Using Emby on the road

[jmassaro87 28]

We are headed on a 2 week camping trip in our camper. Where we are heading has ZERO internet connectivity (hallelujah!), thus posing a problem with making sure my kids have entertainment during down time.

The camper has a small TV, but it is just a TV, not smart in anyway. I was considering bringing a fire stick, but, the one we have does not have much storage, so "downloading" files locally is not an completely an option. 

Without setting up an emby server on a laptop (not planning on bringing to save space, very small RV) or having the ability to cast or airplay to the TV, are there any other options to have a small collection of movies and shows for the kids to watch through emby on a firestick?

Edited July 18, 2023 by jmassaro87

[MBSki 1114]

I don't think you can download movies to a fire stick anyways. Easiest thing to do is download to your phone. Another option is to get a device like an nVidia Shield that has USB ports that you can plug any USB drive into that has enough storage for as many videos as you want. You could skip Emby entirely with that method and just play from the USB file storage.

[visproduction 315]

Don't you need a router broadcasting Wifi in order to send to the Firestick?  You would have to have the router, the TV, the workstation/ server all plugged in using up your batteries.  I assume you are not plugged into a camping site.  They would actually often have Internet access.

Firestick seems to have some issues running without Internet.

Maybe a better idea, get a TV with USB ports, put content on a USB drive and let the kids choose by title.   This approach only needs the TV turned on.  

Or use a HDMI connection to a smart TV and let the kids have access to a notebook with limited user rights login.  This approach would let Emby work locally, but I think there is an issue with not being able to confirm your Emby license, which may shut you down.

Maybe there is an Emby solution.  It seems like a lot of tweaking needed when you are suppose to be on holiday.

Related: https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/does-amazon-fire-stick-need-internet

Recent similar forum post: 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by visproduction

[maleb23 4]

For a quick solution, just installing the Emby client on the laptop and downloading a select number of videos is what I'm finding to be pretty straightforward.   If ongoing, I've been using a very small mini-pc device to just stay in my RV.  The new Intel N100 is extremely capable (and cheap, ~$150 or less) of playing movies at high resolution and has full hardware decoding common codecs,

[jmassaro87 28]

On 7/19/2023 at 11:09 AM, visproduction said:

Don't you need a router broadcasting Wifi in order to send to the Firestick?  You would have to have the router, the TV, the workstation/ server all plugged in using up your batteries.  I assume you are not plugged into a camping site.  They would actually often have Internet access.

Firestick seems to have some issues running without Internet.

Maybe a better idea, get a TV with USB ports, put content on a USB drive and let the kids choose by title.   This approach only needs the TV turned on.  

Or use a HDMI connection to a smart TV and let the kids have access to a notebook with limited user rights login.  This approach would let Emby work locally, but I think there is an issue with not being able to confirm your Emby license, which may shut you down.

Maybe there is an Emby solution.  It seems like a lot of tweaking needed when you are suppose to be on holiday.

Yeah, we will be on shore power, and yes the site we will be at does technically have Internet, but it only works at their little store, its spotty at best throughout the campground, and its like $20/day. Cell service in non-existent there otherwise we'd just use our hotspot and stream. 

Don't recall if the TV in the camper has USB or not, if it does, then this will be the answer. 

And it's a small camper, with the TV in a weird spot right at the entrance, so a laptop with an HDMI would be likely in the way. 

[jmassaro87 28]

On 7/19/2023 at 7:46 PM, maleb23 said:

For a quick solution, just installing the Emby client on the laptop and downloading a select number of videos is what I'm finding to be pretty straightforward.   If ongoing, I've been using a very small mini-pc device to just stay in my RV.  The new Intel N100 is extremely capable (and cheap, ~$150 or less) of playing movies at high resolution and has full hardware decoding common codecs,

I will look into this, this may be a nice solution...