How Do I Stream My Phone to My Hotel TV?
A home from home? All hotel guests want to watch their favorite shows during their stay. Whether Netflix or YouTube, we just want to continue watching or binge watch our shows.
But watching them on the tiny screen of our mobile can be challenging. How about streaming our phones to the hotel TV and watching everything on a nice, big screen?
Thankfully, technology is on our side. With a little bit of help, a hotel room can become a real home from home.
Casting from Your Phone
Your aim is to cast from your phone to the hotel TV. Casting means exactly that: connecting two devices and sending data from one to the other—in this case from your mobile to the hotel TV.
What you need is to find a way for your phone to communicate with the TV and cast its content on the screen. And you need to do all that while using the hotel Wi-Fi rather than your mobile data.
Can My Phone Connect to the Hotel TV?
Seeing how people love their subscriptions to their subscription services, smartphone manufacturers have built a mirroring feature into their phones to help users feel at home wherever they are.
This feature has various names, depending on the phone manufacturer, but you will usually find it under the names ‘Screen Cast’, ‘Smart View’ or ‘Screen Mirroring.’
Both TV and phone are connected via the hotel Wi-Fi network. The phone content is mirrored on the TV and you can use your phone as a remote control to display the show on the TV.
This is a very easy way to connect the two devices but wireless connection poses a complication. While streaming, your phone cannot be used as a phone, so you can’t call or text.
Streaming Sticks
To be able to use your phone while watching a movie you can use a so-called streaming stick.
There are several streaming sticks on the market like Chromecast, Fire TV, or Roku streaming sticks. They look like USB sticks, only they have an HDMI plug instead of a USB one. When you plug them into the hotel TV’s HDMI port, they let you connect the screen to your phone. You can then mirror what your phone is playing on the TV.
It should be noted that streaming sticks don’t actually require a phone to stream content. Depending on the model you choose, you can access various online streaming services.
For example, the Fire TV platform is developed by Amazon. While Android-based, it’s distinct from Android TV and its new Google TV front-end. It delivers Amazon content through Prime Video (as well as Prime Music and Amazon Channels), but can also display content from other major streaming services like Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix.
Most streaming devices support Netflix, YouTube, Spotify Hulu, Prime Video, and HBO Now, among others.
What If I Don’t Have a Streaming Stick?
You can still stream your phone to a hotel TV even if you don’t have a streaming stick. You will need an HDMI plug that has an HDMI plug on one side and a USB one on the other. Once you plug the USB end into your mobile and the HDMI one to the TV, anything displayed on your phone screen will be mirrored on the TV one.
A Smart Hotel TV
You can also use a Smart TV. Many hotels are upgrading their infotainment options and have installed Smart TVs. Smart TVs have already incorporated streaming technology into their hardware, thus making your streaming even easier and straightforward.
Can the Hotel TV See My Phone Contents?
If you’re worried about privacy, you need not be. While the phone is connected to the hotel TV, it simply exports the screen view to a bigger screen. The hotel TV has no access to your contacts, files, and images except for when you explicitly display them on the TV screen. Even then, the TV doesn’t capture the content; it merely displays it.
Hotels Are Striving to Make Your Stay Better
There are plenty of ways to continue watching your shows while away from home. Hotels are upgrading their hardware and are investing in technology because personalization is key. Phones and TVs are getting smarter and talking to each other.
If your hotel is not talking the language of technology, we are here to help you unleash the power of streaming. Contact AAA Satellite or call now 913-721-3474 to learn more about our services!