• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Viewing MP4 files from phone to TV

Dude905

Newbie
Hello... I'm not too knowledgeable about smartphones but is there any way I can view what is on my phone onto a TV? And I mean with a direct cable of some sore. I know I can cast from phone to TV using WiFi but I want to know if there any way I can do likewise WITHOUT any internet / data / WiFi ? Whenever I go to the cottages I don't have internet or can get any but it sure would be great if I could view the contents on my phone on my TV. Now is there anyways I could go about it? Thanks
 
You can connect your android smartphone with the TV using Micro-USB or Micro-HDMI port if supported. OR you can worelessly connect using Chromecast or Miracast.
 
You can connect your android smartphone with the TV using Micro-USB or Micro-HDMI port if supported. OR you can worelessly connect using Chromecast or Miracast.
This is why I am asking if there is any device that can do that. Chromecast and Miracast require internet
 
You did ask if you could do it without WiFi....

Without wifi a cable is the only way...

If however you actually meant without internet... Then Miracast doesn't require internet connectivity...as it uses wifi as a point to point connection. However not all devices support Miracast
 
I love you /root guys but you've got to be streaming on your phone for TV. Too much data for a day of television without streaming.
I wish my Chromecast worked.
Still haven't figured it out.
 
You did ask if you could do it without WiFi....

Without wifi a cable is the only way...

If however you actually meant without internet... Then Miracast doesn't require internet connectivity...as it uses wifi as a point to point connection. However not all devices support Miracast
Doesn't WiFi use internet data?
 
Doesn't WiFi use internet data?

Short answer
NO - not always

Longer answer
Well... it depends on what you are talking to.



You can think of Wifi as a very long invisible cable... that connects you to something.
Most of the time... it goes through someones network to the internet.. but it doesn't have to.

You can use wifi to connect to a network that isn't connected to the internet... or you can use it to talk directly to a specific device.


Miracast uses a point to point network connection.. so it will connect your phone and tv together.. without sending data across the internet (which is useful if the internet isn't there!!!!)

(Of course, for this to work, both your phone and the TV need to be miracast compatible... )
 
I love you /root guys but you've got to be streaming on your phone for TV. Too much data for a day of television without streaming.
I wish my Chromecast worked.
Still haven't figured it out.
No, I don't have to stream. I have a file on my phone which is MP4 format that I would love to view on my TV. I can view it at home over my internet WiFi Miracast but once I try it where there no internet I can't view it
 
So let me understand this a little more. Let say you have a movie file on your phone and you use Miracast to connect from phone to TV. If I play the movie from the phone I am able to view it but my WiFi needs to be working or on. Now, if I understand you correctly when it goes through the WiFi network are you saying it's not using the internet or data whichever?
 
So let me understand this a little more. Let say you have a movie file on your phone and you use Miracast to connect from phone to TV. If I play the movie from the phone I am able to view it but my WiFi needs to be working or on. Now if I understand you correctly when it goes through the WiFi network are you saying it's not using the internet or data whichever?

I'm not sure how i can simplify my reply anymore. Maybe capital letters will help?

Miracast uses WIFI
It does NOT require any information to be sent over the internet. NO internet access is required.
IT DOES require BOTH PHONE and DISPLAY to be Miracast compatible.
 
I'm not sure how i can simplify my reply anymore. Maybe capital letters will help?

Miracast uses WIFI
It does NOT require any information to be sent over the internet. NO internet access is required.
IT DOES require BOTH PHONE and DISPLAY to be Miracast compatible.
You're right. I thought it still uses the phone data but it doesn't, All my 3 devises work with Miracast, thank you!
 
