WHY?!?

[puppykickr]

It seems impossible.

I cannot connect the internet to anything but my phone.

I have not watched anything on a real television in years, other than an occasional DVD somewhere where someone still has one of those.

I recently got internet hooked up at my mother's house, and it is great.
Unfortunately, they offered some stupid Google TV crap that wants massive permissions and other grief to connect her phone to the TV.

Years ago I gave up trying to cast anything from my phones to any television, quickly realizing that I can just watch whatever I want on said phones already- thereby eliminating the endless headache, aggrevation, and inevitable disappointment when the connection fails.

She has a supposedly 'smart' TV, and I did get it connection the wi-fi, but it is so old (3+ years) that none of the apps will work without updating them, and the stupid 'smart' TV will not update any of them.

Endless hours of QR codes, entering the codes manually, downloading and installing more damn Google apps, and more have all been nothing but grief and problems.

Why in the hell can there not just be a way to cast directly from a device to another via a shared wi-fi connection?

Google has done everything possible to prevent this, that used to be both possible and simple!

Now I am pissed off once again (thanks a lot, Google, once again) and fighting with my mother.

I hate all of this crap.
Again and again Google has been more useless than a railroad spike in the center of a chair seat with the pointy end up.

 

[ocnbrze]

time for a new tv? maybe a smarter one??????

 

[Milo Williamson]

Stuff like this, and thankful I did bought a t.v. before smart t.v.s where a thing!!!

 

[The_Chief]

It may be a "smart" TV but does it run Android TV or some stupid operating system like WebOS or other proprietary system? Things like that don't have access to the Play Store, so they have some obscure "app store" off in the corner of the internet. Apps are limited and usually out of date. Just a thought. With the Super Bowl coming up (not that I care about it), stores are competing for those big TV shoppers with deep discounts.

 

[puppykickr]

It may be a "smart" TV but does it run Android TV or some stupid operating system like WebOS or other proprietary system? Things like that don't have access to the Play Store, so they have some obscure "app store" off in the corner of the internet. Apps are limited and usually out of date. Just a thought. With the Super Bowl coming up (not that I care about it), stores are competing for those big TV shoppers with deep discounts.

OMG, YES, it is a blasted Web OS, which as it turns out is as user friendly as a KaiOS system on a flipphone.

God, how I hate this TV.

After about 2 hours with tech support, we got the blasted internet to 'work' on the TV, but the Google box that plugs into the HDMI in back is a total bust.
It does nothing, unless aggrevation and pissing away time left on Earth is the only function- in that case it works perfectly.

If anyone asks, stay away from the Google Home app, as it seems to be yet another abandoned Google turd.

You cannot log in, and that is with trying three devices, two active accounts, and even creating an entirely new Google account.

Screw you, Google.

Also, beware of LG televisions, as the UI sucks and the remote is not mentally ergonomic.

The menu icons are little more than non-discernable colored balls on one side of the screen, and any selection leads to more of the same on the other side of the screen.

The inbred OS is slow, wonky, and just as inefficient as can be.
Had to reset the TV 3-4 times after trying to 'update' the software, and it continues to say that an update is needed.

This is what happens when a kitchen/laundry appliance company makes a television.
I would have no interest in a phone from them after this.

In the end, there are 3-4 'useable' apps (out of supposed hundreds), the thing cannot/will not link to a phone for casting, and after hours of grief I am playing with my phone instead.

Mom also wants me to find a Toslink fiber optic cable for some bull**** speakers she has had forever and never used.
I gave all mine away about 20 years ago, as I had no use for them.
I installed one for my dad years ago, and it sucked because the connections were crappy plastic.
No modern connection can surpass the reliability and durability of the (used to be) common RCA style connection.

Looks like I will be looking for a large tablet or something to watch movies on- maybe I can put a dart board on the TV.

 

[puppykickr]

At least the internet works.
That is a surprise, and the price is incredible.

If it really turns out this good for an extended time, I will leave a detailed review stating provider and cost.
I will say at this point that the provider is limited as to locations that have 'excellent' coverage.

Right now the plan is to get some type of large screen tablet for internet access for videos and movies, and run the sound through bluetooth to an amp that has a set of bad-ass 6x9 car speakers.

I know that sounds hooky, but the speakers rock and the amp puts out 120 watts per channel (2).
Long ago Iput them into cabinets made for them and just never used them.

They actually rock out rather well, and can handle 300 watts each so the amp I have now wont even put a strain on them.

They are on the bottom shelf of my wotk bench in the garage, and you can hear them up and down the street.

It's louder than the air compressor, and that was a goal.

My mother's home decor does not allow for a 'man-cave', so the garage is where my friends and I find entertainment.

Not to mention that I desire to do minor vehicle services here to make some change on the side.

Oil changes, brakes, and some other things.
I even went and bought a tire balancer, because it is rather hard to even get that done properly anymore.

 

[The_Chief]

We got a new LG 8K TV ($$$$) and had it a week before sending it back. WebOS is a JOKE - a bad joke. The last thing we wanted was another Samsung TV. We settled on a Sony Bravia running Android TV and, while it's not perfect, it's a far cry better than either of those two.

For one thing, newer Android TVs have Chromecast built in, instead of the old Miracast. Wireless DeX does not work with Chromecast (and as long as Samsung and Google point fingers at each other yelling "you fix it!", it probably won't). Otherwise, there are plenty of apps in the Google Play Store that run fine on our TV.

 

[Trom]

One thing you might consider would be to find an old Xbox at a yard sale somewhere, connect it to the TV, and cast to it instead of the TV.

 

[puppykickr]

One thing you might consider would be to find an old Xbox at a yard sale somewhere, connect it to the TV, and cast to it instead of the TV.

I never had any luck connecting my devices to any gaming console, unless it was to just control PooTube.

I quickly got bored with that.

 

[puppykickr]

I have given up trying to connect my devices to any tv at this point.

I have previously purchased some other connectorstinkbox that was just like this worthless tv and the useless connection box for this Poogle TV that dosent work either.

As far as I can tell, anything HDMI connected is just expensive fraud.

Even when it does work, such as with my ollafys PS3, it is very prone to picking up interference (ie. "buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz") that is enough for me to not want it.

Gee, never had this problem with simple RCA connector cords, and they were hella cheap compared- even the top quality ones were less than a junk HDMI cable from Wal-Mart.

 

[nickdalzell]

My TVs are all dumb and over 10 years old (made an effort last year to relive the 1970s in decor and appliances and 2010 in tech)

I buy physical media. Anything 'streaming' is digital purchases and one Netflix subscription (because they won't release the rest of Stranger Things and other originals on DVDs anymore)

I prefer having control over what I watch, not being dependent on my internet being stable, or my apps being kept up to date, or whether or not the show I'm in the middle of will disappear before I finish it.

I don't believe in 'the cloud' nor streaming music. I have over 3K MP3s on my Galaxy S4 Mini.

I'm old fashioned but life is far less stressful for me this way. I got burned out trying to keep up, constantly having to buy new things to keep up with every 'software update' only for the 'update' to feel like a regression. Heck, UI design has been awful for a decade now; I'm more comfortable in Vista and Windows 7 and TouchWiz Nature UX. It works for me.

"Smart" TVs are a scam. They drop support in less than a year, the apps stop working or are not stable to begin with, and their telemetry is scary. A 'dumb' TV tied to a 2013 Blu-Ray player is far more capable than a 2016 WebOS TV (calling it 'WebOS' is an insult. The real WebOS died with the Palm Pre and 3G)

/rant

*Posted from Windows Vista 2008 eMachines EL1210.

 

[puppykickr]

UPDATE

So after a while today, the stupid Google box started working and stopped asking me to sign in.
It stil wont let me sign in, but that is just fine.

It works fine, an as a bonus it inclues many of the apps that the television can have (but dont work), so I deleted the apps from the TV.

Looks like I may be able to disconnect it from the internet and wi-fi altogether, because it still will not link to any mobile device.

That sucks, because I really wanted to stream with my phone and cast to the tv.

It appears that the tv does not give out a signal that the phone can see in order to link to it.
My father has a Samsung tv that my devices can easily see.

