Apple TV always disconnects from network

[ponchomoran]

My Apple TV is connected to my wireless network and if I dont use it for a day or two, when it wakes up it forgets the network it was connected to and I have to configure it again and enter the Wep key and all, it wouldnt be such a pain if it wasnt for the key that is 18 characters long. Why cant it remember the network like any other device? Anybody have this problem? I checked my router and couldnt find anything that could make it disconnect automatically. What should I check for?
Thanks

 

[draper3000]

always losing connection

(If you managed to fix it I'd love to know how you did it)

I'm having much the same problem. Used to be exactly the same problem

I'm now always losing connection after about 5 to 10 minutes of using homeshare and films on itunes on my macbook.

I've done a massive amount of forum searching looking for any nuggets of actual helpful advice.

In no particular order:

- Check that you are not getting interference from other electronic devices. Log into your router (google how to do it for your particular model) and change the wifi channel and see if it helps. Watch out for things like cordless phones, digital receivers, microwaves even dimmer light switches can interfere. Try moving your router if possible or items away from it. Or (I'm gonna try to tonight) move your apple tv away from a set-top box or similar.

- give your macbook/apple tv a fixed ip address. (google how to, quite simple)

- Do a restore in the general settings on your apple tv. There is not supposed to be any new firmware yet, but this does help a lot of people.

- When turning on homeshare on your itunes, don't press the done button. Lots of people stay connected a lot longer.

- Delete your network settings on your macbook, open keychain, delete passwords for network in there, open disk utility do a 'Repair disk permissions' on your main Mac hard-drive. Reboot and re-eneter your network settings as normal.

- I've done all the above and more, and my apple tv no longer forgets the password, but I still lose connection after about 5 - 10 mins of homeshare use. After over a week I'm really considering sending it back.

Also getting an inverted screen now and again, but supposedly apple are aware of that problem and are looking into it...

 

[cerote]

Same problem.

Crappy that in order to watch it I have to close iTunes and reopen it in order for the AppleTV to see the shared library again.

 

[benoitgphoto]

My Apple TV is connected to my wireless network and if I dont use it for a day or two, when it wakes up it forgets the network it was connected to and I have to configure it again and enter the Wep key and all, it wouldnt be such a pain if it wasnt for the key that is 18 characters long. Why cant it remember the network like any other device? Anybody have this problem? I checked my router and couldnt find anything that could make it disconnect automatically. What should I check for?
Thanks

I don't have that issue with my Apple Tv so I can't talk about it BUT I had that issue with my MacBook recently. Short story : In my house, I have my iMac and ATV in the basement and the MacBook upstairs. I had the AEBS (previous generation) set at 802.11n 2.4GHz and very often, I was loosing the network connexion on my MaBook only. I tried all the things described earlier with no success. For some reason, either the 2.4GHz band or a device in the neighborhood was causing interference with my MacBook. I sold my AEBS and got the latest generation with simultaneous dual band and since I set-up the MacBook on the 5GHz band, it never lost the connexion.

All that to say that maybe you have interference either from a device or the load of 2.4GHz in your neighborhood. Try to get a dual band router and use the 5GHz band as it has more channels and few people use it compared to the 2.4 GHz one. I'm not an expert in wi-fi networks but that's what solved my issue.

 

[bobsentell]

I don't know how to help on that one. My internet router is behind my TV so it made more sense for me to hardwire my ATV2 to the router. But it shouldn't be losing those settings. That stuff is usually saved in non-volatile memory.

This could be a design flaw. You may want to go to Apple's website and post a support ticket. That way they could fix it in the next OS update.

 

[cerote]

Some suggestions I have seen that have worked for this issue has been to do a system restore to the AppleTV from the menu. It will wipe and reinstall the OS.

Have not had a chance to try because I am stuck at work. But will test when I get home.

 

[rurocking]

My Apple TV is connected to my wireless network and if I dont use it for a day or two, when it wakes up it forgets the network it was connected to and I have to configure it again and enter the Wep key and all, it wouldnt be such a pain if it wasnt for the key that is 18 characters long. Why cant it remember the network like any other device? Anybody have this problem? I checked my router and couldnt find anything that could make it disconnect automatically. What should I check for?
Thanks

I have the exact problem but it just started after I changed my wireless router. The day before my Apple TV was shipped my D-Link DIR-655 died. I had an old Linksys WRT54GS that was still fully setup and put that online and all worked great except for only 802.11G and the D-Link was a 802.11N. When the Apple TV came in I connected to the wireless and it all worked fine. I ordered a new D-Link DIR-655 and that took 2 weeks to come in. During those 2 weeks the Apple TV was happy and stayed connected. When the D-Link came in I set it all up and connected the Apple TV to it via wireless again. Now overnight it looses the connection to the wireless and I have to re-enter the settings each night that I want to use it.

The Linksys is really old and I would expect that a much newer router like the D-Link would be able to maintain a connection easier.

Yes my Apple TV is sitting on top of my Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD PVR, but everything in my case points to a router issue not handling interference very well.

 

[rurocking]

Try to get a dual band router and use the 5GHz band as it has more channels and few people use it compared to the 2.4 GHz one.

How do you force an Apple TV to use 5GHz?

 

[benoitgphoto]

How do you force an Apple TV to use 5GHz?

It's automatic (speaking of ATV 2). Just connect it to the 5GHz network and voilà.

For a non simultaneous dual band, but a router capable of 5GHz, you just have to configure the router to 5GHz.

For a simultaneous dual band, you will have 2 different networks with their respective names...for example : Airport 2.4 GHz and Airport 5 GHz. You just have to connect the ATV to the 5GHz one...

 

[goobot]

Mine doesn't do that. Tho when I reboot it does.

 

[duck33]

Just picked up my ATV on Tuesday haven't really had a chance to play with it. Having said that, I've noticed 2 days in a row now that when I turn my ATV on it says "Not Connected to Network"

Just throwing this out there, but might it have anything to do with itunes not being on? The reason I say that is I just turned my ATV on with my Macbook Pro closed and once I entered in my password on ATV I could hear what appears to be the Macbook rebooting (even though it didn't)

Oh, mine is on my 5Ghz network. Also, trying a "fresh" restore on ATV we'll see what happens.

 

[T4R06]

Here is my solution.. It did the same thing last night and I got crazy about this problem.

If your apple tv was plug-in to power surge protector together with your home theater power. Do this.. Unplugged the surge protector for at least 10 secs and plug it again. Basically you are resetting your whole system not just the apple tv.

Everything will work again. This did the trick on me.

Hope this will help