Community Forums

RoadEyePie · 11-25-2018, 08:03 PM

Has anyone tried to use their cellphone as a hot spot to feed their Roku stick to stream TV?

notsowooly · 11-25-2018, 08:14 PM

I did this with a fire stick. It ate up my data quickly.

BirchyBoy · 11-25-2018, 08:32 PM

We use ours. Netflix lets you limit the data usage by lowering the quality. Not very service does this.

RoadEyePie · 11-26-2018, 05:30 AM

I have an unlimited data plan, so no worries there.

tcg · 11-26-2018, 06:30 AM

Yes it works fine.

Another option if for some reason you can't get it work is screnn mirror your phone to the Roku.

In some case this can save you data because your phone uses less bandwidth to stream to the lower resolution screen. It's a good option for streaming services that don't allow you to lower the resolution on the Roku.

The trade off is the picture won't look as good when screen mirroring but it can save you some data.

Norm Mac · 11-26-2018, 06:44 AM

We feed our Roku stick from our AT&T hotspot all the time. I don't know if would be any different using the phone's hotspot capability.

We have AT&T unlimited and use the Roku to stream DirectTV NOW for channels we can't get over the air. Works great. Most of the time signal is HD but occasionally drops to standard if signal strength is weak

If you are an AT&T customer, price is cheap for DirectTV NOW and that streaming is not supposed to effect your potential throttling.

Nildecaf · 11-26-2018, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoadEyePie

I have an unlimited data plan, so no worries there.

Most unlimited plans have a pretty hard limit on the amount of high speed data you get for a mobile hotspot. For example Verizon's unlimited plan limit the high speed hotspot data to 15 or 20 GB / mo. (depending on plan). After the limit is reached they can choke you down to 600 kbs - which would not support HD TV

(YMMV).

Ed

MapleKing · 11-26-2018, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ECanfield

Most unlimited plans have a pretty hard limit on the amount of high speed data you get for a mobile hotspot. For example Verizon's unlimited plan limit the high speed hotspot data to 15 or 20 GB / mo. (depending on plan). After the limit is reached they can choke you down to 600 kbs - which would not support HD TV (YMMV).

Ed

Perhaps not HD but it would be fine for 480P which is what was the standard for TV before HD.

To the OP, yes, you can use any hotspot if you need access to the Internet.

RoadEyePie · 11-26-2018, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norm Mac

We feed our Roku stick from our AT&T hotspot all the time. I don't know if would be any different using the phone's hotspot capability.

We have AT&T unlimited and use the Roku to stream DirectTV NOW for channels we can't get over the air. Works great. Most of the time signal is HD but occasionally drops to standard if signal strength is weak

If you are an AT&T customer, price is cheap for DirectTV NOW and that streaming is not supposed to effect your potential throttling.

Where is your AT&T hotspot if it isn't your phone?

docj · 11-26-2018, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ECanfield

Most unlimited plans have a pretty hard limit on the amount of high speed data you get for a mobile hotspot. For example Verizon's unlimited plan limit the high speed hotspot data to 15 or 20 GB / mo. (depending on plan). After the limit is reached they can choke you down to 600 kbs - which would not support HD TV

(YMMV).

Ed

There are several unlimited plans that do not have this restriction. Over the past couple of weeks the most talked about one is Verizon's new prepaid plan for Jetpacks that costs $70/mo. I have one and have used 38GB in two weeks with it.

mechanic2 · 11-26-2018, 06:04 PM

Yes but with ATT if you're using DirecTV app they won't count any data usage against you. Because ATT owns DirecTV. That's a great bonus!

baranski37 · 11-26-2018, 06:05 PM

I bought one off eBay several months ago that is $29.95. I have used up to 250GB without throttle I use a netgear LTE modem and a netgear WiFi router I had from home. The guy on eBay basically provided instructions to setup your own AT&T prepaid data plan and provided the IMEI number to use. It’s worked so far for me as we stream much of what we watch.
Regards Ron

RoadEyePie · 11-26-2018, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baranski37

I bought one off eBay several months ago that is $29.95. I have used up to 250GB without throttle I use a netgear LTE modem and a netgear WiFi router I had from home. The guy on eBay basically provided instructions to setup your own AT&T prepaid data plan and provided the IMEI number to use. It’s worked so far for me as we stream much of what we watch.
Regards Ron

Ron could you send me a PM and explain this. I assume what you bought off eBay for $29.95 was a Roku stick or device, but what did you connect the modem to in an RV and how does this relate to a cellphone hotspot. I'd like to understand this.

engine103 · 11-26-2018, 08:51 PM

Damn Technology! I just can't keep up. Okay, so help me understand some of the basics. I have a TV, I have an AT&T Mobley unlimited Hot Spot and I have Directv but I don't have a "stick" yet. How do I or what do I need to send data from my Mobley to my TV? Does it have to be a Smart TV? Thanks, Jim E. OKC