Airplay Stuttering

[JustMartin]

I'll try the ethernet cable tonight, I really dont see how it can be the internet though, and this is why, we used to have sky unlited broadband, with a wireless b/g router, download speed was at most 1MB/s

So we upgraded to sky's more expensive package for fibre optic broadband, which came with a wirless N router and our download speed is about 5MB/s now.

What I dont understand is why would i be able to stream from iplayer and then mirror that to my ATV lag free before on my worse internet connection but then when i upgrade and get faster download speeds its lags when i do airplay mirroring?

What Gav2k and I have been saying is that it's not your internet that's at fault - that's the connection from your house to the wider world, your Sky broadband. What we suspect is that it is your internal wireless network that is the culprit, it's a separate thing. If you are streaming content from the internet to your iMac, then it's using wireless bandwidth between the router and the computer. Similarly, when you then pass that content on to the ATV, you're using wireless bandwidth to get the stuff across.

So, getting content into the house might be quick, passing it around once it's there might be slow.

 

[Snimo]

What Gav2k and I have been saying is that it's not your internet that's at fault - that's the connection from your house to the wider world, your Sky broadband. What we suspect is that it is your internal wireless network that is the culprit, it's a separate thing. If you are streaming content from the internet to your iMac, then it's using wireless bandwidth between the router and the computer. Similarly, when you then pass that content on to the ATV, you're using wireless bandwidth to get the stuff across.

So, getting content into the house might be quick, passing it around once it's there might be slow.

Ah i see where you're coming from, apologies.

Right well, is there anything you'd suggest to improve my wireless network, unfortunately changing router although i have millions of them is out of the question as sky lock there broadband so you have to use the provided router or risk breaching the contract

 

[JustMartin]

Ah i see where you're coming from, apologies.

Right well, is there anything you'd suggest to improve my wireless network, unfortunately changing router although i have millions of them is out of the question as sky lock there broadband so you have to use the provided router or risk breaching the contract

Have a look on google for wi-fi speed testers and see what speed you're getting. Mountain Lion provides some wi-fi network diagnostics as well. And, also, try airplay on something that is on your iMac hard disk already, that should be a test of how well things perform when you've only got one lot of network traffic going.

 

[Snimo]

Have a look on google for wi-fi speed testers and see what speed you're getting. Mountain Lion provides some wi-fi network diagnostics as well. And, also, try airplay on something that is on your iMac hard disk already, that should be a test of how well things perform when you've only got one lot of network traffic going.

Thanks for that, i'll try it when i get home and report back

 

[testeri]

Pop to maplin buy two cheap Ethernet cables cat 5e will do and directly connect you atv and iMac to your router and test it. If it solves the issue then it's a wireless issue which I suspect it is.

You say your mirroring iplayer so your mac is downloading the data processing it then dumping back over wifi to your atv. You need a nice strong pre-n signal to do what your asking!

Today I tried with two ethernet cables, one from iMac to router and other from ATV to router. The stuttering is almost gone, I'm not really sure because I am getting a little paranoid here. Anyway it was really really better! Also tried directly from iMac to ATV, that didn't work at all.

Wifi-mirroring with computer next to the ATV did not help nor changing channels in router to less crowded ones.

So, Beamer works (Transmits only video and audio, not desktop.) and cables work... Too much data for wifi?

 

[Snimo]

Today I tried with two ethernet cables, one from iMac to router and other from ATV to router. The stuttering is almost gone, I'm not really sure because I am getting a little paranoid here. Anyway it was really really better! Also tried directly from iMac to ATV, that didn't work at all.

Wifi-mirroring with computer next to the ATV did not help nor changing channels in router to less crowded ones.

So, Beamer works (Transmits only video and audio, not desktop.) and cables work... Too much data for wifi?

Just got off the phone with sky customer support, and even though my old connection could mirror to my atv without lag, aparently, its too much for my new £50 router to handle :| thanks sky.

He advised me to disconnect all wireless clients from my router and just connect the mac and the ATV and try again

I actually feel like crying why would it work before on my rubbish connection but not work on fibre optic

 

[Gav2k]

Just got off the phone with sky customer support, and even though my old connection could mirror to my atv without lag, aparently, its too much for my new £50 router to handle :| thanks sky.

He advised me to disconnect all wireless clients from my router and just connect the mac and the ATV and try again

I actually feel like crying why would it work before on my rubbish connection but not work on fibre optic

Your old router used the 2.4 band the sky router is no doubt 5ghz. Where this can be a good thing 5 ghz struggles to get through objects resulting in a drop off. Before iplayer would have defaulted to a lower setting due to your limited Internet connection streaming over the 2.4 ghz band would have been ok. Now your able to get a higher bandwidth stream dumping this back down wifi to your atv is exceeding your wifi bandwidth.

You have to remember that the fact your on a fiber line had nothing to do with this. This is to do with your home network being stable and fast.

My home network for example was running off a plusnet generic Thompson box. The wifi network was terrible. I slapped an AirPort Extreme into one of the plusnet LAN ports and shut the plusnets wifi off. I now have a stable 2.4/5ghz network that I can mirror and stream over without an issues.

You do not have to replace your original box from sky but you can add to it!

