I am thinking of getting a Chromecast dongle for my dad for Christmas. The casting would be from either a Surface Pro tablet or a laptop. The major issue is that my parents live outside the UK.
I am also outside the UK and I can watch UK/US TV via a (windows 8) PC connected to my TV via an HDMI cable, when I run a software VPN (PureVPN).
My question is - if he connects to, for example, iPlayer on his tablet/laptop with the VPN running - can this then be cast to the TV?

Mark

Might depend on how you "cast" the content you want to watch.

The Chromecast dongle can handle all the streaming itself so when you cast something you are simply telling it the web address of the stream and it goes off and finds it (in very crude terms). Which could be a problem if you cast something that is connected via the VPN on the laptop or whatever.

However there is an option to mirror what is being shown on the laptop or certain other devices on the Chromecast. In effect the Chromecast behaves as a wireless video link between the laptop (for example) and the TV. In that instance it is the laptop doing the streaming so the VPN issue should not be a problem.

Might be worth investigating the Chromecast website (http://www.google.co.uk/chrome/devices/chromecast/) to find out more.

Looks like the mirroring will do the trick!

Thanks,

Mark