Does the Google Chromecast TV HD support Miracast from Windows PC ?

[Zoultrias]

Very simple straight forward question, and very hard to find on the internet so far. I can cast the desktop on the chrome browser. It's getting hard to figure out how to extend a second desktop without a second real desktop, essentially using a second, wireless display as an extension monitor, but the chrome browser can only cast an existing desktop, and Windows 11 has been making it harder to make a fake second desktop. 

I can not find the device under wireless displays on the same network.

I also need to be able to cast without the need for an existing LAN network. As in, I'm in the middle of no where, can't get on the wifi, I need to cast directly to the second display. What are the options?  Looks like they got rid of ad hoc and most drivers and intel wireless chipsets do not support hosted networks and they expect you to use the hotspot feature, but I need to establish a wifi network without internet available. Just to connect the chromcast to the same wifi network to cast.

[David_K · Accepted solution]

No, Chromecast only supports Google's casting technology, not Miracast. Some TVs have Miracast built-in. This only works with some Android devices. iPhone and iPad don't support Miracast. The icon you see in apps looks very similar to the Chromecast/casting icon unfortunately.

Chromecast requires a Wifi network and internet connection to function. Although unsupported by Google, you can try to use a phone or tablet as a Wifi hotspot. However, this will then use your mobile data plan, which could be expensive for you depending on the data plan you have with your carrier. Note you will need 2 devices to set this up.

• Turn on the Wifi hotspot feature on a phone or tablet. If you're not sure how to do this, refer to the manufacturer's support website.
• Connect a second phone or tablet to that Wifi hotspot.
• You can then use that second phone or tablet to setup your device and connect it to the Wifi hotspot on the first phone or tablet.

[Zoultrias]

It looks like you touched on the primary confusion online which is that some TV's have Miracast built in, vs the GoogleTV HD dongle that is seperate and doesn't have Miracast. That complicates things as you mentioned for two reasons. 

1) I have to form my own network. Currently the ideal case would be to form a wifi hotspot from the laptop, but W11 has disabled ad hoc so a work around has to be used to create a hotspot on the phone, then create a hotspot on the laptop, then disconnect the phone and you have a hotspot without internet, but can be used to cast, but I can't verify how long the hotspot holds without internet.

2) My primary use case is to have a second wireless portable monitor at job sites, which I can stick magnetically on a door etc. The less extra requirements for hardware hookups the better.  I guess I'll have to rely on at least one USBC cable to the portable display. Otherwise I have to find ways to fake a second display (windows has now made it very hard to fake a second display when you don't have a real one) to cast the second display as the extended monitor over the chromecast.

Regards,

*PLEASE ADD MIRCAST TO IT!!

[Kimy]

Hi folks,

Appreciate your help, @David_K.

@Zoultrias, these kinds of setups that you mentioned won’t work on the Chromecast device. The Chromecast device will receive the casting command from a casting source (app from a phone, Chrome browser from a laptop, etc.), which will then utilize its connection to WiFi (internet source) to continue the given task (stand alone after knowing the specifics) so that it can play it on the display/TV, while the casting source can continue doing whatever it wants since the task has been sent to the Chromecast device. I hope this clarifies the confusion. We can’t say anything about Miracast (a competitor product) since we don’t really know much about it. Let us know if you still have questions.

Thanks,

Kimy

[Zoultrias]

@Kimy Those kind of setups work, thats why I described them of what has worked and what could make it work better. There are plenty of scenarios where people don't need internet but need to cast.

1) Setting up a dummy hotspot with phone, and laptop, then disconnecting phone leaving a hotspot on the laptop with no internet, the chromcast can join the network, and you can cast to it even though laptop is not on internet. This works. It doesn't use wifi for the internet source to cast, it uses the wifi network to cast. Hence why you can cast and play offline files on a router with no internet connection.

2) Miracast is not a competing product here, in the sense that, its a standard by the wi-fi alliance. You can add it to chromcast, just like other competing products like firetv, roku, and smartTV OS, so adding the feature makes your chromcast product more competative not less. If you don't know much about it you should look into it, its very easy to use, and the majority of users would be able to use it directly from windows or MacOS. I rarely use the chromcast TV to cast anything from my phone.

I appreciate you trying to jump in but it did not clarify anything further.

Regards,

[Kimy]

Hi Zoultrias,

Thanks for your input. The Chromecast device, however, would show a message indicating that it is connected to a network that has no internet access. Chromecast devices are WiFi-dependent, which is why they won't work with the steps you mentioned. You can send feedback requesting such a feature. It may not be guaranteed to be implemented, but Google values customer feedback.

Thanks,

Kimy

[Zoultrias]

Except that it does work and i've tested it. It is WiFi dependant, but not internet dependant is what I was clarifying. You can have wifi and no internet, which is what a router not connected ot the internet does.

[Kimy]

Hello Zoultrias,

Great! If you get it to work, that’s awesome. Let us know if you still have questions.

Thanks,
Kimy