Chromecast in list of Routers?

[icebike]

Suddenly my Chromecast appears in my list of Routers on my two Android tablets, but not my phones? Is this normal? Why only on tablets?


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[AaronTV]

I've noticed this as well. And I also starting having network issues at the same time. My wifi devices lost their internet access this evening (and a couple of times since yesterday). Tonight, it started working again only after I disconnected the Chromecast. Could Chromecast suddenly showing as its own network be a sign that there is a problem?

Edit: To try and clarify this, I reconnected my Chromecast and the network was immediately broken again. I could not access the internet on any of my devices. I reset the Chromecast to factory and set it up as new. Things seem to be working now but the Chromecast is still displaying an SSID in the network list on both my laptop and phone.

 

[icebike]

I've noticed that that when chromecast appears as a router my wifi network goes down too.
All I have to do is power cycle the router. I never have to do anything to the chromecast.

My Chromecast is running Build 12940. And this is a new failure mode that showed up in the last few days. Its been fairly reliable until a few days ago.

It appears to either hijacking my router or actually acting as a router itself.

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[Devlyn16]

I think the problem here is people are conceptually refering to WI-FI connections as a list of routers. This is not entirely accurate. while ROuters do appear in a list of Wi-Fi connectiosn I do not believe they are the only piece of equipment that can appear there. In this case during setup I believe your casting device [tablet/phone] joins a direct wi-fi connection fromthe Chromecast. This is the connection that appears in your list of WI-Fi Connections. I suspect WHEN the Chromecast loses internet connection and/or power it rebroadcasts this connection in the event it needs to be reconfiugured.

 

[icebike]

Look, the only thing that should appear in the list of wifi routers is something that broadcasts its SSID and nothing but routers or access points has any business broadcasting an SSID.

Otherwise you would see every phone, computer, and tablet in that list.

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[gone down south]

Roku and Sonos players show up on my list all tie time.


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[Devlyn16]

Look, the only thing that should appear in the list of wifi routers is something that broadcasts its SSID and nothing but routers or access points has any business broadcasting an SSID.

Otherwise you would see every phone, computer, and tablet in that list.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

I willfully admit i am not knowledgeable about these things. However I'm pretty sure the Chromecast emits a ssid during set up with the Chromecast app. Since the ssid changes when you name the device[ ChromeCast XXX to ChromeCastLivingroom] I feel it is logical to suspect that the Chromecast broadcasts its ssid when it loses connection the the Wi-Fi lab.

As you mentioned it appears on your tablets and not your phone, I am willing to guess you have used the Chromecast app on your tablets but not your phones. An interesting experiment might be to use your phone to rename the chromecast and see if it then appears in your list of wi-fi connections.

 

[icebike]

With 10 wireless devices in the house, the chromecast only appears in the list of Access points when we start having wifi problems. It never appears when it is working properly or when we are actually using it.
It doesn't show up in any wifi scanner.

So it seems pretty conclusive that it is not broadcasting its name as an SSID when working properly.

Furthermore, when it is misbehaving, and shows up in the access point list, anyone can connect to It without a password. Google isn't that dumb.

Since it only shows up when it takes down my entire wifi, I have to assume it's a bug and not by design. It's not a router. It has no business broadcasting AN SSID.

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[Devlyn16]

OK as I stated it appears to me that during initial setup the chromecast creates a peer to peer WiFi network between the Chromecast and the device with the setup app. How could it achieve this without emitting a ssid?

I submit it is supposed to emit a ssid when it loses Connection to the wi-fi router.

I further submit that if you use a Wi-Fi analyser app you will see [when the Chromecast is not emitting a ssid and is connected to the Wi-Fi network] that if you power off the Wi-Fi router the Chromecast will begin emitting a ssid. The reason I submit this is because I just tested it.

Simply put BY DESIGN the chromecast emits a ssid so it can pair with the Chromecast app. BY DESIGN after set up when the Chromecast becomes disconnected from the wi-fi router it emits a ssid so it can be paired with the app again if necessary.

I'm suspect this is done, BY DESIGN, so the chromecast can be moved between multiple wi-fi routers and retain the previous settings/passwords.

To be clear it doesn't broadcast a ssid when it it is connected to the Wi-Fi router be cause BY DESIGN it isn't supposed to. THAT is the security method [ although a rather limited one], while it is connected to your LAN only devices on the LAN can cast to it.

During a router outage what prevents someone from hijacking your ChromeCast is the the code that appears on the TV during set up.

 

[icebike]

Look, you can find a lot of things on a network without having them broadcast an SSID. Printers, cameras, other devices.

You don't broadcast an SSID to find a network. You don't broadcast an SSID to be found on the network.

The only time you broadcast an SSID is to advertising Routing services.

You need to go read up on how wifi routers work.

You can propose all you want, but that doesn't make it work that way.

Furthermore if I intentionally shut down my router Chromecast does not appear in the list of networks.

It only does this occasionally, and shortly afterwards my router locks up.




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[Devlyn16]

Clearly I am failing to convey my posistion to you. I Still maintain the Chromecast sets up its own WAN for pairing with the Device running the Chromecast App.

At this point we will have to agree to disagree until a 3rd party comes in and tests. I firmly believe the vast majority will replicate my results.

 

[icebike]

Clearly I am failing to convey my posistion to you. I Still maintain the Chromecast sets up its own WAN for pairing with the Device running the Chromecast App.

