AirPlay internet-video to Apple TV that's not connected to internet, possible?

[JoeyCloverfield]

Is it possible to AirPlay Netflix, YouTube, or any non-local video from an iPhone to an Apple TV that's not connected to the internet? In other words, can the Apple TV be configured to use the iPhone's cellular data when AirPlay-ing?

I was hoping I could AirPlay Netflix to my TV from my phone since I don't have home internet.

 

[apunkrockmonk]

I just turned off my wifi router and gave it a try.

It allowed me to select the Apple TV via AirPlay but with both YouTube and Netflix it gave me a playback error.

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

I just turned off my wifi router and gave it a try.

It allowed me to select the Apple TV via AirPlay but with both YouTube and Netflix it gave me a playback error.

Yeah, I get the same thing. I was hoping I was doing something wrong. Thanks for giving it a try.

 

[apunkrockmonk]

Yeah, I get the same thing. I was hoping I was doing something wrong. Thanks for giving it a try.

No problem, another thing that may be worth trying if you have the hardware lying around already, no guarantees it'll work...

Setup a wifi router at the location even though you won't have anything to plug into the router's WAN port.

Connect the Apple TV to the wifi network, use DHCP.

Connect the iPhone you'll be using to the wifi network using DHCP as well. Make one change on the iPhone however, set the gateway to 127.0.0.1 (localhost).

If it still doesn't work go on the Apple TV and somewhere in settings there's an option to automatically try to AirPlay using the Apple TV's internet connection instead of the phone's. Disable it.

Let me know how it turns out if you give it a try. I know the above works when Airplaying audio to a WANless Airport Express via cellular data.

 

[Abazigal]

Is it possible to AirPlay Netflix, YouTube, or any non-local video from an iPhone to an Apple TV that's not connected to the internet? In other words, can the Apple TV be configured to use the iPhone's cellular data when AirPlay-ing?

I was hoping I could AirPlay Netflix to my TV from my phone since I don't have home internet.

If you have the 2013 Apple TV model, the new update enables a feature called peer-to-peer airplay, which allows you to airplay content directly from your ios device to your Apple TV via bluetooth and wifi.

I tried this the other day. My Apple TV was plugged in to my TV but not connected to the internet. I streamed a youtube video on my iPhone and airplayed it to the ATV without any problems. If anything, the quality of the video stream actually seemed better and smoother, presumably because the removable of the router as an intermediary improves the compression process somehow.

So yes to your answer, but only if the model number is A1469. If the model number is A1427 (indicating that it is the 2012 model), it will not work.

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

No problem, another thing that may be worth trying if you have the hardware lying around already, no guarantees it'll work...

Setup a wifi router at the location even though you won't have anything to plug into the router's WAN port.

Connect the Apple TV to the wifi network, use DHCP.

Connect the iPhone you'll be using to the wifi network using DHCP as well. Make one change on the iPhone however, set the gateway to 127.0.0.1 (localhost).

If it still doesn't work go on the Apple TV and somewhere in settings there's an option to automatically try to AirPlay using the Apple TV's internet connection instead of the phone's. Disable it.

Let me know how it turns out if you give it a try. I know the above works when Airplaying audio to a WANless Airport Express via cellular data.

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely try this the next time I have free time and update with results.

Edit: You mentioned cellular data is used when AirPlaying audio with the above method. I actually already see this behavior using iOS 8's peer-to-peer AirPlay. Nonetheless, I'll give it a try and report back.



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So yes to your answer, but only if the model number is A1469. If the model number is A1427 (indicating that it is the 2012 model), it will not work.

I decided to finally get an Apple TV based on this feature. I do have the A1469 version, I see the Apple TV on my iPhone 6 without connecting to the same network (neither devices is connected to any network, in fact), but I just get an error with YouTube, Netflix, and any non-local videos.

 

[Abazigal]

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely try this the next time I have free time and update with results.

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I decided to finally get an Apple TV based on this feature. I do have the A1469 version and only get an error with YouTube, Netflix, and any non-local videos.

Weird. I could have sworn that YouTube worked for me the last time I tested it. If it still doesn't work, possible to get some sort of refund. I am very sorry if I caused you to make a purchase which was useless and ended up wasting your money.

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

Weird. I could have sworn that YouTube worked for me the last time I tested it. If it still doesn't work, possible to get some sort of refund. I am very sorry if I caused you to make a purchase which was useless and ended up wasting your money.

I'm sorry, what I meant was that I had decided to get an Apple TV when I heard a wifi connection would no longer be necessary, back in June. I finally pulled the trigger recently but couldn't get it to work with internet-video, hence this thread.

I'm still hoping I'm doing something wrong. Thanks for the help.

 

[Abazigal]

I'm sorry, what I meant was that I had decided to get an Apple TV back when I heard a wifi connection would no longer be necessary, back in June. I finally pulled the trigger recently but couldn't get it to work with internet-video, hence this thread.



I'm still hoping I'm doing something wrong. Thanks for the help.

My Apple TV is still in school. I will test it again one of these days and see if I can get it to work, then maybe we can compare notes again.

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

My Apple TV is still in school. I will test it again one of these days and see if I can get it to work, then maybe we can compare notes again.

*fingers crossed*

 

[Richdmoore]

It's probably a stupid suggestion, but have you made sure you are using the latest system software on the apple tv?

My understanding is that the ability to use the apple tv without being on the same network only arrived with an apple tv system update around the same time as ios 8 was available.

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

It's probably a stupid suggestion, but have you made sure you are using the latest system software on the apple tv?

My understanding is that the ability to use the apple tv without being on the same network only arrived with an apple tv system update around the same time as ios 8 was available.

