help a technophobe....
 

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help a technophobe. old telly wireless

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 DT78
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have an old Sony brava I want to set up for the kids.  there is no aerial or Ethernet anywhere close.  ultimately when we refurb I'll sort.

tv has a wireless mode but nneeds a USB device

boys 6&8 watch prime, youtube and Disney through apps on the newer telly.

would getting a firestick enable me to do the same?

oh and could I get it to work with zwift if I used the firestick to provide WiFi to the telly?

 
Posted : 16/09/2023 7:11 pm
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Yes, it should do, just needs an HDMI port. If you're really lucky the USB slot might power the firestick but I think that's unlikely.

No idea about the Zwift part but I can control the firestick from the app on my mobile so it's accessible over wifi ok.

 
Posted : 16/09/2023 7:19 pm
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tv has a wireless mode but nneeds a USB device

I'd bet that it requires a specific USB device, (no longer) made by Sony.

Firestick or equivalent should do you what you want unless by "old" you mean a 25-year old CRT with SCART sockets on the back.

 
Posted : 16/09/2023 8:05 pm
 DT78
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thanks guys, it has a hdmi port so I think I can get it to work for the little darlings.

 
Posted : 16/09/2023 8:09 pm
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Oh and,

If you’re really lucky the USB slot might power the firestick but I think that’s unlikely.

I'd kinda expect this to work. The wireless bit of of a wireless dongle will require drivers and a TV isn't a PC so it likely won't have them other than what Sony included for their own kit. Simply pulling power from a USB port shouldn't be a crazy ask though.

 
Posted : 16/09/2023 8:16 pm
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We had a relatively early smart TV. After a few years it decided to not be smart anymore (software updates stopped and it kept crashing iPlayer) so we got a fire stick to give it a new brain.
Still going 5 years later. The kids use it every day for YouTube and iPlayer and it works fine. Plugs into an HDMI and can either use a USB in the telly or a separate USB power adaptor for power.
Checkout whether Zwift is in the Amazon app store. If it is then should work fine. It's a version of Android in the fire stick so lots of apps, they just have to be sanctioned by Amazon.
PS the stick connects to the wifi itself, no need for wifi telly. Anything with an HDMI slot will do.

 
Posted : 16/09/2023 8:19 pm
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We’ve got fire sticks in all our TVs. They’re simple, consistent, and often on offer - Black Friday will be upon us very soon too.

An old Sony LCD that was not that smart to begin with. Firestick replaced an old Apple TV we used with it.

Even got a Firestick for our fairly new and pretty smart LG 4K OLED for the consistency of operation and to avoid the annoying ‘magic’ LG remote.

Only drawbacks I see to the Firestick are: Amazon; iPlayer image quality is appalling. IPlayer is the only app that gets used on the newest TV as that gives HD and UHD images.

You know that many TV apps are available for PlayStation and XBox? If you have one of those already get the kids to use that. Principle is the same - device connects to internet, plugs into TV, TV shows images from device.

You can plug the USB supply for the Firestick into the TV. Problem there is that you cannot then use HDMI control to turn the TV on by just turning the Firestick on. We use the supplied USB PSUs for the Firesticks.

 
Posted : 17/09/2023 6:37 am
 DT78
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Thanks all, no PlayStation or Xbox as of yet, we have a switch.  Doing my best to keep them away from gaming as long as possible in the vain hope I can embed outdoors stuff is fun.

I’ll give the fire stick a go

 
Posted : 17/09/2023 8:05 am
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@DT78 sometimes there is a list of approved third party wireless USB devices on the TV support page. Our older Panasonic used a Netgear one to access a wireless connection, no driver required. Bear in mind that this may need access to wireless n or something equally slow that your router may not like. It's possible that you will need to find one on e-bay.

 
Posted : 17/09/2023 11:18 am

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