# Cheapest/Easiest way to watch YouTube on a non-smart HDTV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937 "2019-07-11T23:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/1 "2019-07-11T23:30:05Z")
Long story short going to a hotel for four days and want to watch YouTube on it instead of just local TV. My normal way of doing that involves ethernet cords and my laptop but apparently this hotel has no ethernet access just wifi and I don’t have the room to bring my laptop this time. Is there a cheap wireless HDMI dongle I could purchase that’s plug and play? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/2 "2019-07-11T23:38:14Z")
You could use a Chromecast device, assuming the hotel TV has an HDMI port. But you’d still need something that can pull in YouTube from the internet. A smartphone would suffice. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/3 "2019-07-12T02:44:41Z")
An Amazon Firestick has the apps loaded, no need for a casting device ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/4 "2019-07-12T13:25:38Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > An Amazon Firestick has the apps loaded, no need for a casting device Well, it depends on the mood between Amazon and Google. A [few days ago](https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/9/20686773/youtube-fire-tv-prime-video-chromecast-amazon-google-launch-today-available) they kissed and made up. Countdown to the era of good feelings going away has already started. (They were workarounds but sometimes Google would even mess with those.) ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/5 "2019-07-12T13:37:58Z")
I’m not too familiar with it, but it looks like a Roku Express could work. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/6 "2019-07-12T14:31:22Z")
FWIW, hotel wifi I’ve encountered requires you to connect to a web page for authentication before you get out onto the internet. I’ve never once had any luck getting a Roku-type device to connect in a hotel. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/7 "2019-07-12T14:56:00Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > FWIW, hotel wifi I’ve encountered requires you to connect to a web page for authentication before you get out onto the internet. I’ve never once had any luck getting a Roku-type device to connect in a hotel. A [Travel Router](https://www.hootoo.com/hootoo-tripmate-elite-ht-tm04-wireless-portable-router.html) (link is just one example) takes care of that problem. I’ve used one in hotels for this very purpose. An example from the [HooToo](https://www.hootoo.com/tripmate-router-faq.html) web site: > [@](#): > > How to access the hotel Wi-Fi (which has a login or authentication page)? > > Get the Wi-Fi user name and password of your room from hotel > Connect your phone with TripMate, login its web end 10.10.10.254 > Go to setting -\> internet -\> wireless access -\> scan -\> select your hotel’s Wi-Fi name (SSID), leave the password empty, save. > Open another page on your phone browser and you will see the hotel restrict page popping up. Now login with the username & password you asked from hotel. > Since your Tripmate’s MAC address has been registered in hotel Wi-Fi system, other devices of you could access the network bridged by TripMate." ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/8 "2019-07-12T15:20:36Z")
The cheapest Roku is $30, and you might find it cheaper on sale. It’s as plug and play as you can get. You’ll have to switch the TV to the right HDMI input, then sign into your accounts, and that’s about it. I don’t have experience with them, but Chromecast and Fire Stick probably work about the same. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/9 "2019-07-12T15:43:52Z")
A fire stick or Roku stick will both have YouTube apps. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/10 "2019-07-12T15:43:59Z")
If you have a smartphone all you need is an MHL cable. MHL cables come in two basic flavors: passive and powered. Passive is only for MHL-ready TVs, which many are. Powered will work on any TV with an HDMI port. Either will run you about $10-20. If you have a relatively recent iPhone and the TV has a USB port, just a normal USB cable should work fine. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/11 "2019-07-12T20:44:15Z")
Roku is my recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/12 "2019-07-13T13:19:33Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > If you have a smartphone all you need is an MHL cable. This is _incredibly_ optimistic. MHL was only a weakly supported standard. A lot of TVs don’t support it. And certainly a bunch of phones don’t do it directly. E.g., iPhones and newer phones with USB-C connectors. Those require their own special adapter if they can do it at all. Since it never really took off, support for it has been fading rather than growing. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-easiest-way-to-watch-youtube-on-a-non-smart-hdtv/836937/13 "2019-07-13T17:15:24Z")
Where are you people going that sitting in a hotel room watching YouTube is the most exciting thing about the city you’re in? I do pack my Chromecast and Amazon Fire, but have never gotten them out. If I’m traveling with family, we’re someplace fun, often with fun people. Even if it’s just me driving I’ll sample local color or at least a bar or restaurant. I got tired and pulled off the road at a hotel in the middle of Ohio… sounds boring, right? Well, the maid recommended a fish fry joint where the beer-battered walleye was great, the server hilarious… and the people at the next table kept trying to shock me with local gossip. And bought me the house special (all I know is it came in a tiki mug, with _three umbrellas!,_ and was mostly dark rum and aperol).