I love you /root guys but you've got to be streaming on your phone for TV. Too much data for a day of television without streaming.
I wish my Chromecast worked.
Still haven't figured it out.
The only way I found to stream is to use 2 phones, which I have done. I use my data phone as a hotspot and my other phone to stream from, afterward I use screen sharing and I'm able to stream from my second phone onto the TV . Though, when at home I don't need the hotspot just the home internet network to stream
 
Last edited:
In your situation, you could just pick up a basic, consumer. off-the-shelf router and set up your own home network. It's not necessary to have it connected to the any ISP, you're just creating your own, isolated home network where you can connect all your devices (phones, tablets, computers, etc.) so they can network with each other. Connecting your router to any kind of online access (i.e. broadband supplied from an ISP) is only necessary to access the Internet, it will work out fine as long as you're only trying to connect your devices with each other. These kinds of networks have been around way before the Internet was even a thing, and it's still something a lot of businesses continue to rely upon where thousands of computers are linked with each other, with online access being a very limited to only isolated situations. You can do the exact same thing in your home, set up your own home network where you connect all your things just to your router, and whether or not your router has any access to the Internet won't have any effect whatsoever on your devices connecting with each other within your home network.
But this is just a suggestion to free up that phone you're using as a hotspot so you'll always have your own WiFi network whether that phone is available or not. And it might be overkill, for a lot of situations you might be fine just using Miracast.
And as a side note, Chromecasts are an outlier as they do require at least some Internet access to even function. At one time, the original Chromecast was able to work just within an isolated, home network with no Internet but since that time firmware upgrades put a stop to that (they automatically receive OTA updates) so now any Chromecast (old or new versions) needs to ping Google servers to work. So if your TV doesn't have it's own integral WiFi capability, something like a Roku will work out better in this matter.
 
In your situation, you could just pick up a basic, consumer. off-the-shelf router and set up your own home network. It's not necessary to have it connected to the any ISP, you're just creating your own, isolated home network where you can connect all your devices (phones, tablets, computers, etc.) so they can network with each other. Connecting your router to any kind of online access (i.e. broadband supplied from an ISP) is only necessary to access the Internet, it will work out fine as long as you're only trying to connect your devices with each other. These kinds of networks have been around way before the Internet was even a thing, and it's still something a lot of businesses continue to rely upon where thousands of computers are linked with each other, with online access being a very limited to only isolated situations. You can do the exact same thing in your home, set up your own home network where you connect all your things just to your router, and whether or not your router has any access to the Internet won't have any effect whatsoever on your devices connecting with each other within your home network.
But this is just a suggestion to free up that phone you're using as a hotspot so you'll always have your own WiFi network whether that phone is available or not. And it might be overkill, for a lot of situations you might be fine just using Miracast.
And as a side note, Chromecasts are an outlier as they do require at least some Internet access to even function. At one time, the original Chromecast was able to work just within an isolated, home network with no Internet but since that time firmware upgrades put a stop to that (they automatically receive OTA updates) so now any Chromecast (old or new versions) needs to ping Google servers to work. So if your TV doesn't have it's own integral WiFi capability, something like a Roku will work out better in this matter.
As to what you're talking about once you have this router network set up can these devises be used onto the TV? My only reason why I would want this at home is that I can use whatever onto my TV. The hotspot thing is only when I'm at work or places where I need to use my phone data. At work, I can't have anything set up since it's at work. I salt the city streets so when there no need to salt I'm just sitting around killing time, they have a TV we can watch but no internet.... Thanks
 
As long as that TV supports WiFi, or it has an Ethernet port, than yes. The TV has to be on the same local network for your devices to be able to connect to it. That's the fundamental purpose of any network, to link different things together so they can communicate in some way with each other. When you're connecting your phone to your TV over Miracasting, that's a direct, wireless connection just between those two devices. When you have a router set up, than it's a matter of everything connecting with each other through your home network. So you might want to set up a router at home for permanent use, and use the more portable option of Miracast for stuff at work.
 
As long as that TV supports WiFi, or it has an Ethernet port, than yes. The TV has to be on the same local network for your devices to be able to connect to it. That's the fundamental purpose of any network, to link different things together so they can communicate in some way with each other. When you're connecting your phone to your TV over Miracasting, that's a direct, wireless connection just between those two devices. When you have a router set up, than it's a matter of everything connecting with each other through your home network. So you might want to set up a router at home for permanent use, and use the more portable option of Miracast for stuff at work.
At home, I use my computers which are already connected to the TVs ( HDMI to HDMI ports ). I'm IPTV user, but at the cottage, I might do so
 
Back
Top Bottom