The other day, I wanted to share my vacation pictures with my family, but since my Android screen is so small, I decided to cast those pictures to the living room TV, only to realize the Wi-Fi wasn’t working. Thankfully, after a few hits and misses, I was able to mirror my phone to my TV without Wi-Fi.
Welcome to Smart DNS Proxy and in this video, we’ll show you several ways to connect phone to your TV without Wi-Fi. You can create a hotspot, use a special cable called MHL or if you have a Samsung Phone, you can use a little-known feature called DeX. Of course, each method has its own pros and cons and we’ll show you all of them in detail. Let’s begin.
1. Creating a Wi-Fi Hotspot
If Wi-Fi isn’t available, the first thing you can try is to create your own Wi-Fi.
To get started, you will need access to at least 2 Android smartphones or one Android smartphone and one iOS. Also, you will need an Android TV that can connect to Wi-Fi. If you don’t have smart TV, you can also use streaming devices such as Chromecast or Fire TV Stick. Once you have these devices, we can move forward.
First, you need to create a Wi-Fi network using the mobile hotspot feature. In general, you can find it under Settings > Network & Internet > Hotspot & Tethering > Wi-Fi hotspot and turn on the toggle to activate the hotspot. Also make a note of the hotspot password, you will need it later.
To start the hotspot on iOS, open Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot or Settings > Personal Hotspot and tap the slider next to Allow Others to Join.
Once you have turned on the hotspot, you can use it just as a regular Wi-Fi network. Connect your TV and phone to that hotspot. If your TV isn’t an Android TV, you can use devices like Chromecast to connect to Wi-Fi and cast content from there.
Simply swipe down from the top to bring up the notification tray, tap on the Chromecast icon and select your TV that’s connected to same Wi-Fi hotspot. That’s it. It should work. Although, if you have an iPhone, you can’t cast iPhone screen, but for that you can use AirScreen app to simulate an airplay server - we have done a separate video on it, which will be visible in the YouTube cards and in the description of the video.
Do keep in mind - since you are using mobile hotspot as a Wi-Fi network, you might face a bit of delay while mirroring your Android screen to a TV or while playing videos.
2. Use MHL cables
The previous method requires an Android TV or at least a Chromecast, if your TV isn’t a smart TV, you can use the MHL cable option.
MHL is a mobile high-definition link.
In simple words, MHL cable is used to connect your Android or iPhone to TV. They are also pretty cheap and easily available on Amazon for less than $10. However, before you buy an MHL cable, make sure your Android smartphone supports MHL. You can do it with Google search or check out these websites or download one of these MHL Checker Android apps.
To mirror your Android to your TV via MHL cable, simply connect the HDMI end of the MHL cable to your TV and type C end to your Android smartphone. To supply power to the MHL cable, you can plug the USB into a good wall charger, in case the USB on the TV is too weak.
And that’s it, the moment you connect all the cables, you should see your Android screen right on your TV. To disconnect, just unplug the cable and you are good to go.
That said, MHL cable doesn’t support DRM-protected content so you can’t really stream content from services like Netflix, Prime video, HBO Max, etc.
3. Using Miracast
The third option to mirror your Android to your TV without Wi-Fi is to use a feature on most smart phones called Miracast.
Unlike Chromecast that we saw in the first option, Miracast uses Wi-Fi Direct to let two devices connect to each other wirelessly, so you won’t need to create a Wi-Fi hotspot.
To get started, you need an Android Phone with Chromecast built-in and Smart TV that supports Miracast. Here, we are using an LG as a reference device. The process is the same on all the TVs. Once you find the option and open it, it will enable the access to screen mirror on that TV.
Most modern TVs from companies like LG, Samsung, Sony, etc., come with an in-built screen mirroring option that works on Miracast. You can also find it on most Android TV and Fire TV Sticks too. As not all the TVs work with Miracast, before proceeding you can check online whether your TV supports Miracast or not. Anyhow, if your TV isn’t a smart TV, it won’t be supporting Miracast too.
Now, on your Android phone, click on the Cast option. This will start searching for the nearby options to cast that includes your TV.
Just select the TV to start casting your screen onto your TV.
You can click on the same cast option in the quick settings and click on Disconnect to stop the mirroring.
4. Samsung DeX for Samsung users
Finally, the last option to connect your phone to TV without Wi-Fi is to use Samsung DeX.
DeX is a feature on the flagship Samsung phones where you can connect your phone to any monitor or TV and turn it into a desktop set-up. This has obvious advantages comparing to casting content or screen mirroring as you can take the advantage of the complete display. Also, you can connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to use your phone in a complete desktop mode.
You can just use the MHL cable aka HDMI to USB-C cable to connect the TV and the phone. This will start screen mirroring your phone to your TV.
To turn on the DeX, swipe down the notification panel where you can see the notification from Samsung DeX. Tap on it to start Samsung DeX.
You will get another notification saying Use your phone as a touchpad, click on it to start using your phone as a touchpad without any other keyboard and mouse options.
That’s how you can connect your phone to a TV without using a Wi-Fi.
If you have a Samsung phone that works with DeX, it can be the best possible method as it works wired, wireless and can also stream content like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.
For others, an MHL cable can be the best possible solution as it works with both Android and iOS and can also stream DRM-protected content.
Finally, you have in-built Miracast and hotspot options to fall back on.
If you like this video, you might also like our video on how to watch Netflix on TV without the internet.
Thanks for reading and watching, see you in the next one and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified about new videos coming to our channel.
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