Smartphone as cable router?

[Temerator]

Howdy ho!

I believe I have a question that many users here and/or in other forums were trying to ask, but failed to ask properly and got an irrelevant answer. I will try to be honest and clear as possible and hope there is a solution.

What do I have:
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 running Android version 7 with unlimited data plan and 15GB mobile hotspot data, a smart TV and a laptop.

What do I need:
Watch videos and surf internet on my PC monitor or bigscreen TV using my phone's unlimited plan.

The problem:
15GB mobile hotspot data aint enough to run my PC. A few Windows updates and one online game update a month about 1-6GB each( I have no clue why game makers have to push huge updates every month, like Guild Wars 2 for example or Eve Online, or simply starting Steam ) tears my mobile data plan apart, and where I live the satellite or dial-up are only means of getting internet, which aren't acceptable. due to lag and download threshold.

The workaround I tried:
Currently I have my laptop connected to TV via HDMA and by sharing my mobile hotspot able to stream YouTube and surf internet, but once 15GB hotspot data is exhausted, speeds drop down to crawling 0.80kbs instead of 4G as a punishment for going over.
So I got the Chromecast device, which is inserted into TV's HDMA port and supposed to connect with smartphone via wifi, but it appeared to me that I am required to establish a connection with another phone or device that is sharing mobile hotspot data or some kind of wifi internet and then Chromecast device can tap into it, which beats the purpose. Why can't my smartphone stream its display content directly to Chrome cast to be displayed on TV/monitor ?

The question:
Is there a microusb to HDMA converter that does not require MHL enabled device (almost all Galaxy Note models have it except Note 5 for some aggravating reason ) ?
Is there another way to connect a big screen to a smartphone to watch videos without burning precious mobile hotspot data?
Why can't I plugin microusb to USB cable from my phone into PC and use it as a mobile network card/router?
Is there a chance for an app that could resolve my issue or am I stuck burning mobile data with my hands behind my back just because mobile internet providers love to sell air?

Thanks in advice and apologize for any negativity, I really feel defeated by getting Note 5 instead of Note 3 which is MHL enabled, but isn't and option for a trade-in...

 

[SpookDroid]

Hi there,

While Chromecast does have mirroring capabilities, its main purpose is to skip the phone for streaming altogether. The Chromecast DOES need a valid WiFi connection, and the phone initiates the stream, but the Chromecast is the one doing the streaming, not the phone. So you'd still connect the Chromecast to the mobile hotspot and then the Chromecast streams from there. Your phone acts as nothing more than a remote control.

Now, for mirroring, Chromecast and phone need to be in the same WiFi network as the Chromecast (although announced at some point, it never came to be) does NOT support WiFi-Direct connections. You still need a router between the phone and the Chromecast, even for mirroring.

As for your direct-to-HDMI question, nope, there is no physical device that can convert microUSB to HDMI unless the phone supports the hardware (MHL, which your phone doesn't).

There are Miracast dongles that do support WiFi-Direct connections, thus, allowing your phone to connect to them without a router in-between. You should be able to find those in Amazon for very cheap.

As for the 'plug in phone, use data' thing, it's because carriers charge for it. You CAN root and hack the phone to try to bypass that, but usually carriers catch on to your usage pretty quickly... you are, after all, still consuming data. There are apps that allow USB data sharing, but most require root or have been blocked by many carriers/manufacturers.

For your case, it seems, the Miracast dongle with a WiFi-Direct connection should do the trick though.