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graysailor · 03-14-2014, 10:49 PM

Thanks for more info.

KenSanLan · 03-15-2014, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hibby

We use Apple TV, and we create a wi-fi network inside the Airstream with our Verizon Jetpack.

I bought a Wilson 4G/LTE signal boost cradle and mounted it just above the stereo in our 30' Flying Cloud. The cable runs through the Airstream to the roof (yep, new hole, drilled and sealed) where the antenna is permanently mounted.

I put the Jetpack in the cradle, and I almost always get a FULL four bars of signal, even when I'm camping in the Dakotas for hunting.

Works GREAT!

Hibby - an earlier post commented that streaming from their ipad to apple tv does not use plan data - if you are doing this as well, do you agree that is correct?

We are trying to figure all of this out and come up with the best solution. Do not want to carry a library of dvds with us, and want to be able to get news and email and most important have reliable phone signal.

We have Verizon, are loaded up with Apple products, are moderate internet users, have been greatly frustrated by lack of signal in places that were not remotely remote! Would appreciate any further suggestions in non-techy language.

jpons · 03-16-2014, 05:14 AM

If you have a library of movies and/or tv shows on an iTunes library the simplest thing to do is sync some shows to an iPad and then simply connect the iPad to the tv via an HDMI cable and the corresponding adapter from apple.

As far as internet I would simply buy a Wilson sleek booster and possibly install an external antenna (the Wilson "trucker" antenna seems like a very popular option) and use one of your Verizon iPhones as a mobile hot spot for all your other devices.

Simple, and not too expensive.

I have pretty much given up on campground wifi access as it is very much the exception rather than the rule that their bandwidth is usable even for email.

-J

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenSanLan

Hibby - an earlier post commented that streaming from their ipad to apple tv does not use plan data - if you are doing this as well, do you agree that is correct?

We are trying to figure all of this out and come up with the best solution. Do not want to carry a library of dvds with us, and want to be able to get news and email and most important have reliable phone signal.

We have Verizon, are loaded up with Apple products, are moderate internet users, have been greatly frustrated by lack of signal in places that were not remotely remote! Would appreciate any further suggestions in non-techy language.

kiddoc1 · 03-16-2014, 06:50 AM

We brought our Apple TV with us on a road trip. We never found a single RV park that had enough WiFi bandwidth to use it. You can use it with a MiFi or similar hotspot but it will cost about $10/hour (a 1 hour show uses up about 1gB + of data). We get 12 gB of data to share with all of our devices, including the MiFi, for aobut $50/month/ Overages are $10/gB. Discouraging!

Hibby · 03-16-2014, 08:57 PM

KenSanLan,

This is correct. I download shows to my iPad frequentlly, in many cases so that I have them with me on a plane or a treadmill. If I stream these to the Apple tv by using the wifi signal from my jetpack, it does not use data from my wireless plan. However, if i didnt have them on my iPad already and wanted to download them to watch, it would use quite a bit.

Hibby · 03-16-2014, 09:03 PM

Kiddoc1, i agree... We have 10 gb now through Verizon and although I don't use it to stream movies, we are heavy users, and I never run out. I get great reception by having the antenna outside of the Airstream!
No need to waste time trying to use the campground service...

KenSanLan · 03-17-2014, 08:28 PM

Thank you very much. Now I know how to use that old iPad! We will be fixing up an antenna and booster. We appreciate the replies.

IanPoulin · 03-31-2014, 09:50 PM

I have all gens of AppleTV and a Roku as well. My entire music, DVD and blueray library (10TB worth) is on my home NAS withy the PLEX Media Server servicing streams. The Roku picks up HD quality streams when I have WiFi and a local-wiFi enabled chromecast runs SD quality streams via 3G and 4G cellular (against an unlimited phone data plan) when I have no WiFi-Internet access.

I must have my Mahler even when camping!

Ian

cameront120 · 04-01-2014, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanPoulin

I must have my Mahler even when camping!

Ian

Wouldn't it be easier to bring a turntable and stack of vinyl?

IanPoulin · 04-01-2014, 09:14 PM

I do have a USB turntable.... Hrmmm, I wonder if I could retrofit the Sony DVD/cd system to accept a hookup off my Pioneer 1000A laserdisc player....

calais66 · 04-01-2014, 09:25 PM

Ah, laserdiscs--yesterday's technology of tomorrow, today!

jpons · 06-04-2014, 05:11 AM

Looks like the new version of iOS will allow streaming without a wifi connection. This may be a solution for using an AppleTV in the AS without having to have a dedicated network.

Here are some details: AirPlay on iOS 8 doesn't need a network to stream your media

We will have to see when this is all released and see how it works. It might just turn out to be a great solution for streaming from an iPhone or iPad to the AS TV without having to deal with cables and dongles. If this does work, I will install an older AppleTV in the AS.

-J

IanPoulin · 06-04-2014, 11:07 AM

If it supports steaming to a gen1 or gen2, this could be a good thing indeed! I am currently drawing the ire of campgrounds as I use currently a plex media server streamed from my home to wherever I am.

jpons · 06-04-2014, 08:51 PM

My guess is that this will only work on Gen2 and up AppleTVs, as they will need bluetooth for the actual discovery, while the streaming will happen over a direct wifi connection. Bluetooth does not have the bandwidth the stream a movie.

bc_seattle · 06-04-2014, 11:46 PM

Does the latest gen AppleTV have a brick (and if so what voltage) or is it simply a 110 power cord? In other words, can you run it off of the 12v like you can a TV (that works with 12v) without an inverter?

