Parts Needed to Stream Netflix, etc. from Phone

[CampCinci]

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!

I would be interested in seeing what you find out. We actually spent our first night in the camper Saturday (since we can't go camping yet......) just to try some things out. Well we did find out we DO have a Smart TV (shows how dumb we are......). Since we are parked right next to our house we could access our home wifi and were able to load all of the apps through our Roku for Netflix, etc. I have been online searching for something called a lightning cable, I think, that is supposed to allow hooking your phone up to your tv for streaming. But after looking at reviews for the Apple product ($49) and cheaper ones, reviews were mixed for all of them.

[TS_Breezes]

Hi CampCinci -
Caveat: I am going to try to help you, but I have never used this adaptor... didn't even know it was available until today. But after reading what you posted and then looking at the Apple description of the adaptor they sell and comments posted about it, I do believe this will work and is easy to set up.
So, it sounds like you have an Apple iPhone, since you mentioned needing a lightning cable. So (assuming it's an Apple) here is what SHOULD work for you....and since it is a wired setup it doesn't require you to use a WiFi hotspot to connect the tv to the phone. Your iPhone WILL need to have a good connection to your cellphone carrier - so if you use a long HDMI cable you can move the iPhone to different areas of the RV to pick up the best signal.

First the physical connections:
1) Buy the Apple "Lightning Digital AV Adaptor" for $49 from Apple...you are sure you are not getting a cheap knock-off that way.
2) Obtain an HDMI cable that you are sure works.
3) Plug the HDMI cable into one of the open HDMI slots on your RV's TV. The slots are numbered HDMI 1 HDMI 2 etc. Use a flashlight and you need to know the number for later.
4) Plug the other end of the HDMI cable into the Apple Adaptor.
5) Plug the Apple Lightning adaptor into your Apple iPhone.

Getting the TV ready and connecting to iPhone
Turn on the RV's TV. Go to Settings, Inputs and set the TV to use the HDMI X with X being the slot number you selected above.

On the iPhone tap the Netflix app. Everything you see on the iPhone screen SHOULD mirror on the TV screen. Sometimes you have to turn the iPhone horizontal to see the screen correctly on the TV...again I haven't tried this myself...just trying to help. All the controls for the TV image are done on the iPhone. So pick the show you want to watch on the iPhone and your selections should show up on the TV screen. (This is also supposed to work with an iPad)

DATA Plan
You need a data plan with oodles of GB of data to stream tv. One evening of streaming could use 4GB. Unlimited would be best but not many out there and that is a whole other thread! Visible plan by Verizon is a possibility but not sure it would work with this setup.

Hope this info helps and if it doesn't work please post your experience to let the community know. I would like to try this myself! Good Luck!

[CampCinci]

Hi CampCinci -
Caveat: I am going to try to help you, but I have never used this adaptor... didn't even know it was available until today. But after reading what you posted and then looking at the Apple description of the adaptor they sell and comments posted about it, I do believe this will work and is easy to set up.
So, it sounds like you have an Apple iPhone, since you mentioned needing a lightning cable. So (assuming it's an Apple) here is what SHOULD work for you....and since it is a wired setup it doesn't require you to use a WiFi hotspot to connect the tv to the phone. Your iPhone WILL need to have a good connection to your cellphone carrier - so if you use a long HDMI cable you can move the iPhone to different areas of the RV to pick up the best signal.

First the physical connections:
1) Buy the Apple "Lightning Digital AV Adaptor" for $49 from Apple...you are sure you are not getting a cheap knock-off that way.
2) Obtain an HDMI cable that you are sure works.
3) Plug the HDMI cable into one of the open HDMI slots on your RV's TV. The slots are numbered HDMI 1 HDMI 2 etc. Use a flashlight and you need to know the number for later.
4) Plug the other end of the HDMI cable into the Apple Adaptor.
5) Plug the Apple Lightning adaptor into your Apple iPhone.

Getting the TV ready and connecting to iPhone
Turn on the RV's TV. Go to Settings, Inputs and set the TV to use the HDMI X with X being the slot number you selected above.

On the iPhone tap the Netflix app. Everything you see on the iPhone screen SHOULD mirror on the TV screen. Sometimes you have to turn the iPhone horizontal to see the screen correctly on the TV...again I haven't tried this myself...just trying to help. All the controls for the TV image are done on the iPhone. So pick the show you want to watch on the iPhone and your selections should show up on the TV screen. (This is also supposed to work with an iPad)

DATA Plan
You need a data plan with oodles of GB of data to stream tv. One evening of streaming could use 4GB. Unlimited would be best but not many out there and that is a whole other thread! Visible plan by Verizon is a possibility but not sure it would work with this setup.

Hope this info helps and if it doesn't work please post your experience to let the community know. I would like to try this myself! Good Luck!

Thank you so much for this info! I have decided to purchase the adapter from Apple as there seem to be a lot of knock-offs on Amazon. We just switched to Unlimited Data on our Verizon plan - what I was told is that once you use so much of the GB, it drops down to a slower speed so the streaming will be slower and you may get buffering.

