Are you planning a vacation with or without your family and want to stay in a hotel room? Are you wondering how to connect Chromecast to a hotel WiFi connection? Do you want to enjoy your favourite programmes on the hotel room’s big TV screen rather than on your portable device?
Enjoying a programme on a mobile’s tiny screen can sometimes cause frustration. Some of us are picky about extracting every graphical detail out of a scene which is not possible on a small display. A Chromecast device is an excellent way of casting content on larger screens and double the fun.
During your hotel stay, you would want to watch your favourite shows on Netflix or go through Youtube videos on a big screen. However, some hotels can put hurdles in your way that make it impossible to use and connect your Chromecast to their WiFi network. Let’s find out how you can do it.
Can you use Chromecast on public Wi-Fi?
A few hotels offer an open WiFi network that does not require you to log in. In this case, you can plug your Chromecast device into the hotel TV. Afterwards, and set it up over their WiFi network. Your Chromecast will connect to the WiFi as there is no welcome page on an unsecured network.
Furthermore, another device such as a laptop or mobile phone connected to the same WiFi hotspot of the hotel can also stream to the Chromecast.
How do I connect my Chromecast to hotel Wi-Fi?
If you have trouble connecting your Chromecast to a secure hotel WiFi connection, try the following methods.
Make a Windows hotspot
Your Chromecast device might work if you make an alternative hotspot on your laptop. To do this:
- First, connect your laptop to the hotel WiFi network and fill out entries on the login page.
- On your laptop, go to Start –> Settings –> Network & Internet, and click on “Mobile Hotspot.”
- Under the Mobile Hotspot option, select “Share my Internet connection with other devices.”
- Next, make sure that the “Share my Internet connection from” and “Share my Internet connection over” options are set to WiFi.
- Finally, connect Chromecast to hotel WiFi using the Network name and password shown at the bottom of the window.
Make a hotspot on your phone
If you did not bring your laptop, your smartphone could share the hotel’s internet connection via a mobile hotspot.
- Tap the Settings icon on your phone and go to Wireless & Network –> More –> Tethering & portable hotspot and tap on the ” Set up WiFi hotspot” option.
- Next, type in the Network name and password of your choice and save the changes.
- Finally, enable the Portable WiFi hotspot on your phone and finalize setting up your Chromecast device.
Connectify Hotspot app
In a hotel, you can use the Connectify hotspot software app with Chromecast. To do this, download the app on your Windows laptop and install it. The Connectify app serves as a Chromecast’s mediator and eliminates the need of looking for a WiFi connection.
However, you need to set up the Connectify hotspot so that your Chromecast remembers the settings every time you use your laptop with it.
Does Google Wi-Fi work with hotel Wi-Fi?
Internet security is vital for everybody, and hotels are no exception. They have to manage their networks with options to make it difficult for the devices to communicate with each other. This phenomenon is called client isolation. Once connected, a device can not be conveniently seen by anything else on the network.
Google WiFi device operates by talking to other devices for its functions. Hotels usually boost security concerns. However, they also use network tools to make more money. Therefore, these general practices make it harder for a Google WiFi device to work properly.
Furthermore, you often need to get past the hotel login page, which you can’t do without a web browser. As Google WiFi does not have a browser; therefore, the device can’t create a usable connection on its own. Hence, Chromecast will fail to connect too.
How do you travel with Chromecast?
Some hotels allow connection for only one device per room. A quick way to get a Chromecast to work on Hotel WiFi is to buy a portable or travel router to counter the issue.
If you’ve never used a travel router, it is a compact wireless device that you can connect to a wireless hotspot. Afterwards, you can share the network connection through the portable router with multiple devices.
The network connection from the hotel comes to the room either wirelessly or via network cable. You can then connect the network cable to the travel router or use the router’s wireless function to connect to the hotel’s WiFi connection. Afterwards, the router broadcasts a single Wi-Fi signal for all your devices.
To get a better understanding, think of the travel router as a lone funnel, and the router sends everything through it. This way, the hotel thinks you are using only one device for the connection. However, in reality, it’s the sum of every device connected to the portable router.
Furthermore, because your devices are talking to each other over the Wi-Fi network created by your router, you altogether avoid the hazards of connecting directly to hotel Wi-Fi. Travel routers are handy when you use a Google WiFi device as it will simply connect to the router and create a mesh network of its own.
Conclusion
If you end up in a hotel that offers a WiFi network without any passwords, your Chromecast device will work just fine. Otherwise, this article has easier ways for you to find out how to connect Chromecast to hotel WiFi.
We recommend bringing a travel router with you while staying at a hotel. Otherwise, you can make a WiFi hotspot from your mobile phone and Chromecast with it to the hotel’s TV screen.
