Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
It’s safe to say that the Chromecast with Google TV is a basic Android streaming device. It packs exactly one USB-C port used for powering the device and an HDMI tongue to output video — that’s it. This design, while perfect for travel and keeping cable mess to a minimum, is rubbish for those who perhaps want a little more functionality.
I wasn’t looking for everything and the kitchen sink when I purchased my Chromecast with Google TV, but rather a compact portal to streaming services I could use while traveling. I bring it along on road trips and plug it into my accommodation’s TV. This saves me from whipping out my laptop or logging into my accounts on a stranger’s TV, and also gives me far more control over the content I have access to. However, due to the untimely death of my media PC, I have used the device at home almost daily.
While the experience has been pretty solid thus far, the Chromecast with Google TV falls short of being a full-duty media center. Its Wi-Fi performance is appalling on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. It struggles to connect to the latter, while the slower network just about manages to stream in 720p on a good day. Clearly, I needed a fix. So, I did what any idea-oriented tinkerer does: I experimented and devised a solution.
Own a Chromecast for Google TV? Get yourself a USB-C dongle
Andy Walker / Android Authority
The Chromecast with Google TV’s USB-C port may be intended to deliver power from the wall, but Google doesn’t tell you that it also freely accepts data connections. This means that if you can find a USB-C dongle or hub supporting data and power, you’ve just leveled up your little pebble into an impressive, rock-solid streaming platform with all the ports you could need. This is precisely what I’ve done.
A USB-C dongle transforms the Chromecast with Google TV into a versatile compact media player.
This super cheap USB-C dongle was initially purchased for my Samsung DeX experiments. It packs three USB-A 3.0 ports, a USB-C port for power input, a full-size SD and microSD card slots, and an HDMI port. While there’s no Ethernet port on the dock, I had an old gigabit Ethernet USB dongle lying around. I plugged one end into a USB-A port, connected the Ethernet cable to the other, and my Chromecast’s connection automatically switched to wired without any intervention. Now I get speeds of around 80Mbps, enough to reliably serve the content I want to watch. I’ll admit, a USB-C hub with tentacle-like cables spiraling all around it is rather hilarious, but it works!
Andy Walker / Android Authority
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