[TS_Breezes]

Update: the adaptor works! Tested on two iPhones - one ATT and one Verizon. So, by using this you are not using any hotspot data (with caps).
Purchased the Apple Lightning Digital AV Adaptor for $49 from Apple. As soon as I had the connections made using an HDMI cable my iPhone 8 screen appeared on the tv. If you have a newer Apple iPhone that has the USB C connector on the bottom, then the product is called USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adaptor and it costs $69. Here is a link to an April 29th article about using HDMI to watch Netflix, etc., on your television set. https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/gui...t-on-the-road/
The article also included handy charts of data used per hour and data speeds needed for Standard Definition or High Definition video.

[howson]

Android Update

CampCinci ,
After fraserfamily documented that the phone I have will hook directly up to the TV I've been on a mission to get it to work. I'm ready to document the result--it was very easy!

First, with a SmartTV in the living room (I replaced my TCL with a Samsung SmartTV) the only time I need to use my phone is when WiFi is not available*. Obviously that means the streaming is done through the data plan (Verizon LTE) on the phone.

*Not totally true, as I can watch NFL games using the NFL app on my Verizon phone whether connected to WiFi or LTE. There may be other apps that only work on the phone and not the TV, so having the option of using either device is good!

The exact parts are probably not critical, but for reference these are the components I am using:
Jelly Comb Bluetooth Keyboard
Samsung EP-PN920 Fast Charge Wireless Charging Pad
Samsung S10+ (Android Phone)
USB C to HDMI Cable Adapter, QGeeM 6ft Braided 4K@60Hz Cable Adapter
Samsung 40" SmartTV Model UN40N5200AFXZA
Verizon LTE "Unlimited" Data Plan (15GB, then priority drops)

The Jelly Comb connects to the phone through Bluetooth. There are many YouTube videos available that show how to connect the devices.

The Samsung Wireless Charging Pad connects to power through a USB cable. There's a USB connection on the TV that provides the power.
- When the phone is connected to the TV using an HDMI cable is consumes battery power at a rapid rate. Having the phone on a charger is recommended. A wired charger is not an option since the USB-C connection is used to connect to the TV's HDMI input.

As just previously stated, the Samsung S10+ phone's USB-C is connected to the Samsung TV using the USB C to HDMI 2.0 Cable.

Here's what the side of the TV looks like with the cables plugged in:


Instead of typing a long tome, the 6 minute video below is probably a better alternative if you're interested in seeing how it works.

What I don't cover in the video is the ability to use Samsung DEX with this setup. There's no difference in the physical connections. There are a lot of YouTube videos on DEX, so if you're curious seek them out.

Any questions, fire away.

Howard

[fraserfamily]

howson I had forgotten about this thread, and I pass along my kudos for a fine follow up post. I also have acquired a USB 3.0 to HDMI cable for my Galaxy S10, and I tried it on my house TV with very positive results. The Samsung DeX takes a few minutes to get used to the user interface, but it is familiar enough that the learning curve is shallow. It's pretty intuitive. So now I have the flexibility to use the Roku Streaming Stick+ on WiFi (or tethered to the hotspot on my phone), or the phone with DeX if I just have data to work with. Won't be able to test in the field until June at the earliest.

[CampCinci]

Android Update

CampCinci ,
After fraserfamily documented that the phone I have will hook directly up to the TV I've been on a mission to get it to work. I'm ready to document the result--it was very easy!

First, with a SmartTV in the living room (I replaced my TCL with a Samsung SmartTV) the only time I need to use my phone is when WiFi is not available*. Obviously that means the streaming is done through the data plan (Verizon LTE) on the phone.

*Not totally true, as I can watch NFL games using the NFL app on my Verizon phone whether connected to WiFi or LTE. There may be other apps that only work on the phone and not the TV, so having the option of using either device is good!

The exact parts are probably not critical, but for reference these are the components I am using:
Jelly Comb Bluetooth Keyboard
Samsung EP-PN920 Fast Charge Wireless Charging Pad
Samsung S10+ (Android Phone)
USB C to HDMI Cable Adapter, QGeeM 6ft Braided 4K@60Hz Cable Adapter
Samsung 40" SmartTV Model UN40N5200AFXZA
Verizon LTE "Unlimited" Data Plan (15GB, then priority drops)

The Jelly Comb connects to the phone through Bluetooth. There are many YouTube videos available that show how to connect the devices.

The Samsung Wireless Charging Pad connects to power through a USB cable. There's a USB connection on the TV that provides the power.
- When the phone is connected to the TV using an HDMI cable is consumes battery power at a rapid rate. Having the phone on a charger is recommended. A wired charger is not an option since the USB-C connection is used to connect to the TV's HDMI input.

As just previously stated, the Samsung S10+ phone's USB-C is connected to the Samsung TV using the USB C to HDMI 2.0 Cable.

Here's what the side of the TV looks like with the cables plugged in:


Instead of typing a long tome, the 6 minute video below is probably a better alternative if you're interested in seeing how it works.

What I don't cover in the video is the ability to use Samsung DEX with this setup. There's no difference in the physical connections. There are a lot of YouTube videos on DEX, so if you're curious seek them out.

Any questions, fire away.

Howard

Wow - thank you for all of this info!!!