Anyone tried Chromecast?

[Don Petter]

One thing I do want to know is how to re-assign the Chromecast dongle to one router or the other. I suspect that the WiFi network of the one we don't want to be connected to needs to be turned off during setup, otherwise it can be hit and miss. A few days ago one of our networks wasn't working properly, but then I fixed it, so that when we connected to the Chromecast device it decided that one had the stronger signal which it locked onto. Hence it is currently locked to the slower of the incoming broadband providers.

This would seem to be a clear guide to changing the Chromecast network:

http://www.androidpit.com/how-to-change-wi-fi-network-on-chromecast

Hope it might help.

[Don Petter]

I am trying to establish if the Chromecast, when left permanently on, is using up any significant amount of one's broadband allowance when not in use.

I have seen suggestions that the high resolution slide views of scenery, when it is not casting, are being downloaded from the web. Would this still be the case even if the TV is switched away from the Chromecast input, or even while the TV itself is off?

I seem to be finding BT's daily usage figures are now a bit higher that my 'in house' record from the sum of NetWorx logs running on our two computers, but it never was a very exact science, and the issue is currently clouded by my acquisition and setting up of a new smart phone which can also access the hub. I'm going to try a twenty four hour test day with the Chromecast unplugged and phone not connected, to see how close the figures are then.

If there is much of an impact I may plug the Chromecast into the USB on the TV, rather than the mains adapter, so that it's at least only on while the TV is on. (We switch the TV off when we are not using it for any length of time.) I don't really want the annoyance of plugging and unplugging the Chromecast power for just the times we want to cast, though it wouldn't be that onerous.

[Radio64]

I leave it plugged in to the telly and it only starts functioning when i choose the appropriate input.

[Don Petter]

I leave it plugged in to the telly and it only starts functioning when I choose the appropriate input.

But how do we know what it is doing (with regard to communicating with the hub) when an input is not chosen?

I'm probably paranoid, as I also worry about the light in the fridge.

[gurnemanz]

But how do we know what it is doing (with regard to communicating with the hub) when an input is not chosen?

I'm probably paranoid, as I also worry about the light in the fridge.

I'm another one who sits on the bus wondering if I remembered to turn the gas off. It does sound like a nifty device for video, but I think I might also be wondering what it was up to. For audio, either files stored on laptop or live streaming, I go straight to amp via USB to DAC, which I use a lot. It is quite a long cable, permanently in position running behind furniture, but results are excellent. If I want to play laptop screen to telly, eg for showing photos or videos, which I don't do all that often, I can just plug in an HDMI cable and at least I know exactly what is going on.

[Don Petter]

Well, I've now had the time to carry out a reasonably scientific experiment.

For one twenty four hour period, the Chromecast was disconnected, with only the two computers (which both have NetWorx measuring the broadband usage), and no smart phones, running on the hub. Next day the BT usage figure was noted and subtracted from the previous day's reading. This gave 0.15GB, and the sum of the computer readings over the same period was 0.160GB, which seemed a reasonable match, given the former reading was only to two decimal places.

In a subsequent twenty four hour period, the Chromecast was left powered from its own USB plug, but with no usage of any casting, and again no other peripheral usage. The figures were BT: 0.40GB, computers: 0.283GB, measured difference: 0.117GB.

So the Chromecast was using something over 100MB a day, without any activity. (Just in case it would have made a difference, during the second test we did not ever switch the TV to the Chromecast input, to look at the 'pretty pictures'.)

The conclusion is that on our broadband tariff, with a monthly limit of 10GB, leaving it permanently plugged in would soak up over 30% of this figure! So if usage is important to you, the moral would seem to be to at least power it from the USB on the TV, so that it only comes on with that, or, even better, only power it when you need to use it. We shall be doing the latter!

[Dave2002]

re msg 36

Are all your figures right? 0.40 MB *30 = 12 MB - that's the largest of your figures for one day - I've assumed a 30 day month - would be your monthly usage. That's way below your monthly allowance, so would not be worth worrying about - whether or not the Chromecast is turned on. I suspect there's a factor in there which has escaped. Do you really mean 0.40 GB - in which case your conclusion is more plausible?

I may try to figure a way to measure this myself using my own device, network and computers - but it might take a while.

Presumably, if your final calculation is more or less right, then having the Chromecast on for maybe 4 hours/day would only use up around 0.5 Gbytes/per month, which could be acceptable, given that you would have had some benefit during the period.

One added problem if you use BT, as we do, is that BT's monitor programme is inaccurate, and heaven knows what it includes or doesn't include if you have a TV package and a BT supplied device, such as a YouView box.

Of course you may be using Chromecast instead of subscribing to BT TV, and not having the benefit of their brand of PVR. We have only tried Chromecast as a way of proviing access to on demand programmes for additional TVs, so it's "extra" rather than "instead of".

[Don Petter]

re msg 36

Are all your figures right? 0.40 MB *30 = 12 MB - that's the largest of your figures for one day - I've assumed a 30 day month - would be your monthly usage. That's way below your monthly allowance, so would not be worth worrying about - whether or not the Chromecast is turned on. I suspect there's a factor in there which has escaped. Do you really mean 0.40 GB - in which case your conclusion is more plausible?

I may try to figure a way to measure this myself using my own device, network and computers - but it might take a while.

Presumably, if your final calculation is more or less right, then having the Chromecast on for maybe 4 hours/day would only use up around 0.5 Gbytes/per month, which could be acceptable, given that you would have had some benefit during the period.

One added problem if you use BT, as we do, is that BT's monitor programme is inaccurate, and heaven knows what it includes or doesn't include if you have a TV package and a BT supplied device, such as a YouView box.

Of course you may be using Chromecast instead of subscribing to BT TV, and not having the benefit of their brand of PVR. We have only tried Chromecast as a way of proviing access to on demand programmes for additional TVs, so it's "extra" rather than "instead of".

Now amended! I had started using MBs and then decided to make everything GBs but only changed the numbers. Just as well it wasn't a space probe.

Agree that your 4 hours a day suggestion looks correct, and this might equate with our feeding the device from the USB on the TV itself. But I'm a bit of a miser, so we'll see.

I think the BT usage site is about right for us (with no BT boxes or such), as proved by the first test. It is very sloppy in that the figure doesn't seem to be updated until about 10am the next day, at which point the annotated date is often not changed until even later than that, so it is easy on a spot check to see inconsistencies.

[Dave2002]

I think the BT usage site is about right for us (with no BT boxes or such), as proved by the first test. It is very sloppy in that the figure doesn't seem to be updated until about 10am the next day, at which point the annotated date is often not changed until even later than that, so it is easy on a spot check to see inconsistencies.

In our case we have a BT supplied YouView box. It is claimed that the on demand and BT TV channels which are available, including some sport etc., do not contribute to the measured download data, but it has been an act of faith to believe this. The BT interface does state that there is problem with the measurements, but in the slightly more than a year that we've had this there does not seem to have been any succesful attempt to fix this. However, we do not seem to get charged for watching TV via the box, so perhaps it "talks" to the BT servers and that then waives the charges for the TV streams according to our selected BT package, though if we use other devices (i.e. not the YouView box) we would probably increase our download charges.