At this point we will have to agree to disagree until a 3rd party comes in and tests. I firmly believe the vast majority will replicate my results.

I fully understand what you are saying, but I don't believe it.

Otherwise it would be broadcasting its SSID ALL. The. Time.
Because, how else would it know WHEN you might choose to launch the App, or
WHEN you might choose to CAST a browser window?

 

[Devlyn16]

If I am correct then the chromecast doesn't need nor should it be broadcasting it's ”pairing/setup network with SSID” all the time. I imagine a simple if / then statement would suffice

Much the same way my tablet knows when it has lost connection to the Wi-Fi Lan I'd imagine the Chromecast to be capable of determining the same thing.

So IF there is no Wi-Fi connection from the router to the Chromecast THEN Chromecast turns on and broadcasts its own ”pairing/setup connection” with SSID.

 

[Scimitar2]

With 10 wireless devices in the house, the chromecast only appears in the list of Access points when we start having wifi problems. It never appears when it is working properly or when we are actually using it.
It doesn't show up in any wifi scanner.

So it seems pretty conclusive that it is not broadcasting its name as an SSID when working properly.

Furthermore, when it is misbehaving, and shows up in the access point list, anyone can connect to It without a password. Google isn't that dumb.

Since it only shows up when it takes down my entire wifi, I have to assume it's a bug and not by design. It's not a router. It has no business broadcasting AN SSID.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

I've observed this behavior as well. It's happened to me a couple of times and am starting to get concerned about security. One time it happened (I saw my chromecast in the available wifi network list on my phone when I did the wifi scan), I deliberately disconnected from my wifi network (turned off wifi) and connected to my "chromecast network" (which appeared as an open network) successfully. I was able to use the browser (Chrome) and browse the internet. I checked the phone wifi settings and it displayed that I was indeed connected to the "chromecast network" instead of my network SSID. Now, disclaimer here, I am far (and I mean fa-a-a-a-r) from being an expert on network, wifi and all that stuff. That's why I am on here so I can figure out what exactly is going on. I'm just concerned that when it is visible out there then anyone can really connect to it and without needing a password since it is advertised as an open network.

Like today, when I got home from work, my router was acting up again and when I scanned for available networks on my phone my chromecast was visible again as an open network. And when I checked on it, there it was blinking away like it was streaming movies or something. I have no idea how long it was doing that before I got home. I disconnected it from the TV and power-cycled the router and everything was back to normal after that. I couldn't see it in the available network list after that. But I am concerned that when it is visible then anyone can just use it. I'm just hoping that when it was blinking away earlier it was just receiving an update and not because someone connected to it as a wifi hotspot. It is just so disconcerting to see it as an open network where everybody can just connect to it. I guess I just need some reassurance that it isn't so.

 

[thatguy97]

I hope this doesn't happen when i get mine I don't want a 35 buck streaming device to break down my $200 WiFi router lol

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Devlyn16]

From Android central's review of the ChromeCast Chromecast review | Android Central under the Setting up the Chromecast section

Chromecast will act as a wireless access point, and your computer or Android device will connect and get things going.

So I still maintain your Chromecast appearing in your list of Wi-Fi is normal, however if it appears as an active connection that means it thinks it does not have a connection to the internet and needs to go through setup gain [or have the router to the intenet rebooted]

 

[MurkyBanana]

Ah, glad I found this thread. I was wondering why the heck the name of my chromecast device was popping up while I was having internet connectivity issues. Was kinda freaking out as to why there was an open network with my device name broadcasting.

I must say I had a good laugh at the guy complaining about a device having no business broadcasting an SSID and telling the other guy to read up on how WiFi works. All this device is doing from what I can tell is creating an ad-hoc wireless network to connect to in case it needs to be re-configured to connect to a different WiFi router or access point. This is a part of how WiFi works. A WiFi device that is not a router can indeed broadcast an SSID and connect to another WiFi device.

Also, this may help explain WiFi connection issues with the Chromecast: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2494587

 

[richiesemo]

My wifi network has been going down when casting. Has anyone with the same issue found any solutions?

 

[Myrlendingen]

Ok, this thread is getting old now, but I had this problem myself, both my chromecasts showed up in my WiFi Analyzer, although with an invisible SSID as long as the router is up (ie the chromecasts are connected to the router). Interestingly, they both "shadow" the router in the sense that they always follow the router frequency. Their signal strengths confirms that they are really broadcasting. I have had problems with my devices tending to have connectivity issues with my 5G base station and I suspect it is the chromecasts interfering.

I found the solution was to turm off the chromecasts' Guest mode. This mode lets house guests connect without being on your WiFi, but instead using a pin to connect to the chromecast directly. Apparently this requires the chromecast to expose a WiFi to the guest devices, and since it is also connected to my router at the router's frequency it seems natural that the exposed guest wifis lie on that same frequency.

I now turned off guest mode, my 5G WiFi is now alone on that frequency, and I look forward to see if it improves the overall stability.

 

[Cat Box]

I ran into this problem with my Google Home Mini. Apparently the SSID is a "set up beacon" for when the device (Chromecast, Home, or otherwise) feels like it needs to be set up again: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/chromecast/v11k1QrqLB4/FecMazwIAQAJ . I agree that it's a very poor way to handle the process and seems to be interfering with the Wifi connection for other devices in the house (including my wifi-enabled PC).