Anybody else find the Apple TV full of shortcomings?

[brayhite]

Call me a troll if you want, but I find the Apple TV to be very shortcoming on the things it promises to do. Perhaps it's my wi-fi signal (which has been complained about in another thread, but that was Xbox-related). Perhaps it's the location of the device. Perhaps I got a faulty unit. But for the sole functionality I bought the Apple TV for - to stream music from my MBPs and iDevices to it and through my sound bar - it fails more than it passes.

And now, to top things off, the directions for resetting it per Apple's website don't work for me. I hold the Menu button and the Down button until the light flashes rapidly.. then nothing. The animal slideshow continues. Every button pushed via the remote results in a flashing light. My computer finds it on the network (THIS time it does, anyway) and plays music fine, for the most part (it skips and goes silent usually once or twice a song), but I still can't push a button. I'd rather not have to unplug the device for thirty seconds every time I wish to use it, as it seems to happen about that often.

Okay, so I ranted a bit. But as high as my expectations were for a device to work nearly perfectly, it's fallen way, way short. Heck, Netflix doesn't even always work on it. And AirPlay is hit or miss depending on whether my iDevice will find it without me having to restart the iDevice (which may not be a fault of the Apple TV, but happens with it and AirPlay regardless).

So am I the only one who faces these frustrations on a consistent basis with the Apple TV, or can someone share their disappointment (as my music stops playing completely.. again)?

 

[TwinCities Dan]

I loved my first gen, love my second gen, as well. Sorry you're having problems. Maybe you have some interference or something?

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.21.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.5 Safari/533.21.1)

Mine works great doing all the things you're saying isn't working for you. What kind of router are you using? Perhaps try changing the channel to a different one and see if it improves. Also, if you can use Ethernet between the ATV2 and your router, I bet you'll see much improved performance.

 

[brayhite]

I loved my first gen, love my second gen, as well. Sorry you're having problems. Maybe you have some interference or something?

That's why it may be the placement (around my cable box, Xbox, tvs, etc.). But how else do you set it up? There's only so much space around a television and wires are only so long.

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.21.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.5 Safari/533.21.1)

Mine works great doing all the things you're saying isn't working for you. What kind of router are you using? Perhaps try changing the channel to a different one and see if it improves. Also, if you can use Ethernet between the ATV2 and your router, I bet you'll see much improved performance.

I'm using an AirPort Extreme and an AirPort Express. I recently set the Express up to extend the network, plugged in about 20-25 feet from the extreme (nearly line of sight with it) and the Apple TV is in the next room, about 15 feet or so away from it. Yet I still get poor streaming connection (and Netflix normally only plays for about an hour before needing to buffer every 5 minutes or so - not an exaggeration, just ask my girlfriend who refuses to watch Grey's Anatomy on the Apple TV because it does just that).

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.21.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.5 Safari/533.21.1)

Can you move the ATV temporarily closer to the Extreme and hardwire it just to test things out? I thinking that running the ATV wirelessly through the Express then to the Extreme may too much for streaming, not to mention the wireless link for Airplay as well. And/or there could be interference from nearby on the same frequency.

 

[brayhite]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_8; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.21.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.5 Safari/533.21.1)

Can you move the ATV temporarily closer to the Extreme and hardwire it just to test things out? I thinking that running the ATV wirelessly through the Express then to the Extreme may too much for streaming, not to mention the wireless link for Airplay as well. And/or there could be interference from nearby on the same frequency.

I could but that very well defeats the purpose of having wireless streaming capabilities. I mean, I know it's my own fault if I refuse to test that out, but the whole point of having wireless streaming capabilities is to be able to place it nearly anywhere within a reasonable distance of the router (given the quality of the router). Plugging it in directly to the router requires moving my sound bar which is hooked up to two tvs and the Apple TV directly. If it works, it proves nothing but the wireless quality is lacking, which apparently no amount of routers will fix because you suggest that streaming from two routers to the Apple may be too much. So it's either I rewire the broadband in the house to move the modem and thus the router closer to my Apple TV location (which is likely to move from TV to TV depending on circumstances).. or I accept that the Apple TV is the problem here.

Not trying to be rude or put down any help, I just think it's pointless to plug an Apple TV directly into a router to test it. Like I said, if it works, then great. I learned that I need to rewire the broadband into my bedroom then anywhere else I want to use the Apple TV. Either that, or I need to buy a much more quality router than a 2nd generation AEBS.

I know other peoples' Apple TVs are working fine. So I would figure that they either have much better routers than I do, or not that many electronics around their Apple TV to cause interference. I can work or tweak with the interference part a bit, try moving the Apple TV around on my built-in counter so it's away from the cable box and Xbox a little more. But I doubt that would bring the improvement needed to make the Apple TV a satisfying product. What settings do you currently have on your router? Perhaps some router optimization is the issue here.

 

[TwinCities Dan]

I know other peoples' Apple TVs are working fine. So I would figure that they either have much better routers than I do, or not that many electronics around their Apple TV to cause interference.