 

[Snimo]

Your old router used the 2.4 band the sky router is no doubt 5ghz. Where this can be a good thing 5 ghz struggles to get through objects resulting in a drop off. Before iplayer would have defaulted to a lower setting due to your limited Internet connection streaming over the 2.4 ghz band would have been ok. Now your able to get a higher bandwidth stream dumping this back down wifi to your atv is exceeding your wifi bandwidth.

You have to remember that the fact your on a fiber line had nothing to do with this. This is to do with your home network being stable and fast.

My home network for example was running off a plusnet generic Thompson box. The wifi network was terrible. I slapped an AirPort Extreme into one of the plusnet LAN ports and shut the plusnets wifi off. I now have a stable 2.4/5ghz network that I can mirror and stream over without an issues.

You do not have to replace your original box from sky but you can add to it!

I think i might have to do this, im gonna see how i crack on tonight, probably gonna buy an airport extreme and report back cheers

 

[justperry]

I think i might have to do this, im gonna see how i crack on tonight, probably gonna buy an airport extreme and report back cheers

Bummer, cost you extra $$$, Erm £££

 

[Snimo]

Bummer, cost you extra $$$, Erm £££

Just a joke mate!

my previous internet and this one both use the 2.4ghz band, even though this one is wirless N and has bigger download speed.

So in theory, there should be no difference.

such a joke

 

[apaschea]

You are not alone

Hi,
Just wanted to let you know that I have the exact same problem. Very annoying.
And as you said it is the mirroring that is terrible. I can AirPlay from my iPad and iPhone and it works perfectly.

I can also stream perfectly from vuze to my Xbox.

So: whenever the file is just streaming (iPhone, iPad screen blacked out because it is on tv or vuze streaming the file without playing on computer) there is no problem.

Whenever the video is playing on the computer and the tv at the same time, there is major stuttering.

So my question is: is there any software for the Mac that acts like the iPad and iPhone do? I want the screen to black out on the computer and only play on the tv. I think this would sold the issue.

 

[testeri]

Today I tried with two ethernet cables, one from iMac to router and other from ATV to router. The stuttering is almost gone, I'm not really sure because I am getting a little paranoid here. Anyway it was really really better! Also tried directly from iMac to ATV, that didn't work at all.

Wifi-mirroring with computer next to the ATV did not help nor changing channels in router to less crowded ones.

So, Beamer works (Transmits only video and audio, not desktop.) and cables work... Too much data for wifi?

I bought a new dual band router 2.4/5.0Ghz for testing purposes. Tried every combination imaginable with bands and channels -> videos are still jerky and jittery!

So this is some sort of OS bug or I can't setup a wi-fi strong enough to transfer high res videos...

 

[mrlhxc]

ohhh

Airplay as feature has been getting worse and worse for me. When i first bought my Apple TV, iPhone4, and Macbook Pro and then a Mac Mini. Never had problems. I could stream movies including the 5.1 channels, and listen to music with no issues from all my devices. Then i started having issues from iTunes to Apple TV where it would stutter. Everyone says "your router sucks dude". Nope, i can Airplay from an iPhone or iPad with no issues. Also, i can use HomeSharing from the Mac and pull over my 5.1 HD movies with no issue at all and music doesn't stutter either. All my software is up to date on all my devices except the Mac Mini (10.7.4). Now i'm even having issues Airplaying from my phone. I don't get it. It use to work perfectly. I really think its an Apple TV / iTunes issue / (Airplay in 10.8). Hopefully addressed eventually. I'm pretty sure its not a hardware or networking issue. If i can watch 5.1 HD movie using homesharring, but can't AirPlay that movie its gotta be a software issue.

 

[RealEyes]

I've got the rMBP, Apple TV 3 and the newest Airport Extreme. I'm seeing the stuttery image when airplay mirroring from my laptop to the aTV.

No solutions yet? I'm going to take this thing back.

 

[Animalk]

The only time I had stuttering AirPlay is when I had WiFi interference problems with the neighbours. I switched to a less crowded WiFi channel and the stuttering went away.

 

[Snimo]

I have finally resolved this problem.

What i had to do was run an ethernet cable upstairs to my mac, this completely cut out the stuttering.

I came to the conclusion my new router was the problem, bought an airport express, set up a 5Ghz Network, and the problem is completey gone.

Thanks everyone for your help

 

[testeri]

I have finally resolved this problem.

What i had to do was run an ethernet cable upstairs to my mac, this completely cut out the stuttering.

I came to the conclusion my new router was the problem, bought an airport express, set up a 5Ghz Network, and the problem is completey gone.

Thanks everyone for your help

Great that you got it working! Not everyone has been able fix it with router change, even with Apple's router. I bought the new iPhone 5 and tested airplaying with it: ZERO stuttering. Same network and same video file.

 

[k.alexander]

I have finally resolved this problem.

What i had to do was run an ethernet cable upstairs to my mac, this completely cut out the stuttering.

I came to the conclusion my new router was the problem, bought an airport express, set up a 5Ghz Network, and the problem is completey gone.

Thanks everyone for your help

Snimo: can you explain exactly the setup that you have now, which now works for you. Which router, which mac, wireless or wired from where to where.
Thanks.