Fire stick / Chromecast / Pi / etc?
Discussion
Picked up a firestick for £25 in the black Friday sale and so far it's not going well. I can watch TED and YouTube on it so the connection is working OK, but PureVPN refuses to connect, so no iplayer and I hadn't realised that ITVplayer and 4OD are also geolocked (I'm in the Netherlands). Plus Plex says I need to link my accounts in the Alexa app, but they're already linked.
Not sure if I've used the vpn since moving in to this flat so it's possible the router is blocking it, I'll have to test that on the laptop tonight. No idea what's happening with Plex though.
Not sure if I've used the vpn since moving in to this flat so it's possible the router is blocking it, I'll have to test that on the laptop tonight. No idea what's happening with Plex though.
For those who travel, is a good solution to have a Chrome Cast, and then download BBC content onto your phone to take with you?
I might grab a Chromecast in the sales as it's easier to find stuff on your phone and send it to the TV, than mess about with the Firestick and it's slightly rubbish remote. (Which also keeps getting stuck down the side of the sofa.)
I might grab a Chromecast in the sales as it's easier to find stuff on your phone and send it to the TV, than mess about with the Firestick and it's slightly rubbish remote. (Which also keeps getting stuck down the side of the sofa.)
RizzoTheRat said:
I've got Plex on my PC at home, think I used to use it for the Playstation to stream stuff but stopped using it when I got the Pi, so happy to have that set up on something.
It's starting to sound like I want both a Firestick and a Chromecast to do what I want, but I can't help thinking if I need to sue my laptop to stream to Chromecast, I may as well just leave the laptop plugged in to the telly.
How does Chromecast work with multiple devices? I'm renting a place where the wifi is shared with the Landlord so don't want to find he's got one as well and I'm accidentally streaming to the wrong TV
Not looked at Roku, lack of VPN would mean no iplayer unless I download first to the laptop, in which case I'm back to the Chromecast issue, but at first glance it seems like a more robust and user friendly version of my Pi running OSMC/Kodi. Is that fair or does it do a lot more?
Chromecast devices will just shown up on the network so if other people are on it they will see it. It's onenof the big advantages.It's starting to sound like I want both a Firestick and a Chromecast to do what I want, but I can't help thinking if I need to sue my laptop to stream to Chromecast, I may as well just leave the laptop plugged in to the telly.
How does Chromecast work with multiple devices? I'm renting a place where the wifi is shared with the Landlord so don't want to find he's got one as well and I'm accidentally streaming to the wrong TV
Not looked at Roku, lack of VPN would mean no iplayer unless I download first to the laptop, in which case I'm back to the Chromecast issue, but at first glance it seems like a more robust and user friendly version of my Pi running OSMC/Kodi. Is that fair or does it do a lot more?
We have 4 and they are named as the room they are in. If I want to watch YouTube in the dining room I simply find what I want in YouTube, then when the video starts just hit the cast button that appears in the top corner. I'm then presented with a list of all Chromecasts (by room) in the network and I can choose where to cast to.
If your landlord has chromecasts the same network he will see your devices as well.
You can check by installing googlehome app, and checking for his devices.
I don't know if it's a new thing but my phones music player updated and can now cast to the Chromecast. It seems to work fine without needing to mirror.
I then opened VLC and that was also able to cast movies from my phone.
Tried playing a file from my NAS drive and I can cast that as well (so NAS to Phone to TV).
Very easy
I then opened VLC and that was also able to cast movies from my phone.
Tried playing a file from my NAS drive and I can cast that as well (so NAS to Phone to TV).
Very easy
Edited by 98elise on Tuesday 27th November 08:00
I have been running both Chrome Casts and Fire sticks/ TVs since they came out. If you are going for one I would suggest the Fire stick as it supports Plex and has many Apps you can down load on to it to stream. I have put Kodi on one but found the Kodi Streams were being shut down constantly making it not worthwhile.
I do have a vpn on my fire TVs but rarely use it. You Tube got kicked off as an APP but you can use firefox instead. I even have mine set up so there is a YouTube button on the firestick which takes me straight to youtube on the fire fox browser and feels like an app.
I still have my Chrome casts because they seem to support more codecs than the fire sticks. I have not run into the same issue with the fire TVs. I also have some TV Apps on my iPad which do not require a VPN. For example, UK Player is live UK TV which you can cast.
I do have a vpn on my fire TVs but rarely use it. You Tube got kicked off as an APP but you can use firefox instead. I even have mine set up so there is a YouTube button on the firestick which takes me straight to youtube on the fire fox browser and feels like an app.
I still have my Chrome casts because they seem to support more codecs than the fire sticks. I have not run into the same issue with the fire TVs. I also have some TV Apps on my iPad which do not require a VPN. For example, UK Player is live UK TV which you can cast.
5 months ago I bought Amazon FireStick, mostly so I could have more selection from Amazon's music library. Setup there was equally smooth. What I like more about the FireStick than the Roku is the UI and menus; it offers more IMO as far as related movies/shows, with most offering trailers (the Roku might also have this feature but if it does I haven't found it yet). Navigating through the Fire Stick is for me a more pleasurable, easier-on-the-eyes experience. No doubt Roku's got something brewing on their end to make them more up to date. Moreover, Roku is much more expensive. I have never used Chromecast, so cannot judge on it. I have just updated Kodi on my FireStick. works even better.
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