Netflix kills casting from phones

There's people running old raspberry pis with USB hard drives.

It'll run on just about anything.

Though, you'll only be able to stream original quality, no on the fly quality changes for low speed connections and such.

NUCs (specifically Intel 8th?-gen or later) are pretty much ideal for serving Jellyfin because the Intel integrated graphics can do video transcoding and the software is actually not very demanding otherwise, so the low-power CPUs are fine.

If you were buying hardware specifically for Jellyfin (i.e. didn't want to cobble together something used), I'd suggest an N100 or N150-based NAS mini-PC like this: https://www.bee-link.com/products/beelink-me-mini-n150

I have my jellyfin running on ubuntu server on a 12 year old PC with a bunch of salvaged HDDs added in, plugged into my standard home internet. I have like 10 people I share it with. So far it's not made a noticeable dent in either the internet usage or the electric.

You absolutely can. Currently running mine off of my desktop, but it's overkill and have a few coworkers that used nucs/cheap mini PCs to setup jellyfin. Biggest thing is to make sure you have enough storage to hold all of your media, then you're fine.

You can definitely run it on those sorts of machines. You'll want plenty of storage, but apart from thst it's not too demanding if you don't load it up with very high res videos.

Mine runs on my desktop that I built in 2016. So yes. I also tested it on a Lenovo tiny (similar to a NUC) that I'm using as a self host "server" and it seemed fine but I didn't try any heavy transcoding yet.

I could do something simple like a NUC or equivalent and a tiny NAS

Literally me rn. A tiny second-hand Dell Optiplex with a 8th gen i3 and a 2TB SSD.
Maybe not the most future thinking solution since it can only fit 2.5" HDDs and NVMe's, which are both more expensive than conventional big fat HDDs, but hey, works great.
If you can find one for cheap locally and get a decent deal on a compatible drive you're set. You could stretch a Terabyte or two for a while as long as you're not trying to host Jellyfin for too many people (and are OK deleting watched Shows/Movies when you start running low)

Running on a 2016 intel processor with an old Nvidia 2070. I can watch about 3 streams on different devices at the same time.

You can probably run it off your existing hardware just using an external drive(s).

My buddy had success running it off a pi.

But he had to encode everything ahead of time as h264.

Your biggest issue self hosting JF will likely be port forwarding and the infrastructure required so external users can connect via WAN. Plex abstracts a lot of this away since you just have to open the port and Plex will access your library and broker the data between your server and the client. This now requires the server owner have a Plex Pass. The easiest way to host JF is allowing users LAN access via WireGuard (pivpn) but then you start hitting limitations to which devices they can install WireGuard on (smart tvs). I use Plex and JF, Plex for external users since I bought the lifetime pass 10 years ago, and JF as a backup as the enshittification of Plex continues full steam.

i mean i'm only using it for me and my family but i just run it on my desktop linux (and before i switched i was running it on my desktop windows with scoop install jellyfin)

But then won't your rack look a bit empty?

I just run it on my gaming tower in a container

Mine runs on a mini PC(NUC) hooked up to a hard drive array for the storage. So it's basically a tiny PC and another box full of hard drives(not required, but you'll need space somehow...). Pc was around $250.

Very easy and you don't need to set up an actual "server rack". Hell, you can use an old laptop.

Also, keep in mind you can hook the miniPC up to your TV or another PCs monitor(assuming you have extra plugs). You don't need a dedicated monitor for this. Mine uses the same monitor as my gaming PC on a different input. It basically lives on my keyboard tray tucked away running.

an entire data center

What are you on about?

They're probably saying that they run the self hosted jellyfin app and stream their own media. That's what I do, and have been doing for like a decade because netflix and other shitty streaming companies can eat a bag of dicks (except Dropout, they're real Gs) from the number of times I've gone to watch something on my watch later list only to find out they didn't get the license this quarter so 🖕to my movie night

cough hoist the flag, and watch netflix shows on jellyfin cough

I definitely understand your view and personally don't see a way to disrupt the market either. I just hope someone else finds a way.

The investors focus on growth first, then they enshittify. They were just saying it's time to start that cycle again.

Ah - there’s your problem. VC companies simply don’t do that.

They most certainly do and then either cash in by selling to the next more risk adverse VC or sells it at a loss if they believe the company failed to disrupt the market.

Ah - there’s your problem. VC companies simply don’t do that.

That is exactly what VC companies do. That's why they need the VC money. First you conquer the market at a loss. Only when users have no other options to escape to, you start squeezing them.

UX almost always takes a back seat to that

If it even makes it on the bus in the first place

Casting support is still available on older Chromecast devices or TVs that support Google Cast natively, according to Netflix’s support page, but only for subscribers on pricier ad-free plans, which start from $17.99 per month. Netflix users with an ad-supported subscription ($7.99 per month) will be unable to cast from their phones even if they own legacy Chromecast devices.

Paywall already there. Excerpt taken from the linked article.

Use desktop mode on the broswer and then just use regular screen sharing. Its how I block ads on prime video since i can still use ad block on firefox and just stream to my tv instead of using the native app on the tv with ads. I assume the same thing will work with Netflix as well. Worst case if you have a samsung device use dex to stream the device to the tv open a browser with ad block and then watch the show. Or alternarively just pirate the content and forget about the shitty streaming services

My understanding is they already made it more annoying. Your devices have to connect to the home accounts "home" wifi within a certain amount of time or that device gets locked out.

I quit Netflix when they announced the pilot program for removing account sharing in South America, and I stand by that decision to this day.

And (in the experience of hypothetical pirate goblins I've hypothetically spoken to) won't result in your ISP shutting your internet off until you agree to be nice and never do that again.

Those are so trash, can't be hoarded or easily watched on your tv. There's usually bumps along the road. My system is automatic and always works. It's been set and forget since I implemented it. All I do is plug in shows on a webui

IS IT extra code to maintain though? My understanding of casting is it effectively sends a URL to the receiving device. I would think there's a negligible amount of development spent on maintaining it. And every media app under the sun supports it, now except for Netflix. 🤦

It’s been a minute, are there Netflix subscriptions which one pays for but which still have ads?

You need the phone for any controls issued to the Chromecast like volume, subs, pause, seek, etc.. But you don't strictly need it once the video has started playing, presuming you're not using any control commands.

That and they are adding Google TV into all the old Chromecast and breaking functionality. It's like they side loaded their own app and it... Is not ideal.

I bought a Lifetime PlexPass 17 years ago for 35 bucks.

I’m good

Yup, exactly what I was thinking. They’re no longer under any obligation to make their product easy to use.

That's a nice theory. But if I use it less I may not continue paying for it. That's certainly worth considering if you're Netflix.

I had no idea. Stupid drm. My device dammit. It will play where I want it to.

But on the other hand, everyone on the planet pirates. No more shows because no more profits.