Anyone tried Chromecast?

[teamsaint]

W

Oh! Well I only watch University Challenge, Mastermind and Top of the Pops. I'm sure I'd get a shorter sentence.

The BBC do have an iplayer for 'foreigners' (paid service) but it only shows old repeats and Eastenders.

Since the listen again facility is free to use, without a licence, and Italy is EU, how do the BBC make this stick?

[Beef Oven!]

Oh! Well I only watch University Challenge, Mastermind and Top of the Pops. I'm sure I'd get a shorter sentence.

The BBC do have an iplayer for 'foreigners' (paid service) but it only shows old repeats and Eastenders.

Oh yes, and University Challenge (old habits die hard).

What do expats do? And why doesn't the BBC offer a sensible iPlayer for 'foreigners'?

I don't like Mastermind anymore because I get fewer and fewer of the general knowledge questions right, year on year - whereas University Challenge gets easier

[Radio64]

Oh yes, and University Challenge (old habits die hard).

What do expats do? And why doesn't the BBC offer a sensible iPlayer for 'foreigners'?

I don't like Mastermind anymore because I get fewer and fewer of the general knowledge questions right, year on year - whereas University Challenge gets easier

W

Since the listen again facility is free to use, without a licence, and Italy is EU, how do the BBC make this stick?

All valid questions ...

Important to distinguish between BBC Radio and Telly - radio is free and accessible (As are some podcasts, but not all) in both 'live' and 'listen again' modes. It's always been that way and I hope to God it stays like that for the next 30 years at least.

BBCTV - via iplayer - is not visible outside the UK, which is quite right of course becuase of the license fee, but there's no way I can pay the licence fee from outside the UK and then watch it (as far as I know). the alternative is the 'foreigners' i-player, paid service but which does not give live TV channels, but only selected programmes and series, usually at least a year old.


For internet TV viewing there are expat "shields" and some folks I know have elaborate satellite dish / special 'boxes' and so on to watch telly on the, er, telly but I've never gone to the trouble.

FilmOn is also a good alternative but they've recently made drastic cut in their free recording time service and the live streaming is a little unrelaibale I find.

[Stunsworth]

Since the listen again facility is free to use, without a licence, and Italy is EU, how do the BBC make this stick?

Media rights are negotiated on a country by country basis, not by, or with, the EU.

[Beef Oven!]

All valid questions ...

Important to distinguish between BBC Radio and Telly - radio is free and accessible (As are some podcasts, but not all) in both 'live' and 'listen again' modes. It's always been that way and I hope to God it stays like that for the next 30 years at least.

BBCTV - via iplayer - is not visible outside the UK, which is quite right of course becuase of the license fee, but there's no way I can pay the licence fee from outside the UK and then watch it (as far as I know). the alternative is the 'foreigners' i-player, paid service but which does not give live TV channels, but only selected programmes and series, usually at least a year old.


For internet TV viewing there are expat "shields" and some folks I know have elaborate satellite dish / special 'boxes' and so on to watch telly on the, er, telly but I've never gone to the trouble.

FilmOn is also a good alternative but they've recently made drastic cut in their free recording time service and the live streaming is a little unrelaibale I find.

Thanks. Some things to chew on.

[Radio64]

Thanks. Some things to chew on.

But the Google Dongle is still ace with most stuff! Ironically though I have problems in "projecting" the BBC iplayer to Chromecast (via Chrome browser) but that's another story. ;)

[Stunsworth]

I use this service to watch Netflix US, but it also gives access to iplayer from abroad...

https://www.unblock-us.com

It requires a simple change to the DNS settings on whatever device you want to use. Costs $5 a month, and there's a free trial.

[Radio64]

Ok I'll fess up: I use a thing called Zen Mate as Chrome extension, which is free and works like a dream .. but don't all go and shout about it.

[Beef Oven!]

I use this service to watch Netflix US, but it also gives access to iplayer from abroad...

https://www.unblock-us.com

It requires a simple change to the DNS settings on whatever device you want to use. Costs $5 a month, and there's a free trial.

Is it legal though? I can't go to prison, I'm too pretty

[Stunsworth]

Is it legal though? I can't go to prison, I'm too pretty

i imagine it's legal, but violates the terms and conditions of the target site.

[Beef Oven!]

i imagine it's legal, but violates the terms and conditions of the target site.

Thanks Steve.

[Dave2002]

i imagine it's legal, but violates the terms and conditions of the target site.

Legal, in the sense of not being a criminal offence presumably.

[Dave2002]

Once you've run the Chromecast app on the android to set things up there will be a new icon on the screen in various 'casting' apps, including the BT Sport app and Youtube, to send output to a chosen Chromecast. (You can name them to choice if you have more than one.)

You can then do anything else with the android, even turn it off, and the casting continues. To stop it use the android again, or pull the USB power plug on the Chromecast.

There are a lot more apps listed here - https://www.google.co.uk/chrome/devi...cast/apps.html

VLC is supposed to be getting Chromecast enabled, but it doesn't seem to have happened yet, which is a pity, as that could stream from the device and make use of downloaded files rather than relying on network connectivity. Spotify is another one which hasn't happened, AFAIK, though users have asked for it.

Rhapsody/Napster may be OK - though perhaps not in the UK. Just not sure about that one. I might be pleased if it does, as I have a Napster account which I'd not used for a while.

I've managed to get BBC iPlayer working, though not sure about ITV Player - I have the app, but does it work?

4OD - again not sure - is it available? Partly - according to this - https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...nnel4.ondemand

Channel 5 - probably not - https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...bileiq.demand5 I did have that working on a Roku box though, so it might also work on a NOW box which is rather similar.

As rfg suggests, perhaps a bit pointless for some. We have one big HD TV which already has most of the services available via satellite, Freeview and on-demand, but there are other smaller TVs in other rooms .... OTOH, some users have taken to watching TV using computers, Android and iPad gadgets, so don't seem bothered about TV anyway!

[Don Petter]

But the Google Dongle is still ace with most stuff! Ironically though I have problems in "projecting" the BBC iplayer to Chromecast (via Chrome browser) but that's another story. ;)

Casting a static tab from the Chrome browser works reasonably well (though I can't think of a particular use for it), but if you cast an audiovisual stream the quality is so bad as to be unwatchable. It seems the stream is received by Chrome, then passed back to the hub again for passing out to the Chromecast. It really needs to be 'set up' properly, as by android or similar, so that it is read straight from the hub to the Chromecast, when the quality is fine.

[Dave2002]

Casting a static tab from the Chrome browser works reasonably well (though I can't think of a particular use for it), but if you cast an audiovisual stream the quality is so bad as to be unwatchable. It seems the stream is received by Chrome, then passed back to the hub again for passing out to the Chromecast. It really needs to be 'set up' properly, as by android or similar, so that it is read straight from the hub to the Chromecast, when the quality is fine.

I tried that last night, using my Macbook - and i think it probably generates too much local traffic as you say. However, it may also depend on the hub/router. We have two hubs, one BT Home hub and the other is attached to John Lewis broadband - which may be effectively Plus Net. The BT connection is significantly faster, and uses fibre, so the download/streaming tends to be better, but may count against our allowance. The JL link is marginally free - as there is no limit on downloads, but they are slower. Internally, the JL network could be limited because of the use of repeaters, and powerline links, whereas the BT hub is in the same room as the Chromecast device at present.

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.

It is possible that performance will be OK with a fast hub and fast wireless links, otherwise, as you suggest, performance in tabs in Chrome looking at sites such as iPlayer or YouTube tends to be more to the dire side of acceptability.