(Disclosure, I may receive a small referral fee when you make a purchase through links on this post.)
Chromecast has proven to be a nice little device that can make most devices into a home theater PC. The only exception – it must have wireless capability. If you have an older model PC and by older meaning it doesn’t have a built in wireless card.
My main office PC which is a Dell Vostro does not have WiFi built in. It is directly cabled to my router which sits nearby. I failed to recall the requirements to set up Google Chromecast to having WiFi capability in order to work. If you try to install the Chromecast application on your non-WiFi PC, you will get this error.
You will soon be reminded that the PC does not have WiFi capability. I was fortunate to have a new Dell XPS 8500 sitting here which delivered a few weeks ago to replace my main office PC. I hopped over and immediately was able to install Chromecast and begun streaming from my Chromebrowser. Aside from watching official apps such as Youtube and Netflix, I was also able to watch TVB shows streamed from azdrama.sx (wife favorite Triumph In The Skies II – 衝上雲霄II). You can also stream movies and TV shows from Amazon Prime.
If you don’t have a WiFi capable PC, we’ve got you covered. All you need is to purchase a WiFi dongle such as the one below Linksys Dual Band Wireless N USB Adapter.
This is a USB dongle which can give your PC or laptop WiFi capabilities. Combine this with your Chromecast, you will be able to cost TV shows and movies right away. Great deal!
Although I have a wireless network (actually two), the Chromecast can’t connect to either of them. I’ve spent 30-40 minutes with a Google Ninja, but nothing seems to work. The install works while my laptop or iPhone connects to the ChromecastNNNN wireless network, then fails when the device attempts to connect with the house network.
Hopefully a software update will correct this soon!
Did you get a prompt to enter wifi network details (primarily network and wireless password?) You may be trying to connect to a unsecure wireless network from a neighbor’s house / business. Also, keep in mind the Chromecast and the device you are working on installing must be in the same network. I would recommend temporarily disabling one wifi network when doing the install.
Ok here is my question, i have a wifi network set up through my router, but i decided to cable my computer to the router for less lag. Im confused since Chromecast uses the wifi network to connect devices, why would i not be able to use my computer thats cabled thru the same network chromecast is connected to? Could it not send the transmission from my cabled computer to my router, then have that transmission sent thru wifi to the chromecast dongle? Its the only reason i have not bought one yet cause im confused as to why im not able to do that, its all connected through the same network. Only reason i can think of not being able to do that would be if chromecast dongle directly connected to my computer thru its wifi dongle without the need of a seperate network. If you can clear that up for me it would be helpful thnx.
Chromecast relies on its connectivity to other devices via wifi and nothing else. Hence, your computer must be on the same wifi network as the Chromeacst in order to work. It has no functionality to communicate with devices without wifi. I hope this answers your question.