone screen in a darkened room?
He's saying that there is no tactile feedback so you have to actually look at the touchscreen to use it. Otherwise you have no idea what "button" you are pressing. It's one of the serious problems with touchscreen interfaces in general. My car has a touchscreen GPS. Since it lacks buttons you have to take your eyes off the road to use it while driving which is dangerous. However I have physical buttons for my radio so I can change channels without looking. That's a non-trivial advantage of physical buttons.
Unless the buttons are lit, a real remote is worse than a phone.
No it is not. I know exactly where the buttons are on my remotes by touch even with the lights off. Having back-lit buttons is helpful but if you are familiar with the remote it isn't actually necessary. Furthermore since there is no tactile feedback from the phone you have to take your eyes off the screen to use its virtual "buttons" whereas you do not with a remote that has physical buttons.
The problem with most remotes is that they communicate one way and so they have no idea what the state of the device they are controlling is in. It is LONG past due that remotes should be able to query the state of the device(s) they are controlling. Until that happens all remotes are and will remain shit.
That didn't take long. It's already sold out.
"Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, ... It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups."
Sherman's march to the sea continues.
Cool.
I was really waiting for 5Ghz radio support, but this will do. 2.4Ghz is so broken around here I need to have an AP within 50cm of the chromecast for it to work reliably, but if I move it there 5Ghz goes to shit in the main bedroom... go figure
Let's just put this item up for sale ... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND it's GONE.....