A U-Verse Customer’s Guide to Making Chromecast Work

I don’t have much to complain about — particularly when it comes to technology — but when my Chromecast first arrived I must admit I was disappointed I couldn’t stream things like baseball or soccer right away, as I hit a bit of a technical snag. In my mind, the universal plug-n-play (or UPnP) seemed fairly straightforward. While I’m not a network engineer, I pride myself on my ability to get something up and running, particularly something as seemingly simply as Chromecast. To see a picture like this was immensely frustrating:

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The fault wasn’t with Google’s product nor my internet connection or speed, but rather it was an issue with my specific type of internet connection. I’m one of the 634,000 new AT&T U-verse members who joined in 2013. Again it wasn’t a corporation’s fault, but rather blame fell to myself. I failed to do my homework on Chromecast’s compatibility with non-UPnP routers/gateways, specifically those using 2Wire systems, in my case U-verse. Google does an excellent job of listing compatible routers/gateways and AT&T of course has all of their U-verse system information conveniently posted on their gateways. In my specific case I dealt with a Pace 2Wire system.

The basic guide for initial Chromecast is very user friendly and I’m confident anyone with a fundamental understanding of electronics will have no issues whatsoever. For fellow 2Wire users, the setup is a bit more in-depth. Once you plug the Chromecast dongle into the back of an open HDMI port, you’ll have some options. The most important thing here, and I cannot stress this enough, is make sure you write down/screenshot/snapchat/instagram/whatever your Chromecast’s MAC Address. It will be in an XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX format. Once you do, you should see a screen something like this:

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This is where it all went sideways for me on my initial setup and I hope this guide helps you avoid a similar situation. In order for your 2Wire system to allow Chromecast to receive signal, we’ll have to give it permission to do so. We’ll go to the default gateway for your 2Wire system and enable it manually. In the address bar copy/paste “http://192.168.1.254/” without the quotes. At this point you should see a page with your network name, password, etc. My network ID is Futurama themed because why shouldn’t it be? The only thing nerdier than that would be if I named it Serenity…hmm…no, I won’t change it. But now I know my next network name!

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Once you’ve loaded the default gateway above, click the Settings tab. In the sub headers within the Setting tab, you should see LAN as an option. Click LAN and then within LAN, click Wireless. While in LAN settings, scroll down and second to the bottom the option MAC Filtering appears. Click the Edit Blocked/Allowed Device List

A click path would be default gateway > Settings > LAN > Wireless > *scroll down* > MAC Filtering.

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Now that we’re into the guts of your gateway, you should see your other devices. I’ve purposefully erased my MAC Addresses for what should be obvious reasons. Remember that critical MAC Address you probably snapped a picture of? We need to add that, in proper format, to the Add New MAC Address to List Manually box.  The default gateway page should refresh and give you a big green check mark, meaning you’re good to go!

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You’ve successfully given Chromecast access to your gateway, you’re free to enjoy! As if my nerd status was every really in doubt, here is the latest GSL (the best StarCraft II league in the world) playing on my TV, casted from my computer via the Chromecast extension. Be it eSports or real sports, you can now push your laptop/iOS/Android device screen to your TV via Chromecast, even if you have a 2Wire system.

(Header photo via EricaJoy)





You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.

16 Comments
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Dave Thiel
9 years ago

Thanks for all the help. I never would have figured this out without your thorough instructions. Well done.

Jon Wright
9 years ago

This is a great write up. Very easy to follow along with it in another window and your done. Many thanks for taking the time to write this up.

Connie
9 years ago

How do I get the MAC address if I saw these instructions too late?

Ernest Miller
9 years ago

Thank you so much! I never would have been able to get my chromecast setup without your help!

cathy
9 years ago

How do i find that number? I already passed that part. It’s just searching for my router now

Andy
9 years ago

I found the number on the LAN/Status screen under “Devices”. It’s the first LAN screen that appears when you click the LAN tab. There, it showed a list of all wireless devices using my router and the Chromecast device was there even though it didn’t initially setup properly. Next to the device is the MAC Address with all the colons in it (i.e. xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx). I typed that number in the “Enter MAC Address” box and hit submit and it recognized it. There was also a “Save” option at the end and I clicked that, but don’t know if it was necessary.

Katie
9 years ago

I am manually entered the MAC Address and it is now asking for a password? What password are they referring to?

Austin
9 years ago
Reply to  Katie

Katie, you can find the password on the side of your Uverse router labeled “device key”.

Tajinder Singh
9 years ago

I added the mac address to allowed list but still it won’t find my chromecast using chromecast app on windows 7 or windows 8. I can cast youtube from my iphone just fine.

Tajinder Singh
9 years ago

While chromecast app does not find the chromecast, I was able to cast the chrome browser once the plugin was installed in chrome. On my company provided laptop, I was able to cast after disabling firewall.

cs3
9 years ago

Can someone explain how a device like chromecast is any better than simply purchasing a $10 cord to output your pc/laptop/phone to your TV?

Linda Evans
9 years ago

I appreciate these instructions as they seem very precise …but the first screen I see does not appear to be your example with tabs Home/Services/Settings/Sitemap

William Keasling
9 years ago
Reply to  Linda Evans

I agree with Linda Evans the first screen I see does not have the tabs as described in the instructions. Especially it does not have the “home” drop down menu which seems to be an important part of the instructions.

Jack
9 years ago

Got the setup screen first try but no mac address. Second time it updated and then automatically connected to a neighbor. Buttton reset changes nothing. Doubly stymied.

Jill
9 years ago

Oh man thank you! I failed a uverse tech support chat trying to make my new chromecast work and it works like a charm with your help! Now to watch World War Z .

Square
9 years ago

I just wanted to say thanks. I had already tried this once with no luck. Come to find out that I forgot to capitalize the letters in my Chromecasts MAC address. Apparently that DOES make i difference.