At this point, my dreams of finding media and sending them to the big screen in the living room have been dashed, but at least I learned something and finally did get the other thing working.

As far as I can tell, it must have needed to be on for a while to set itself up of something similar.

 

[nickdalzell]

For a few years Samsung's "smart TVs" (at least up to 2013) had 'screen mirroring' instead of Chromecast. You didn't even need the TV on Wifi to use it. Just a Galaxy smartphone. The 'screen mirroring' toggle was in quick settings, and would literally mirror the phone's display on a TV. No need for Google.

I used to download movies from Google Play that I bought locally to my SIII, then use that to cast them to the TV, because at the time I had no internet at my camper. I once tried this new 'Google Chromecast' thing, but Play Movies complained 'you must remove your download before you can cast this screen' which was one of many blunders Google introduced. Samsung had the superior option.

Ironically enough none of their TVs today support it nor their phones. You can still use their TVs without internet, but the stupid bar of apps displays regardless to switch inputs and is just cluttered and busy. That's compounded by their equally awful viewing angles. My 2009 Vizio I got last Spring has a matte display, CCFL backlighting, and beautiful picture and colours. No problems viewing from different angles. No stupid cluttered app bar. Just volume, input and aspect ratio. K.I.S.S.

It also has tons of inputs, Including two HD-component ins, digital audio out, VGA in, and A/V in (x2). It has none of this HDCP crap either, so no issues with screens randomly blanking out or errors saying it's not HDCP 2.x compliant. I hated that. Why must modern tech suck so much when the stuff was perfect ~ 2009?

 

[Deleted member 2157292]

I am a bit confused with where you are now.
I also have an 11 year old 42" Panasonic Plasma TV with old apps built in. I can't remember how I connected them. The TV only had wifi as an additional dongle at exorbitant cost so I never had a wifi connection.

(*I don't have wifi at my 3 room place of 23 years. I did have 10 years ago but the major landline / Internet provider messed up my account too many times, iirc)

The TV has been running brilliantly for several years from my phones Hotspot through a Chromecast 1 initially (not great) , then a Chromecast 3 which is brilliant. My data speeds and Hotspot allowance significantly improved in the last 3 years so that helped. I am increasingly addicted to You Tube channels. (Google is good for you!)

I did purchase a new pc 18 months ago, run that off my phone Hotspot (great speeds now) and have a pc with a HDMI out for the first time! so I keep the Chromecast 3 for travel (very little now) where I can run a hotel chain:s Samsung TV's from my Hotspot as well.

One thing : I would normally run a second phone on the same network or Hotspot (the E6 Plus) to a) as the control unit / run the Apps / You Tube / Home app (annoying rubbish agreed) and need my main phone to act as the router only.
I mostly don't have to do that now and can trick it somehow to run the Hotspot and cast from the same device.

To enjoy the fascinating details of my life further, why not pay just $999.95 for the latest edition of my autobiography at wwwatamoron.twit

 

[Trom]

I just don't trust "smart" devices. Some people consider it kooky to remain anonymous; to be aware of what tower my phone's interacting with, but every time truth happens, weird conspiracy theorists are proven correct. This is the reason I write encryption software.

 

[nickdalzell]

I also don't like that any smart TV's apps just stop working/get removed later on about a year or two into having them. You get better support with a Roku, older Apple TV, or even a Nexus Player. I don't need Paramount+ or the garbage they put out today, just my movie/TV show library and Netflix.

I refuse to put 'smart' appliances into my home. Heck my home has a Honeywell Round. I find smart appliances alien to me and want nothing to do with them. Why does a toaster need Wifi?

 

[puppykickr]

I also don't like that any smart TV's apps just stop working/get removed later on about a year or two into having them. You get better support with a Roku, older Apple TV, or even a Nexus Player. I don't need Paramount+ or the garbage they put out today, just my movie/TV show library and Netflix.

I refuse to put 'smart' appliances into my home. Heck my home has a Honeywell Round. I find smart appliances alien to me and want nothing to do with them. Why does a toaster need Wifi?

Well, dang!
How are you going to get those super special offers for your favorite bread if your toaster doesn't have wi-fi?!?

 

[puppykickr]

OK, I said that I would give up more information after I had the internet sevice for a while.