I too have many electronics around my TV and the TV sits directly on top of my DirectTV box. I would try adjusting the channels before adjusting the placement of these objects. My AEBS (where the internet comes in to my house) is in the opposite corner of the house and a floor below yet I still have no problems streaming.

I must say though, I stream from my own HD not Netflix so I can't say what the issue may be there.

 

[brayhite]

I too have many electronics around my TV and the TV sits directly on top of my DirectTV box. I would try adjusting the channels before adjusting the placement of these objects. My AEBS (where the internet comes in to my house) is in the opposite corner of the house and a floor below yet I still have no problems streaming.

I must say though, I stream from my own HD not Netflix so I can't say what the issue may be there.

If I'm not mistaken, only channels 1, 6, and 11 are good on 2.4 GHz, correct?

 

[s15119]

Call me a troll if you want....
So am I the only one who faces these frustrations on a consistent basis with the Apple TV, or can someone share their disappointment (as my music stops playing completely.. again)?

Doesn't sound at all like a troll to me. You descibed your problems which would frustrate anyone. I haven't experienced any of these problems. I sure hope you find a solution. I think I'd be looking at the possibility of a defective unit, if I were you. Good luck. It's a marvelous unit when it works - which is pretty much all of the time for me.

 

[TwinCities Dan]

If I'm not mistaken, only channels 1, 6, and 11 are good on 2.4 GHz, correct?

Umm, that's a little out of my league there. I don't really know, but this article seems to imply that all 11 are usable? Best of luck!

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I agree you are not a troll, but then again if you don't want to troubleshoot anything, we really can't help you. Mine works unbelievably awesome.

 

[eye]

Both my first and second Gen work flawlessly. Good products. I think yours is broke.

 

[tbayrgs]

I'm certainly no expert and but I was experiencing a similar problem a while back--Time Capsule located in front corner office and first gen TV in an upstairs bonus room across the house (40-50 ft distance line of sight with 3 walls and ceiling in-between)--so I set up an Airport Express to try to boost the wifi signal. What I noticed was that the wifi connectivity on both that TV and another TV much closer to the router was actually worse and intermittently dropped. My guess was I was actually creating interference between the 2 routers. I disconnected the Airport Express and while the wifi signal isn't super strong upstairs, it's still strong enough to stream and I haven't had any connectivity issues.

 

[P4G]

Not trying to be rude or put down any help, I just think it's pointless to plug an Apple TV directly into a router to test it. Like I said, if it works, then great. I learned that I need to rewire the broadband into my bedroom then anywhere else I want to use the Apple TV.

What if it doesnt work, then you know your problem is with the AppleTV.

 

[Mr. McMac]

I never tried the wireless, but connected to ethernet, both of mine work flawlessly..

 

[brayhite]

As expected, the Apple TV worked great plugged in via ethernet to the Extreme. Listened to two entire songs, no skipping or silence. Not unheard of when on wireless, but doesn't happen very often.

Especially considering this one song ("Monster" by Kanye West if anyone cares) has skipped several times and I'm not even passed the Jay-Z verse yet ha now that I'm back on wireless.

I also discovered another problem: I posted in the iPhone Hacks forum about my AirPlay not working with my Apple TV with the jailbreak, with no responses. Well, I hooked up a small speaker to my Express and my iPhone plays great with that, leading me to believe that something is conflicting with the Apple TV and my iPhone now. Still could be a jailbreak issue, but the AirPlay works fine obviously, so it seems isolated with the Apple TV and iPhone.

So after troubleshooting, what are some solutions for network settings? I changed the channel to 11 which hasn't helped. Are there some broadcast settings I should tweak? Are there simply too many wireless clients in the household (around 6 at almost any given time)?

 

[BlakeBrattina]

My Gen2 works fantastic with streaming MP4, Music, YouTube and Netflix. I have it sitting on our entertainment stand with our cable box, PS3, router and DVD player which we no longer use.

I wish you luck in figuring out what may be wrong with yours, they are truly awesome when working well.

 

[CapnJackGig]

Content-wise it's extremely lacking. Nice interface cant make up for a lackluster product.

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Am I reading what you're saying correctly, that your ATV is jailbroken?

If that is the case, there may be issues caused by that. I'm no expert in JB and I've never even attempted it so I can be of no use there.

As for the AEBS, I too, have a 2nd generation and it works great. Although I've never used my ATV2 wirelessly. But my iPhone and laptops work just fine. Mine is on channel 6 (automatic).

You may want to try out different channels or set it to automatic if it isn't. Also, try the 'Use interference robustness' feature.

 

[From A Buick 8]

Content-wise it's extremely lacking. Nice interface cant make up for a lackluster product.

It may be lackluster content to you, but it has 100% of the content that it was advertised to have.

For the OP i think you should really consider connecting the unit through Ethernet, wireless just does not work for everyone in every situation. It may be that you have a defective unit, but most likely there is some environmental / setup factor that is causing the problem.

 

[CylonGlitch]

As expected, the Apple TV worked great plugged in via ethernet to the Extreme. Listened to two entire songs, no skipping or silence. Not unheard of when on wireless, but doesn't happen very often.

