So you have a cellphone with unlimited data and you have a big-screen TV. All
you want to do is connect the two together but I'm convinced that the TV
networks, cable internet providers and the cell carriers are all conspiring to
make this not work for you the way you want it to but I've come up with a
solution and it's really simple.
So first let me describe the equipment that I have trying to make this work -
I have T-Mobile cell service with unlimited data. The key thing to note is
that that cell service does not allow unlimited data if you're sharing a
hotspot. Second thing I have is a Vizio 60-inch high-def TV with Smartcast
capability. I also have an Apple TV, fourth gen and what I'm trying to do is
connect to Netflix, YouTube TV, or DirecTV Now or any of the other TV streaming
services in order to watch TV with no expense on the data usage through my
cell phone. And in case I need it to make it work I've got a Netgear router a WGR614
version 6 to allow me to set up wireless connectivity internal on a
network. So you'd think with all of these pieces of equipment or even something
else I might need to purchase I could come up with a way to make this work. Let
me show you some of the challenges that I went through to try to find the right
solution that would make this work. The first obvious solution that I thought
would work was to use Vizio Smartcast. The reason why is because I have a Vizio TV.
It comes with the Smartcast app and the app allows a mobile device to
communicate with the TV and cast the screen as well as running as a remote
and other functions. In order to run Smartcast you have to do two things. The
first is to go to the input menu on the TV and set it to cast and the second is
to download the Smartcast app. When you select cast from the menu it comes up
with a screen that gives you two options - You can set it up with your remote or
you can set it up with a Smartcast app. So I'm going to choose that one.
Then on your iOS device you can choose the Vizio Smartcast app and download it
to install the application. Now the first sign there might be a challenge with
this is when you get to the next screen on the monitor and it comes up and asks
you to connect to Wi-Fi but that makes sense because you may want to connect
your iOS device to the TV with a Wi-Fi network in order for the communication
to work. The problem is I don't want to use the Wi-Fi network for
Internet because I'm trying to get away from that. I want to use my cell phone's
data. I can share a hotspot for my cell phone but that's gonna use the data
that's not unlimited and free. So I'll go ahead and connect to Wi-Fi in order to
do the updates to the system that it's asking for that's fine but
once that's done I still need to connect to a Wi-Fi in order to continually use
my device. This is where the Netgear router comes into play. I have a Netgear
router that allows Wi-Fi access but does not actually connect to the internet so
I figured I can use the router to connect my cell phone wireless and the
TV Wireless together on the same network in order for the screen casting
capability. Even though I don't want to use the Internet through that device. So
I connect to my internal Netgear switch and I get the connectivity to work but no
matter what I attempt to do I continue to get an error trying to cast any
information on to the TV. Even the apps inside of Smartcast that you can run
from the TV itself won't work because they require an internet link. In getting
hold of support at Vizio you can look on the screen and you can see this
information on their support page highlighted in yellow.
It says "currently the iOS is not supported for screencasting". Now this
might work for you on an Android but I have an iPhone. But at this point, with
the Smartcast app, it doesn't look like I can make this option work.
The next option I wanted to try was Apple TV with Airplay. I already have an
Apple TV as part of another streaming service so I thought this has got to be
the right solution. It has the ability to cast to the screen using Airplay and
it's made for the Apple. AirPlay is a built-in option on your iPhone and if
you slide up from the bottom of the screen you'll see the Apple TV option on
the menu that you can turn on casting with airplay in order for that to work.
You have to be on the same network. That can be setup a couple of different ways -
you can establish a wireless network and connect the two devices on the same
network or you can actually share your Apple TV as a Wi-Fi device and connect
your cell phone to that device with its internal Wi-Fi capability. So the first
option I tried is to connect to the Netgear device that I mentioned earlier. So
I go into the Wi-Fi settings on my phone and I set up the Netgear Wi-Fi device
and I've walked through the Apple TV configuration to connect to the same
Wi-Fi device. Now this is getting close because I'm able to actually cast my
screen, I can see my cell phone display, I can actually run apps and see them on my
TV in large format. So the first problem I recognize is your streaming services
don't work because they don't have cell access and my Wi-Fi network doesn't have
any Internet so how is the phone supposed to get out and connect to any
kind of online service in order to play a video or stream any data? You can't do
it! But there's a quick fix for that. Taking the cue from some of my network
engineering background I was able to go into the settings for the Wi-Fi device
that you're connecting to, which does not have any internet, and you can change the
settings and make this work. So you'll notice on the IP configuration you have
an IP address and you have a subnet mask, router and DNS. And the router and the
DNS is what allows the Wi-Fi to connect out externally through your router into
the Internet in order to pull data down. Well what we don't want this to do is use the
local router because that does not have Internet access so what we need to do is
fake it into thinking that that does not allow internet and
therefore it directs it back to the cell service on your phone in order to pull
that data, and there's a simple trick to do that. Take the IP address that you see
on the DHCP tab in the settings on the Wi-Fi device and the subnet mask and
click on the static tab and enter those same IP addresses in there but don't put
in the router and the DNS settings. With this combination you're able to connect
to the Internet through your cell and connect to the internal Wi-Fi settings
on your network to talk to your TV with Airplay. Problem solved! Well not so fast.
Now you got one other issue that's coming up. I can show anything that comes
from my phone except when I go to streaming TV services. For example, see
what happens when you go into Netflix. I can play TV on my phone but the moment I
choose Airplay and enable it it says, "Now playing on your TV" on your phone device
and this is what you get on your TV - a spinning circle that never goes away and
you never get any video. What I've concluded after trying a number of
different solutions for this is that it basically broadcasts the display
processing to your TV so that it uses your Internet link in order to make the
display work. So it's skipping using the cell phone service and going straight to
the Internet through your network and there's no way to force it to go back
through your cell in order to make that work. This is why I think everyone's
conspiring against you to make this work the way you want because it works fine
when you have it on your phone and all you want to do is be able to display
that screen on your TV but the moment you turn that option on the Airplay apps
detect that you're trying to do that and shift the Internet focus over to the TV
or your internal network in order to make that work. So Apple TV with Airplay
So what do you do? You can't use a Smartcast with a Vizio TV and you can't use
Airplay with an Apple TV. Well I have an option that does work! After trying all
these different solutions, trying configuring on the network, trying all
these different options, different ways, what I concluded is you go with the hard
wired solution and this thing right here is the trick.
It is a lightning to HDMI port cable. What it allows you to do is plug in the
Lightning port on the bottom of your phone and then plug the HDMI cable into
the other end and run that straight to your TV.
It actually takes the image that you have on your phone and presents it in
full screen on your TV. You don't even have to worry about the formatting. It
handles that all just fine so as long as you've got your cell data service with
no cost, because it's streaming to your phone, this will actually connect it and
make it work on your TV and this solution has worked well for me. I've been
able to connect up to Netflix, DirecTV Now, to YouTube TV, all of those different
options for streaming services and they display everything just fine.
I provided a link to Amazon below this video in the description area so if you
want to find it yourself you can do that. it's not cheap, it's about $45 but it
does work well and hopefully it'll work for you for the same reason. Hey if you
want to see more videos like this one please subscribe and if you've enjoyed
this video be sure to click the thumbs up and leave a comment. I really do
appreciate your support!