Best network for ATV 3

[PaulKemp]

Hi,

Since its has 100mbit, is it better to use 5ghz wireless network? Its a little bit choppy whem streaming form the macbook air. Thanks

[Mrbobb]

The best network for an ATV is an ethernet cable.

Failing that, I recommend a QOS-enable WIFI router.

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by Mrbobb

The best network for an ATV is an ethernet cable.

Failing that, I recommend a QOS-enable WIFI router.

Second that. Based on my (pretty strict) comparisons, measurements and benchmarks, the ATV3 has a particularly bad Wi-Fi unit compared to Apple's other products. Cabling should always be preferred to avoid stuttering / lengthy pre-buffering.

[angelsguardian]

With a 2006 iMac serving via gigabit to an Airport Extreme then wirelessly to 2 ATV3's on different floors in an old granite, thick walled house I never, ever get stutter problems. I strongly disagree it's bad wireless setup.

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by angelsguardian

With a 2006 iMac serving via gigabit to an Airport Extreme then wirelessly to 2 ATV3's on different floors in an old granite, thick walled house I never, ever get stutter problems. I strongly disagree it's bad wireless setup.

Well, my unit may be a dud, then. Compared to other Apple products (iPad 3, late 2009 17" MBP etc.) it always produced way, sometimes orders of magnitude worse results over Wi-Fi (but not over cabling, where it has absolutely no problems streaming videos).

[X5-599]

Originally Posted by angelsguardian

With a 2006 iMac serving via gigabit to an Airport Extreme then wirelessly to 2 ATV3's on different floors in an old granite, thick walled house I never, ever get stutter problems. I strongly disagree it's bad wireless setup.

Then how can it be that Airplaying videos from my iPad3 to ATV3 always drops the connection! Even if the file is just 45secs long?! It's really annoying and I suspect the WIFI connection. Anything else wouldn't make sense to me.
The AirportExtreme is in the same room btw. Both bought last month.

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by X5-599

Then how can it be that Airplaying videos from my iPad3 to ATV3 always drops the connection! Even if the file is just 45secs long?! It's really annoying and I suspect the WIFI connection. Anything else wouldn't make sense to me.
The AirportExtreme is in the same room btw. Both bought last month.

Does the same happen if you use a cable between the router and the ATV3?

[X5-599]

Originally Posted by Menneisyys2

Does the same happen if you use a cable between the router and the ATV3?

Don't know yet. I'm only home on weekends so I can't test this now. I'm going to, though.

[Skoopman]

My parents stream videos to our ATV3, which is 2 rooms away through a few really, really thick walls and we never had a problem. I even get 54 Mbit/s on 5GHz. I don't think the wireless unit in the ATV is bad, it might depend on the router. We use a Time Capsule.

[clarkie604]

I recently tried using a new router/modem combo provided by my internet provider and had all kinds of issues with my Apple TV on my WIFI network. AirPlay would hardly work and videos were stuttery and slow loading. I switched back to my old modem and everything started working better immediately. So I tend to think your issues might have more to do with your WIFI modem.

On the other hand, I do like to have a wired connection because everything is speedier. I don't have any issues once a video starts playing, but menus for the content on my computer load significantly faster with a wired connection. I see little difference with Netflix/Hulu.

[phrehdd]

I suppose everyone will have different experiences and these are mine -

Direct cabling is the best (Ethernet)
then
Bridged Airport Extremes with cable to devices from either.
then
typical wireless.

The above reflects (for me) typical file usage, Internet and some streaming along with a NAS in the network.

If the home inherent electrical wiring is optimal, powerline type connectivity will be superior often to wireless that has certain types of interference.

There are lots of reasons why wireless can have issues with some devices and not others and this can vary from interference, setting up correct channel for optimum throughput via wireless and so on.

[X5-599]

Originally Posted by clarkie604

...So I tend to think your issues might have more to do with your WIFI modem.
...

Originally Posted by Skoopman

... I don't think the wireless unit in the ATV is bad, it might depend on the router. We use a Time Capsule.
...

My router is a new Airport Extreme. I don't know how it's configured since my brother set it up. Is 5GHz the default nowadays? Anyway, we'll see how a wired connection works out.
But still, it is peculiar that noone seems to have the same kind of problem. Everyone always reports "stuttering". But my issue is the dropped connection.

[rbrian]

My Apple TV3 was fine when it was in the same room as my router (a BT Home Hub 3) and my Mac mini. When my roof started leaking near my TV, I dragged the whole TV unit through to my bedroom, about 5 metres and two thick wooden doors away from the router. Now, it will play for a few minutes, and then drop out. My Air, in the same room but a couple of metres further away, has no problem at all Home Sharing from the mini. It's either a poor wireless card in the Apple TV 3, or a bizarre networking issue that only affects the Apple TV 3, which comes to the same thing - the Apple TV 3 is the odd one out.

[Skoopman]

Originally Posted by X5-599

My router is a new Airport Extreme. I don't know how it's configured since my brother set it up. Is 5GHz the default nowadays? Anyway, we'll see how a wired connection works out.
But still, it is peculiar that noone seems to have the same kind of problem. Everyone always reports "stuttering". But my issue is the dropped connection.

Configure your Airport Extreme to make a separate 5GHz network and connect your ATV to it. You might have some interference on the 2.4GHz network.

