Chromecast might be eating 5GB pm in HD wallpapers!

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Mobus

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I have a chromecast 2 powered up and ready to cast all the time - eventhough i don't use it that often.

I noticed suspicious data usage of ~150MB per day on my router. I dont have per device or website traffic logging on my router but suspected the chromecast as that was the most recent addition to my network. I googled a bit and found quite a few related hits. It seems to be downloading HD background wallpapers even when your TV is off and the chromecast is in "idle".

Two solutions suggested so far:
1. Only power up the chromecast when you want to use it / power it from your TV's USB port (if it can give enough power - google recommends using the external psu to avoid other problems)
2. Setup the chromecast to only "stream" background images from a google+ account with only one low res photo on the account

5GB in useless photos that you dont even look at (since when you are actually using the device you are casting an app!). Wasteful even if you are on uncapped. :mad:

Anyone else spotted the problem? Or perhaps with the ability to record better logs? I would love to just block the wallpaper ip on my router but it looks like the same ip used for general CC comms (https on ajax.googleapis.com... maybe...)

I'm going to try solution #2 soon and see if it helps.
 
I'm sure someone with better logging can confirm for you, I don't have a Chromecast, but I can't see myself caring about 150MB.
 
this is exactly what I was concerned about....

I want to get chromecast (CC), 99% for local streaming from my phone and only have a 10+10GB data contract

does CC require an internet connection even if one plans on only android phone screen mirroring? any better options?
 
Mobus said:
I have a chromecast 2 powered up and ready to cast all the time - eventhough i don't use it that often.

I noticed suspicious data usage of ~150MB per day on my router. I dont have per device or website traffic logging on my router but suspected the chromecast as that was the most recent addition to my network. I googled a bit and found quite a few related hits. It seems to be downloading HD background wallpapers even when your TV is off and the chromecast is in "idle".

Two solutions suggested so far:
1. Only power up the chromecast when you want to use it / power it from your TV's USB port (if it can give enough power - google recommends using the external psu to avoid other problems)
2. Setup the chromecast to only "stream" background images from a google+ account with only one low res photo on the account

5GB in useless photos that you dont even look at (since when you are actually using the device you are casting an app!). Wasteful even if you are on uncapped. :mad:

Anyone else spotted the problem? Or perhaps with the ability to record better logs? I would love to just block the wallpaper ip on my router but it looks like the same ip used for general CC comms (https on ajax.googleapis.com... maybe...)

I'm going to try solution #2 soon and see if it helps.
Click to expand...
Impossible. These wallpapers are very small. Do you perhaps have Google Photos wallpaper enabled under the Cast app?

URL to the default photos -> https://clients3.google.com/cast/chromecast/home
 
Bundu said:
this is exactly what I was concerned about....

I want to get chromecast (CC), 99% for local streaming from my phone and only have a 10+10GB data contract

does CC require an internet connection even if one plans on only android phone screen mirroring? any better options?
Click to expand...

I'm on a 100GB/year bundle, so every MB counts. I really like the chromecast for its simplicity and low price tag. Keep in mind casting a lot from your phone will be rough on your phone's battery - especially in the long run. A plex server from an old pc should also cast to the chromecast which would be the better setup for local media streaming (I haven't tried it though). The CC really shines at video streaming netflix and youtube (holding thumbs for the Showmax app). Alternatives... maybe the firestick/firetv/roku? Void miracast dongles. True "screen casting" seems to be a pain, especially with standards like miracast and samsung's allshare - which is why Google use their own protocol with the CC (and it paid off). There's even a video on youtube of a guy screen casting minecraft from his phone via screen casting - which looks pretty good (note you would need a powerful CPU on your phone to screen cast at high frame rates).

I'll report back whether any of the data curbing solutions work. And yes, I think it needs an active internet connection - at the very least initially to set up. After setup, it also hosts its own wifi hotspot for "guest" casting (so that your guests wouldn't have to connect to your home wifi). Not sure what will happen if you disconnect your internet but still keep the home wifi network up and try to cast either via home wifi or the guest CC wifi.
 
backstreetboy said:
Impossible. These wallpapers are very small. Do you perhaps have Google Photos wallpaper enabled under the Cast app?

URL to the default photos -> https://clients3.google.com/cast/chromecast/home
Click to expand...


Backdrop is off. Just getting the default pics as in that link you sent. Where did you get that link btw? (Potential solution #3 - block that link or lh3.googleusercontent.com where the photos are loaded from)!

That link seems to load a ~100kB to ~200kB photo every ~20 to 40 sec. Do the math, thats easily 100's of megs per day.
 
Chevron said:
Or solution 3 get uncapped.
Click to expand...

Yeah, would be nice but can't really justify the cost. That's probably what the CC developers are arguing though. If you have the CC, you are probably streaming a lot of video and necessarily have uncapped. First world mentality.

That said, it still seems wasteful regardless of where you have uncapped or not. I wonder whats the carbon footprint of say a 1GB of useless transmitted data you didn't want or need? (time the number of CC users world-wide).
 
Mobus said:
Yeah, would be nice but can't really justify the cost.
Click to expand...

Of course you can justify the cost of uncapped. You may not be able to afford it but uncapped internet is basically the standard across the world except here.

That said, it still seems wasteful regardless of where you have uncapped or not. I wonder whats the carbon footprint of say a 1GB of useless transmitted data you didn't want or need? (time the number of CC users world-wide).
Click to expand...

I don't mind how much data they're using to get those pictures, I love the backgrounds and I'm quite happy to have them continue even if it's 5gb.
 
I've kept my chrome cast unplugged (from usb) because of this. Unfortunately I don't have uncapped either.
 
Bundu said:
this is exactly what I was concerned about....

I want to get chromecast (CC), 99% for local streaming from my phone and only have a 10+10GB data contract

does CC require an internet connection even if one plans on only android phone screen mirroring? any better options?
Click to expand...

Screen mirroring doesn't work all that well on Chromecast 1. I'm not sure about Chromecast 2 though. But on my Chromecast 1 there is a 2 to 3 second delay and its pretty much useless for anything other than watching videos.
 
SeRpEnT said:
Screen mirroring doesn't work all that well on Chromecast 1. I'm not sure about Chromecast 2 though. But on my Chromecast 1 there is a 2 to 3 second delay and its pretty much useless for anything other than watching videos.
Click to expand...

over the weekend I just went and ordered this - if it works, then OK, else I'll bin it....
Tronsmart T1000 Mirror2TV Wireless Display HDMI Miracast / DLNA / EZCAST Dongle

http://www.dx.com/p/tronsmart-t1000...-dlna-ezcast-dongle-black-278368#.VlwbzL_zJuo
 
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