Parts Needed to Stream Netflix, etc. from Phone

[CampCinci]

We just purchased a 2020 XLS 22MLE and would like to set up steaming Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime from our phone to the television. What parts are needed in order to do this? Thanks!

[Guest]

With data streaming into your phone, all you would need to do is turn on your mobile hotspot and tethering in your connections on the phone and wirelessly connect to the WiFi on the TV. I also connect to my laptop this way when I need to access the internet. So no parts are needed.

Jim

[howson]

We just purchased a 2020 XLS 22MLE and would like to set up steaming Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime from our phone to the television. What parts are needed in order to do this? Thanks!

You've got a 32" Smart TCL TV, right? (That's what the Parts Lookup site shows.) If so, and your phone is capable of creating a hot spot (and you have a good data plan!) I don't think you need any other hardware.

I *think* this is the right manual for your TV: https://www.tclusa.com/sites/default...S-CA-8.1_6.pdf

When you get to the "Guided Setup" (starts on page 23) it will ask to connect to your phone. I assume you know how to make your phone a hotspot and how to connect to it--if not you'll probably need someone to show you in person. From 6' away.

[ckreef]

I don't have a smart TV so I grab the ROKU from the house and hot spot off my phone.

[fraserfamily]

We have the 32" TCL not smart TV, so I'll be doing what ckreef is doing and take the Roku streaming stick from the house TV and connecting to it with my smart phone hotspot turned on.

The thing you need to know about hotspot is that your provider may be counting hotspot use as a separate bucket from your data plan. In my case (I am Verizon), we have unlimited data but our hotspot allowance is 1 GB. If I need to, I can get an HDMI cable to connect my phone directly with the TV, bypassing the hotspot, but then limiting what I can watch to whatever apps I have on my phone.

That all works for us because we're just weekenders. If the data reception is poor in the state park we're in, I just don't watch streaming tv for the weekend. If you're a full timer, you'll need to look at more robust options for data. There's a whole YouTube channel (probably many) for that. It's the Mobile Internet Resource Center.

Hope that helps.

[howson]

...I can get an HDMI cable to connect my phone directly with the TV...

Thank you for the post--I didn't realize how easy this is to do. Off to Amazon to order adapters...

[ckreef]

I'm on Total Wireless, they allow 10 GB Hotspot per month so I should be good for the limited amount of use we'll do.

[Bob P]

We have the 32" TCL in our '20 337RLS. When I went to connect our phone to the TV to stream a movie, thru the HDMI port, I got a message saying device not supported. It does work on every other TV we have connected to.

[howson]

We have the 32" TCL in our '20 337RLS. When I went to connect our phone to the TV to stream a movie, thru the HDMI part, I got a message saying device not supported. It does work on every other TV we have connected to.

I suspect they aren't HDMI 2.0 ports on the TCL? From the reading I've done over the last several days this is one of the requirements.

Replacing the TCL has been on my "To Do" list anyway. Time to do some homework to find a decent SmartTV with the right specs. The Furrion's got to go, too. But that's another thread.

[d2reid]

We have an older TCL without wifi. I hook either my laptop or the xbox up to the tv via hdmi cable, then hotspot off the phones for internet. For redundency we have both verizon and att accounts. ATT has 15gb fast internet hot spot while verizon has 30gb fast internet I spend an additional $10 a month for a broadband mifi hotspot device that gives us an additional 15gb fast internet per month, total 60gb. Total cost around $225 for both.

We can surf, blog, forum to our hearts content, and we get to stream about 45 tv shows a month. Maybe if I upgraded my tv I could use just phone data, not hotspot data, and we could get more. But we are content for now.

[Bob P]

I suspect they aren't HDMI 2.0 ports on the TCL? From the reading I've done over the last several days this is one of the requirements.

Replacing the TCL has been on my "To Do" list anyway. Time to do some homework to find a decent SmartTV with the right specs. The Furrion's got to go, too. But that's another thread.

It's possible that is why. Same as you, 1 of my plans is to replace with a better TV in the near future.

[CampCinci]

You've got a 32" Smart TCL TV, right? (That's what the Parts Lookup site shows.) If so, and your phone is capable of creating a hot spot (and you have a good data plan!) I don't think you need any other hardware.

I *think* this is the right manual for your TV: https://www.tclusa.com/sites/default...S-CA-8.1_6.pdf

When you get to the "Guided Setup" (starts on page 23) it will ask to connect to your phone. I assume you know how to make your phone a hotspot and how to connect to it--if not you'll probably need someone to show you in person. From 6' away.

No I don't know what a hot spot is , but I'm sure my husband does. Thank you!

[CampCinci]

We have the 32" TCL not smart TV, so I'll be doing what ckreef is doing and take the Roku streaming stick from the house TV and connecting to it with my smart phone hotspot turned on.

The thing you need to know about hotspot is that your provider may be counting hotspot use as a separate bucket from your data plan. In my case (I am Verizon), we have unlimited data but our hotspot allowance is 1 GB. If I need to, I can get an HDMI cable to connect my phone directly with the TV, bypassing the hotspot, but then limiting what I can watch to whatever apps I have on my phone.

That all works for us because we're just weekenders. If the data reception is poor in the state park we're in, I just don't watch streaming tv for the weekend. If you're a full timer, you'll need to look at more robust options for data. There's a whole YouTube channel (probably many) for that. It's the Mobile Internet Resource Center.

Hope that helps.

I had no idea about the extra charge for the hot spot! What great information! I'm getting ready to possibly switch from Verizon to another carrier as I don't have unlimited data now and I know I'll need it. I'll be sure to ask about that! Thank you!

[CampCinci]

You've got a 32" Smart TCL TV, right? (That's what the Parts Lookup site shows.) If so, and your phone is capable of creating a hot spot (and you have a good data plan!) I don't think you need any other hardware.

I *think* this is the right manual for your TV: https://www.tclusa.com/sites/default...S-CA-8.1_6.pdf

When you get to the "Guided Setup" (starts on page 23) it will ask to connect to your phone. I assume you know how to make your phone a hotspot and how to connect to it--if not you'll probably need someone to show you in person. From 6' away.

I don't believe ours is a Smart TV (we currently don't have a Smart TV - we're cheap). I'll have to get out my manual and check this. Thank you!

[howson]

No I don't know what a hot spot is , but I'm sure my husband does. Thank you!

What phone do you have?

This thread has led me ( thanks to fraserfamily) to do more in-depth research. I'm pleasantly surprised that my Samsung S10+ will run an operating system called "Samsung DEX", or "Samsung Desktop Experience". DEX is an Android operating system similar to the ChromeOS. Essentially the phone is a miniature laptop! I can hook it directly to my TV and run most of the applications, like YouTube, Amazon Prime, etc. Very, very cool. Paired with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, it really gets useful! (Yes, I'm a geek.)

If I get this all figured out and working I'll post a few videos showing it connected to my "dumb" TCL. The best part is I can take full advantage of my data plan, as the phone doesn't need to connect via WiFi to the TV!