Yes, I'm running Apple TV Software 7.0.1 (6912). I'm able to AirPlay with no middle-man-network just fine with the exception of internet videos (Netflix, YouTube, etc).

 

[reddog1083]

Bumping this thread / asking If anybody has confirmed it to work. I just bought an Apple TV yesterday for peer to peer. EVERYTHING works fine except YouTube / Netflix (however, YouTube did work once, just no audio...).

I'll be extremely bummed if I can't get this to work. I have unlimited data on my phone and an excellent LTE connection at my house.

 

[dXTC]

Here's a suggestion that might work: Turn on Personal Hotspot on your phone, if your phone contract allows, and then have your Apple TV connect to that Wi-Fi signal. You should then be able to use the Apple TV's built-in YouTube, Vimeo and Netflix clients. The Personal Hotspot shouldn't care about the content of the data being routed through it.

If you find that this works, then I would strongly advise plugging your iPhone into an AC charger while using this for full-length films.

(EDIT: Depending on your contract, you may find your iPhone's data speed throttled after a certain amount of usage, so for extended use, Your Mileage May Vary.)

 

[reddog1083]

Here's a suggestion that might work: Turn on Personal Hotspot on your phone, if your phone contract allows, and then have your Apple TV connect to that Wi-Fi signal. You should then be able to use the Apple TV's built-in YouTube, Vimeo and Netflix clients. The Personal Hotspot shouldn't care about the content of the data being routed through it.

If you find that this works, then I would strongly advise plugging your iPhone into an AC charger while using this for full-length films.

(EDIT: Depending on your contract, you may find your iPhone's data speed throttled after a certain amount of usage, so for extended use, Your Mileage May Vary.)

I would love to, but alas my data plan doesn't include personal hotspot. I've yet to get home and try the one thing mentioned previously. Something about disabling an ATV option for pulling AirPlay content from the network?

Regardless, thanks for the response!

 

[reddog1083]

No problem, another thing that may be worth trying if you have the hardware lying around already, no guarantees it'll work...

Setup a wifi router at the location even though you won't have anything to plug into the router's WAN port.

Connect the Apple TV to the wifi network, use DHCP.

Connect the iPhone you'll be using to the wifi network using DHCP as well. Make one change on the iPhone however, set the gateway to 127.0.0.1 (localhost).

If it still doesn't work go on the Apple TV and somewhere in settings there's an option to automatically try to AirPlay using the Apple TV's internet connection instead of the phone's. Disable it.

Let me know how it turns out if you give it a try. I know the above works when Airplaying audio to a WANless Airport Express via cellular data.

Hmm, I went to try this, but there is no way to set the gateway (there's not even a field for it) on my iPhone. Am I missing something ?

 

[apunkrockmonk]

Hmm, I went to try this, but there is no way to set the gateway (there's not even a field for it) on my iPhone. Am I missing something ?

It looks like it's labeled as Router. In most other hardware the setting is called gateway, sorry for the mixup.

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

Here's a suggestion that might work: Turn on Personal Hotspot on your phone, if your phone contract allows, and then have your Apple TV connect to that Wi-Fi signal. You should then be able to use the Apple TV's built-in YouTube, Vimeo and Netflix clients. The Personal Hotspot shouldn't care about the content of the data being routed through it.

If you find that this works, then I would strongly advise plugging your iPhone into an AC charger while using this for full-length films.

(EDIT: Depending on your contract, you may find your iPhone's data speed throttled after a certain amount of usage, so for extended use, Your Mileage May Vary.)

I would love to, but alas my data plan doesn't include personal hotspot. I've yet to get home and try the one thing mentioned previously. Something about disabling an ATV option for pulling AirPlay content from the network?

Regardless, thanks for the response!

Using my personal hotspot is one of the first things I tried and it works!...

... because it's using your hotspot data. An hour and a half of Netflix and I got a text notifying me that I had hit my hotspot allowance for the month. I thought AirPlay worked by rendering/downloading everything on your device and simply pushing that render to the Apple TV. Nope.

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It looks like it's labeled as Router. In most other hardware the setting is called gateway, sorry for the mixup.

I did end up trying this and it didn't work. It behaved as if there was no internet connection: Netflix and YouTube fail. :/

Also, I couldn't find the option you advised to turn off, the automatic try Apple TV's internet connection option. There is "Play from iTunes in the Cloud" that will automatically play from the cloud instead of the device but I've had that off from the beginning.

 

[reddog1083]

Using my personal hotspot is one of the first things I tried and it works!...

... because it's using your hotspot data. An hour and a half of Netflix and I got a text notifying me that I had hit my hotspot allowance for the month. I thought AirPlay worked by rendering/downloading everything on your device and simply pushing that render to the Apple TV. Nope.

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I did end up trying this and it didn't work. It behaved as if there was no internet connection: Netflix and YouTube fail. :/

Also, I couldn't find the option you advised to turn off, the automatic try Apple TV's internet connection option. There is "Play from iTunes in the Cloud" that will automatically play from the cloud instead of the device but I've had that off from the beginning.

Yeah Joey, I think we're in the same boat. It's unfortunate because this really should have worked according to everything i read beforehand. Must be a limitation from downloading and trying to stream to the AppleTV at the same time.

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

Yeah Joey, I think we're in the same boat. It's unfortunate because this really should have worked according to everything i read beforehand. Must be a limitation from downloading and trying to stream to the AppleTV at the same time.

AirPlaying internet content while using the hotspot as an internet connection works, so I don't think a hardware limitation is the case.

It is a shame though, I bought it for the sole purpose of AirPlaying Netflix because I was tired of binge watching on a small screen.