I have to eat some crow here, because I cannot believe which carrier I am using at my mom's house- T-Mobile.

Yes, I know.
I have bitched and moaned about how their service sucks where I live, and it does.
The truth is the truth.

And most anywhere I go, it is far easier to find free wi-fi somewhere than to try to use the cellular service to call or message.

But internet is expensive in my mom's area- we are talking around $200 a month for 100GB.

I can use 100GB in a month with one phone.

So I looked some more, and here was T-Mobile offering unlimited home internet (via their cellular system) for $50 a month.

No limit, and no contract.

Yeah, suuuuuuuuure, I thought.

Then it dawned on me- the only place my cellular signal works is at my mom's!

So I called, and had the thing sent out and my mom got it up and running while I was gone.
(She had some issues, but customer service walked her through it.)

The service isn't as fast as a typical local provider, but it works fine for what I need so far.
Constant music streaming, internet access, and the occasional movie on Tubi or Pluto or the like.

The wi-fi signal is strong enough to work around the majority of the 2¾ acres of property, and that lets me stream music and use the internet everywhere I need out there.

Wal-Mart has small but impressive bluetooth speakers on clearance (Tribit brand) and I added four of these to my arsenal of bluetooth set-ups.

I have music streaming from LaGrosse Radio Métal all over the house and property.

Not to mention that the internet is there (everywhere) when needed.

So much better than listening to the 5 stupid dogs next door all day and all night.

This system gives wi-fi to the residence, and uses T-Mobile cellular towers to link to the web.

So it is just like when you are using the data on your cellphone for internet access- without the issues that movement causes.

 

[Dannydet]

Welcome to the internet!

 

[Windroid]

and fighting with my mother.

I get you being angry at Google, but why are you fighting with your mother? Why would she be upset and you, or you at her?

 

[Hadron]

This is what happens when a kitchen/laundry appliance company makes a television.

That does of course describe Samsung too.

 

[nickdalzell]

Samsung's appliances are way worse than their tech. Their refrigerators have overly complicated ice makers and break all the time, their washers have been known to self-destruct during spin cycles, and I wouldn't trust their stoves and ovens to not burn my house down.

On the topic of why streaming isn't the 'future' we just had a storm come in yesterday that knocked down everyone's internet for hours, and hilariously nobody could watch their TV because they couldn't get their Paramount+, Sling or whatever streaming service to connect, while I was happily enjoying my DVDs of Full House and Frasier no problem. Yet I'm the oddball because I prefer 'obsolete' physical media. Well, at least I can watch TV during an internet outage!

 

[puppykickr]

Samsung's appliances are way worse than their tech. Their refrigerators have overly complicated ice makers and break all the time, their washers have been known to self-destruct during spin cycles, and I wouldn't trust their stoves and ovens to not burn my house down.

On the topic of why streaming isn't the 'future' we just had a storm come in yesterday that knocked down everyone's internet for hours, and hilariously nobody could watch their TV because they couldn't get their Paramount+, Sling or whatever streaming service to connect, while I was happily enjoying my DVDs of Full House and Frasier no problem. Yet I'm the oddball because I prefer 'obsolete' physical media. Well, at least I can watch TV during an internet outage!

I too prefer tangible media, but the media wears out over time and takes up space.

Not to mention that the vast majority of the various DVD players and VCRs that were produced toward the end of their reign were absolute junk.
The first DVD player I had lasted for years.
I clearly remember the last 2 or 3 DVD players I had lasting mere months each.

VCRs were much the same.
The last few of those I had wound up being used soley as a way to connect a sound system to older sets that had no audio output jacks.

 

[puppykickr]

I get you being angry at Google, but why are you fighting with your mother? Why would she be upset and you, or you at her?

She is very hard to get along with.

Example:

handrail exists.
handrail gets painted white.
complaints about fingerprints on handrail.
smart remarks about how sometimes the name of something might give a clue as to what color something shouldnt be, and that fingerprints are likely to be on something designed to be gripped with hands.
arguement ensues.

 

[ozonetrooper]

I am still trying to get over the implied self inflicted pain of watching DVDs of Full House and Frasier ...