Also: I recommend to everybody with wifi problems the free app "NetSpot". Install it, turn it on and check the wifi coverage in your home. Maybe you can discover some problems with it.

[X5-599]

Originally Posted by Skoopman

Configure your Airport Extreme to make a separate 5GHz network and connect your ATV to it. You might have some interference on the 2.4GHz network.

Also: I recommend to everybody with wifi problems the free app "NetSpot". Install it, turn it on and check the wifi coverage in your home. Maybe you can discover some problems with it.

I can try. But I think I will run an ethernet cable first. I've always preferred wire to air connections anyway. There's just more drilling involved

[Lampmeister]

Mine is connected wirelessly using an Airport Extreme. I've had no problems at all, with no buffering lag to speak of.

[JoeBlow74]

Originally Posted by PaulKemp

Hi,

Since its has 100mbit, is it better to use 5ghz wireless network? Its a little bit choppy whem streaming form the macbook air. Thanks

Wired will always be better than wireless. Wireless will never beat wired when it comes to latency. Period! There is so much overhead and interference with wireless that you will never get a good solid connection. Just run the wire and you will be happy.

[Skoopman]

Originally Posted by X5-599

I can try. But I think I will run an ethernet cable first. I've always preferred wire to air connections anyway. There's just more drilling involved

Sure, if you have the possibility to use a wired connection, go for it. I just don't want to lay out a 15 meter long cable through 2 walls Everybody who has an ATV and a router in the same room should go for the wired config.

[steve-p]

Originally Posted by Skoopman

Sure, if you have the possibility to use a wired connection, go for it. I just don't want to lay out a 15 meter long cable through 2 walls

That's where powerline adapters come to the rescue. Also if you have a bunch of devices in your AV cabinet that need wireless or wired network like I do, you can hide a multiport switch behind it which is fed from the powerline adapter. Then you can cable everything in there, which frees up the wireless for other things.

[boomhower]

Wired is far and away the best. This is the reason I had my internet modem placed by my TV. That way everything can be hardwired via ethernet without the need to try and get video over wireless. (sat box, PS3, Apple TV, WD Media Player, Freenas Server, etc.) For a while I had run out of ports on my router and ran the aTV wirelessly and the Airplay was flakey, sometimes it would work great and sometimes it wouldn't do well at all. And that is 5 feet away from a $180 Linksys E4200 router.

Do you have any other items that need internet access in your media area? If so get your internet hardlined in there. An electrician can run an ethernet cord for a lot less than you would probably imagine. Or the second option, call you cable company and have them move the modem. Just make up a reasonable reason and they will usually do it for free. If you have a bunch of stuff you'll need a switch too. I use this one and it works great. Just plug in a line from your router and then all your appliances, very simple.

With so much of our media coming from the internet and especially with uses like AirPlay wireless is being pushed beyond it's limit. If 802.11AC catches on it could be a solution to ethernet but it's not here yet, and even with it, I'd still put in the effort to be hardwired.

[bushido]

my apple tv works about the same on my 100mbit connection as it does on my parents 6000 dsl with its router sitting one floor up

everything starts almost instantly

[Ace1024]

Depending on the quality of your router, distance and obstacles, generally the ATV3 should be fine in playing most files wirelessly. However, if you plan to stream blu-ray rips, you pretty much have no choice but to hard-wire. Still, it beats the WDTV where even hard-wiring isn't suffice (only USB will work).

My wireless router in real world performance is faster than 100mbit (I usually get around 150mbit on Netgear WNDR3800), yet on the ATV it syncs about 35-40mbit. Great device, but wireless capabilities aren't it's strongpoint.

[boomhower]

Originally Posted by Ace1024

Depending on the quality of your router, distance and obstacles, generally the ATV3 should be fine in playing most files wirelessly. However, if you plan to stream blu-ray rips, you pretty much have no choice but to hard-wire. Still, it beats the WDTV where even hard-wiring isn't suffice (only USB will work).

My wireless router in real world performance is faster than 100mbit (I usually get around 150mbit on Netgear WNDR3800), yet on the ATV it syncs about 35-40mbit. Great device, but wireless capabilities aren't it's strongpoint.

They have different versions of the WDTV. The very first one didn't have ethernet, the rest do. Mine does and it works great. It's an older one so the interface is ugly as sin but the functionality is wonderful, it'll play pretty much anything.

[PaulKemp]

Originally Posted by JoeBlow74

Wired will always be better than wireless. Wireless will never beat wired when it comes to latency. Period! There is so much overhead and interference with wireless that you will never get a good solid connection. Just run the wire and you will be happy.

Thanks. Ive tried both and didn't see any clear difference.

Im still not happy with the performance when streaming from any of the computers. Its not as good as it was with my WDTV Live. There just seems to be lower framerate somehow. Animated shows looks good, but a show like Modern Family with a very 'moving' camera looks choppy compaired to watching it on the computer. I have a very very good 5ghz router, and the best wireless performance I could hope for. The ATV is wired.

Has somebody tried airplay from a macbook, wired vs wireless and seen a performance increase with the wire?

[gmanist1000]

Originally Posted by PaulKemp

Hi,

Since its has 100mbit, is it better to use 5ghz wireless network? Its a little bit choppy whem streaming form the macbook air. Thanks

I've been using my 5GHz band since I got the ATV2, and it has been working flawlessly.