Using a roku while camping

[d1h]

Anybody streamed with a roku using hotspot on their cellphone? Was thinking about getting one for camping but didn't know how well that would work.

[2oldman]

OP is gone.

[Gdetrailer]

Lantley wrote:

Ivylog wrote:
And if you’re having dropped calls and even unable to make a call, it’s because the tower you’re on is overloaded with all the people streaming video…never designed for this many people using excessive data.

The idea that the system was never designed for this many people is fading.
Its 2021 things have changed and the system while not perfect is capable of keeping up. Whoever Imagined 99% of the population working from home including school age kids. Somehow the system kept up and the world has changed forever. We are witnessing the demise of cable TV as cord cutting and watching via apps becomes the norm.

In places, "the system" did not and could not keep up with everyone working from home and adding remote school learning to the mix.

Some places simply do not have the infrastructure in place at all where no DSL, No cable internet and no cellphone signals are present.

Myself, we had choices of staying with a grandfathered $25 per month DSL service or moving to faster and much higher priced cable Internet. The DSL worked fine up to the point that DW had to work from home as a remote employee and DD had to stay at home for all of her college classes that went to online only.

Internet via cellphone in my area barely works, unreliable and is painfully slow, much slower than the DSL we had. In fact yesterday, only had one bar of cell service and the cellphones randomly would not work.. That is the reason I still have a landline which is via the Cable Internet now.

When I go camping, I pull the plug and don't worry about streaming shows or movies. Get up when the sun comes up and go to bed when it is too dark outside and the campfire has died out.

[Lantley]

Ivylog wrote:
And if you’re having dropped calls and even unable to make a call, it’s because the tower you’re on is overloaded with all the people streaming video…never designed for this many people using excessive data.

The idea that the system was never designed for this many people is fading.
Its 2021 things have changed and the system while not perfect is capable of keeping up. Whoever Imagined 99% of the population working from home including school age kids. Somehow the system kept up and the world has changed forever. We are witnessing the demise of cable TV as cord cutting and watching via apps becomes the norm.

[Lantley]

I also stream via a firestick connected to a hotspot. The RV video entertainment game is certainly changing.
I have been unable to get any over the air statons at times yet I was still able to watch TV on the Firestick via my hotspot

[lenr]

We love our Roku connected to a Winegard Connect 2.0 4g which in turn will connect to park Wifi or cellular 4g (currently using 100 gig ATT plan.) If neither works then we mirror from a cell phone to the Roku. The Roku still likes to be connected to some WiFi, but a slow one will do. When mirroring it draws the streaming data from the phone not the WiFi connection. I never could get the ChromeCast to not draw from the WiFi when mirroring--maybe better folks can figure that out. The RoKu is just simple. Cast the Chrome away and bought another Roku.

[Ivylog]

And if you’re having dropped calls and even unable to make a call, it’s because the tower you’re on is overloaded with all the people streaming video…never designed for this many people using excessive data.

[way2roll]

Dedicated hot spots work better than a phone acting as a hot spot. They have stronger signals - both receiving and transmitting. We have an unlimited plan through ATT with a nighthawk hotspot and not only do we stream via fire stick, I work remote while travelling as well. Up and down the east coast - never an issue. But you will churn through data. I am lucky enough to have a truly unlimited plan fairly cheaply offered through my company.

[pbeverly]

dieseltruckdriver wrote:
I have used a Roku, as that is what I prefer at home, but in the 5er we use a Chromecast. It seems to work faster when not leaving it powered up and connected constantly. At least that is my experience.

Same here. I download content before heading out and stream it via Chromecast. While Chromecast needs WiFi your actual content is on phone/tablet so you are not streaming it off the internet and using gobs of data.

[Sjm9911]

I use my phone and unlimited data plan, with a dongle to tv or projecter. When i have service it works fine.

[dieseltruckdriv]

I have used a Roku, as that is what I prefer at home, but in the 5er we use a Chromecast. It seems to work faster when not leaving it powered up and connected constantly. At least that is my experience.

[theoldwizard1]

It depends entirely on how good of a signal you get with your hotspot.

[Second_Chance]

We stream via a hot-spot and our smart TV all the time - but we have an unlimited data plan on the hot-spot. Just for reference (per hour):

720p uses 0.9GB
1080p uses 1.5GB
2K uses 3GB
UHD/4K uses about 7.2GB per hour

Rob

[wanderingaimles]

If you have the option, turn the video definition down to a 480 or 720 p setting and your videos will stream better and the data usage will drop drastically.
The folks running all the streaming services assume everyone has unlimited data at fiber optic type speeds.

[IB853347201]

It'll work just fine but you'll go thru a lot of data. We use ours, generally go thru 10 gigs a day. If your phones data plan throttles the speed down after you reach a certain threshold, you might also have streaming issues. Probably need at least 3 mbps for the roku to work.