Channels DVR while Traveling with no Internet

I have Channels DVR running on a RaspberryPi using Channels Plus at home with the usual setup and full internet access.

I want to take my RaspberryPi/Channels DVR and Firestick on my motorhome where I will create a WiFi network but with NO internet access. I only want to play already recorded content. Can this work?

You could experiment with this scenario at home. Unplug your router's connection to the Internet and fire up the Channels app and see what happens.

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I tried disconnecting my home internet, as suggested by VTTom, and here's what I found:

My initial concern was that Channels DVR app on my firestick would not be able to validate my subscription. but it turns out that was the least of my problems. The firestick will not do ANYTHING without an internet connection. Same for Apple TV.

My next thought was to use the Channels DVR built in web server. To keep my number of devices to a minimum, I decided to try running a WEB browser on the Raspberry Pi along with Channels DVR. I was running Channels DVR on Raspbian Lite, so I re-installed on the full version of Raspbian and used the Chrome browser on the Pi connected to the Channels DVR Web server, also on the Pi.

This worked, but it must have been too much of a load for my Raspberry Pi model 3; playback was choppy. So I went back to Raspbian Lite and plan to use a separate laptop or tablet to run the Web browser.

I believe you can still launch apps via Settings > Apps if you find Channels and click Launch

Thanks tmm1 for the suggestion. I was able to run the Channels DVR app on the firestick without internet via the settings menu as you said - it was a few menus down but I found it.

At first I still couldn't play any recordings - the Channels DVR server seemed to be preoccupied with attempts to access the internet, causing playback to fail.

However, I found that if I PAUSED all of my Series Passes (scheduled recordings), the server behaved normally and playback worked fine!

I tried this on a camping trip to a remote area of New Mexico last week. Using a Pi with the Channels image, couldn't get past the need for Channels to find a NTP server.

If you used a device with a real-time clock (RTC), then this wouldn't be an issue. I'd recommend looking into that if you plan to use this device without internet. (Or, use a standard image of Raspberry Pi OS, and install Channels following the standard Linux instructions.)

Yeah, I'm building Raspbian image later today if parts come in. I've been trying to have several little odds and ends, data wise, in the camper off grid. The vision is starting to gel. :slight_smile: