Advice wanted on camper van TV

[Terry Everall]

New camper van does not have an aerial and I am not greta with IT

How would I use my Phone, Wifi, Amazon fire stick etc to connect to my 19" Cello TV

Or can I use laptop ( MacBook Pro) to connect to TV for basic TV Progs

Dont really fancy drilling through the roof for man aerial 

 

 

 

[Euan Hoosearmy]

In general laptops will connect via HDMI. Firesticks are HDMI too but need WiFi Phones often have screen share capability but it'll depend on if the TV has a screen share that's compatible. 

 

Once you've got that working what you can watch depends on a mix of subscriptions, mobile signal or stuff you've downloaded.

 

If going for streaming make sure you've a generous data package on your phone sim.

 

 

[Blatman]

Phone can generate a wifi internet connecteion using the "Hotspot" function. As long as you have decent 4G you can connect to anything that will connect to wifi. Make sure you have an adequate data-plan as part of your contract. Going over the free limit can be expensive, eye wateringly so if you are on foreign soil...

So, switch on phone hotspot, connect firestick/apple TV/Google Chromecast or whatever to the phone generated wifi. Or to kill two birds with one stone tether (connect with the USB charging cable...) the phone to a laptop and use the tethering feature on the phone to "share" the phones internet connection with the laptop to connect to the interwebs that way, and your phone will charge at the same time. Then HDMI to the TV and you're in

[Nemesis]

A Bit late with the reply but here we go, a similar set up to what I've got in my motorhome.

 

Tethering to your phone is ok but only if your airtime provider doesn't throttle your speed over a certain data allowance or doesn't offer unlimited tethering..... so.

 

You can get a sim card from Smarty, don't go for the data only package, it's more expensive and pointless.(SMARTY is an arm of '3' but easier to deal with and give better discounts if you have more that one sim plan ) but you can have a rolling monthly contract with unlimited everything for ~£20 or less per month, they also promise no price rises for the 12 months and include 6gb a month roaming, but like I said it's a rolling monthly contract so you can ditch it with minimal expense if it's not for you.

 

if you're not going to tether then you can put said sim card into something like this.  ASHATA 4G Mobile WiFi Hotspot Router, Portable 4G WiFi Router Mobile Hotspot, Wireless Portable WiFi for Travel Work, Ultra Thin Small 4G Mobile WiFi Hotspot: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

I use something a bit different because I do have an external tv antenna that's a got a 4g boosted thingamijig on it, but to be honest it doesn't make that much difference to the speeds and signal gain.

 

That will give you WIFI something similar to what you've got at home and you only need to charge it now and again if you don't leave it on all the time, otherwise power it from your onboard usb.

 

I have one of these connected to my telly; Sony BDP-S3700 Smart Blu-Ray and DVD Player with Wi-Fi and Built-In Apps - Black : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo, comes with a mains adaptor but is a 12volt unit, chop the power lead where you can put a connector in line if you want to revert to mains use and affix a cigarette lighter plug or whatever is suitable for your supply to the end of it and you've got it powered from the van, it's got apps like netflix and iplayer etc already loaded into it and you can add more. The added bonus is that I can watch any of my Bluray collection and put the grandkids dvd's on for them as required.

 

The only other thing I have done is connect the ipad or iphone directly to the HDMI on the telly with one of these; SSK USB C Hub,8-in-1 Type C Multiport Hub Adapter with RJ45 Ethernet, 4K HDMI, PD3.0 Powered, 2 USB 3.0, 1 USB2.0, SD/TF Cards Reader USB C Dock for MacBook/Pro/Air and More Type C Devices: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

Or if you have the lightning output on your phone or ipad then one of these works too; Apple Lightning Digital AV Adapter : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

Hope that's not too baffling.

 

Nem......

[BigSkyBrad]

We have a similar setup in our camper. We use a Kuma 4G mifi router with rooftop puck antenna, and a 1pMobile 200gb (24gb roaming in Europe) data sim for £20/mth (piggybacked on EE).

 

We like the setup so much that we got rid of our landline in the flat, bought another Kuma unit for there, and swap the sim between the two units. We also cancelled our TV licence and watch the few programmes we regularly follow via online next-day catch-up.