Thanks!

BC

jpons · 06-05-2014, 05:15 AM

The latest Generation AppleTV does not have a brick, just a cord. If you search online you can find hacks people have made to make it run directly off 12v.

rodsterinfl · 06-05-2014, 03:29 PM

There is a great article I read some time ago about Roku vs. Apple TV. The writer is familiar with both.

Apple TV vs. Roku 3: The great debate, revised - TechBlog

I have an Apple TV. Like the writer, I have quite a bit Apple- Laptop, Time Capsule, iPhone, iPad so it makes much more sense as they work well together. That is in the house. In the AS I got a Smart TV and WAS going to get an Apple TV but now I am not certain I need it. The new TVs are loaded with features. I can even attach a hard drive to my TV to access stored movie files without other equipment.

Aside from having the hobby of Airstream, I am a movie buff and have a very large DVD blueRay library. I share this because I have been working on a solution to porting movies with me. The biggest issue with all of this is the SOURCE and SELECTION.

If all you want to do is pick movies available on Netflix or Apple TV, etc. then stream on - you have to have a good Internet connection and a plan, any plan that I know of for Internet will not suffice if you watch much TV. The data limits are the problem. That leaves sucking all the bandwidth from the other campers in the park if you use the camp wireless. The point though is that you are certainly going to need a good Internet connection.

If you are sourcing your own collection a strategy is to find a DVD Juke Box that holds 400 discs. It is not a perfect solution but it requires the least work, simply plug in an HDMI cable from the unit to the TV and plug it in to the 120V and you have access to 400 movies you have loaded. I have a few of these.

The other personal library sourcing option requires that you "digitize" your movies on a hard drive. The good is that it will take the size down even more the bad is that unless you sacrifice video quality, you have to have some BIG hard drives. With all that work you will want to have it backed up and then you end up with a NAS or some type of redundant backup. Again, this is if you have a collection of discs that you want to watch. I have been able to simplify my life in many ways but this is NOT one of them. There are many people who have gone this route for their home theaters. Here is an online discussion/calculation of the size/space needed on hard drives:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1389016/on...f-sd-hd-movies

Naturally most of the talk and solutions out there are for pay as you watch or stream in this case but they often fail to address the home video library.

atheness · 12-29-2014, 11:16 PM

Can you be more specific about how to access wifi with Apple TV, Roku or other options? Not sure how to get internet access. Thanks...

BoldAdventure · 12-30-2014, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodsterinfl

I have an Apple TV. Like the writer, I have quite a bit Apple- Laptop, Time Capsule, iPhone, iPad so it makes much more sense as they work well together. That is in the house. In the AS I got a Smart TV and WAS going to get an Apple TV but now I am not certain I need it. The new TVs are loaded with features. I can even attach a hard drive to my TV to access stored movie files without other equipment.

Aside from having the hobby of Airstream, I am a movie buff and have a very large DVD blueRay library. I share this because I have been working on a solution to porting movies with me. The biggest issue with all of this is the SOURCE and SELECTION.

Naturally most of the talk and solutions out there are for pay as you watch or stream in this case but they often fail to address the home video library.

Digitizing is the best bet for anyone on the road IMO. We have an Apple TV at home, I'll be putting it, plus an additional one in the Airstream. One front, one rear.

Our Samsung TV does movies via USB like you mentioned, but I found that it is picky about the video being in a few specific formats.

Most of my Blurry converted movies are MKV and it won't play those.

At home however, sometime ago we started using this app: Air Video HD - The all-new Air Video

It's called Air Video HD. You run one app on your computer, and point it to the folder or folders where your movies/tv/videos are stored. Then on your iPad or iPhone you can watch said videos. Best part, you can then airplay to the Apple TV.

It supports multiple users and multiple devices. So for us, we'll have the laptop usually always plugged in, with the app running in the background.

Anytime we want to run something, open up the app on my phone, airplay it to the TV.

I almost bought a Roku once but I don't want to spend time organizing crap. I just want to watch what I have and get it over with. As quickly as possible. And the Air Video HD solves that.

BoldAdventure · 12-30-2014, 10:47 AM

PS: We've been avoiding smart TV's for one big reason, privacy. Apparently, Samsung, Sony and a few others think that it's perfectly ok to record all your viewing habits, location, even recording audio in your home and send it back to their servers, without ever telling you about it. Well only if you download and read the privacy statement. But you bought the TV, thus you agreed to it. Cheers.

Quote:

The only problem is that I’m now afraid to use it. You would be too — if you read through the 46-page privacy policy,” Price wrote. “The amount of data this thing collects is staggering. It logs where, when, how, and for how long you use the TV. It sets tracking cookies and beacons designed to detect ‘when you have viewed particular content or a particular email message.’ It records ‘the apps you use, the websites you visit, and how you interact with content.’ It ignores ‘do-not-track’ requests as a considered matter of policy.”

Sources:
Smart TV privacy and security: what you should know | BGR
Why Samsung's New TVs Are Too 'Smart' For Their Own Good | The Daily Caller
I’m terrified of my new TV: Why I’m scared to turn this thing on — and you’d be, too - Salon.com