streaming movies to my tv

If you find a CG that has a Wifi system that can handle streaming video, you are definitely in the 1% of CG's. Very rare indeed!

Bheffington wrote:
I guess I should clarify. I will not be using cellular data. I will be using the CG wifi. Back at home we can have the wii playing Netflix, two kindle fires playing seperate movies and the wife and I on our laptops. Never had an issue with bandwidth, but then again I wasn't at a campground with 50 other people. Looks like I'll go with the Google Chromecast. Cheap simple way.

Bheffington wrote:
I guess I should clarify. I will not be using cellular data. I will be using the CG wifi. Back at home we can have the wii playing Netflix, two kindle fires playing seperate movies and the wife and I on our laptops. Never had an issue with bandwidth, but then again I wasn't at a campground with 50 other people. Looks like I'll go with the Google Chromecast. Cheap simple way.

It doesn't sound as if you understand the fact that at home you probably have cable internet (or something equivalent) all for the use of your family. The 5-20 Mbps bandwidth you have can easily support all the activities you list and quite a few more.

At a CG it's quite possible that the entire park is served by an internet connection no better than what you have at home. Many parks have even less bandwidth because they are located in rural areas where internet service is limited. Now imagine 50 or more campers at the same time trying to do everything you're used to doing on the internet and you can begin to see why streaming video on a shared wifi is not something you can count on doing.

We like to stream video and we are lucky enough to have a grandfathered unlimited Verizon account. Streaming on 4G is quite easy and some 3G connections are good enough to provide a decent connection. We use a Roku, which is a mature product, well-supported by the manufacturer. Maybe Chromebook will be that someday, but for now I prefer a proven system with a simple interface.

Most everyone will tell you that it won't work in CG, not enough bandwidth available, and explicitly not allowed at most.

I guess I should clarify. I will not be using cellular data. I will be using the CG wifi. Back at home we can have the wii playing Netflix, two kindle fires playing seperate movies and the wife and I on our laptops. Never had an issue with bandwidth, but then again I wasn't at a campground with 50 other people. Looks like I'll go with the Google Chromecast. Cheap simple way.

Yes, even my $30. refurbished Toshiba BluRay player from MicroCenter can stream videos from the net. Works flawlessly after a firmware update. Mine only comes with an Ethernet connection, but has optional WiFi capability. However, a $4.-$6. thrift store router with upgraded free firmware such as DD-WRT can be used as a WiFi client and connect an Ethernet Bluray connection to a wireless hotspot.

1492 wrote:
Most Bluray players these days can also stream net videos from NetFlix, Hulu, YouTube, etc through an Ethernet connection. Many also have wireless WiFi capability, but some require a separate optional adapter. One advantage of Bluray is that you can also playback DVDs.

This is the method I was going to suggest. Gives you Blue Ray, DVD playback and if you buy one with wireless capabilities, all you need is the internet connection from a cell phone. Most campgrounds are not going to be fast enough.

Most Wireless Blue Ray Players come with an APP's screen that allows you to pull the weather from the weather channel, watch YouTube videos, Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, Facebook, etc. if you have setup accounts with them.

I have a Samsung at home that does all of the above. Was under $200 a few years ago so I imagine they have come down in price from that since then.

As many have mentioned, you're biggest concern is not going to be what device to use for streaming videos, but how you're going to deal with the bandwidth demands. Bottomline, you're going to need a data plan sufficiently large, and one that does not throttle your speed when you reach a certain use threshold.

There are only a few so called unlimited mobile data plans available. I use Clear 4G for that reason, but coverage is limited compared to other network providers. I've never experienced any throttling, though have used in excess of 50G in a month. However, Sprint who owns Clear is apparently converting towers over to 4LTE, so unClear as to whether they will keep WiMax, or even if it makes any sense to continue to do so in the future? Which will make their current WiMax dependent phones and mobile devices obsolete.

Are you trying to download from the net to a TV? From the computer to the TV? The new Chromecast from Google at $35 can stream many things from the net to the TV HDMI slot. People have already figured out how to stream from a laptop to the TV. Supposedly there's an app waiting on the nondisclosure agreement to expire that will stream from an Android direct to TV.


Chromecast

I have unlimited data on my iPhone. I can stream through Apple TV to TV if I set up a local wireless in my camper. I'm going for the tailgater, though.

And thus is why i bought the dish tailgator, so easy to use, works great and at $7 a month only on the months i use it...couldnt be happier. Of course i have dish at home.