Well that eliminates one thing, the ATV itself is OK. The wifi may be bad, or your router may be bad, the environment may be bad, or something is just configured incorrectly.

What router are you using? Routers can die quickly (I've had one go in less then 6 months); especially the cheaper brands. Their caps dry out and the Wifi signal starts to degrade very rapidly and then will just stop. How old is your router? If you were having wifi problems with the XBox, the I'm guessing it's the router, not the target devices.

How are you configuring the IP addresses? Everything using DHCP for everything or do you force some IP addresses?

Environment. Only things that I've seen interfere are Wireless Phones and Microwaves. Both only cause problems when in use; thus if they aren't being used while testing, everything should be OK.

Overall it sounds like a Router / Configuration issue.

BTW, Jailbreaking the device really isn't a good idea until you have everything working perfectly. It can cause other issues and thus get everything setup first and then do things like Jailbreak your device. This could very well be why the ATV doesn't reset to defaults; you've changed the device and thus feature may not work any longer. I've never jailbroken my ATV so I cannot say.

 

[newagemac]

Jailbreaking has been known to cause Wifi issues with iOS and especially with the latest ones. Others with Apple TV have reported this exact same problem after jailbreaking. From what I understand there was supposed to be some updates to the jailbreak to try and fix the problem.

Jailbreaking does have it's downsides and stability, slowness, and issues like you are experiencing do affect jailbroken devices more than ones that are not.

 

[thatisme]

more than likely it is the jailbreak that is causing the issues. Either that, or your airport express may be interfering with a quality signal transmission.

I've had similar issues as you described. I have an ATV2, AEBS and AExpress(this was connected to an xbox360), and was getting poor sound and intermittent interruptions in audio streamed from my MBP. We upgraded to the thin Xbox360 which plays nicely with my AEBS now, and moved the Extreme further away from the ATV2. Now, transmission is flawless and issues haven't been present for a couple months.

 

[brayhite]

Am I reading what you're saying correctly, that your ATV is jailbroken?

If that is the case, there may be issues caused by that. I'm no expert in JB and I've never even attempted it so I can be of no use there.

As for the AEBS, I too, have a 2nd generation and it works great. Although I've never used my ATV2 wirelessly. But my iPhone and laptops work just fine. Mine is on channel 6 (automatic).

You may want to try out different channels or set it to automatic if it isn't. Also, try the 'Use interference robustness' feature.

No, my Apple TV is not jailbroken. I guess I wasn't clear. My iPhone is jailbroken, and for some reason, my Apple TV won't play anything from it. I will mess with the channels again, and try the interference robustness. I've read that IR hinders range, but with two AirPorts now, maybe that won't be a factor.

Well that eliminates one thing, the ATV itself is OK. The wifi may be bad, or your router may be bad, the environment may be bad, or something is just configured incorrectly.

What router are you using? Routers can die quickly (I've had one go in less then 6 months); especially the cheaper brands. Their caps dry out and the Wifi signal starts to degrade very rapidly and then will just stop. How old is your router? If you were having wifi problems with the XBox, the I'm guessing it's the router, not the target devices.

How are you configuring the IP addresses? Everything using DHCP for everything or do you force some IP addresses?

Environment. Only things that I've seen interfere are Wireless Phones and Microwaves. Both only cause problems when in use; thus if they aren't being used while testing, everything should be OK.

Overall it sounds like a Router / Configuration issue.

BTW, Jailbreaking the device really isn't a good idea until you have everything working perfectly. It can cause other issues and thus get everything setup first and then do things like Jailbreak your device. This could very well be why the ATV doesn't reset to defaults; you've changed the device and thus feature may not work any longer. I've never jailbroken my ATV so I cannot say.

Using an AEBS (2nd gen, about 2 1/2 years old) and AirPort Express, just bought. DHCP does all the IP figuring for me. I think it may be the router as well, but I can't pinpoint the exact problem with it.

Jailbreaking has been known to cause Wifi issues with iOS and especially with the latest ones. Others with Apple TV have reported this exact same problem after jailbreaking. From what I understand there was supposed to be some updates to the jailbreak to try and fix the problem.

Jailbreaking does have it's downsides and stability, slowness, and issues like you are experiencing do affect jailbroken devices more than ones that are not.

Not jailbroken. See first response in this post.

more than likely it is the jailbreak that is causing the issues. Either that, or your airport express may be interfering with a quality signal transmission.

I've had similar issues as you described. I have an ATV2, AEBS and AExpress(this was connected to an xbox360), and was getting poor sound and intermittent interruptions in audio streamed from my MBP. We upgraded to the thin Xbox360 which plays nicely with my AEBS now, and moved the Extreme further away from the ATV2. Now, transmission is flawless and issues haven't been present for a couple months.

Not jailbroken. See first response in this post.

 

[HellDiverUK]

Mine plays 1080p content held on my Windows server, and it's on Wi-Fi. The router is a Time Capsule at the opposite end of the house. The ATV2 is on the 5GHz network, as are my MacBook Pro and the Airport Express in the kitchen that does AirPlay/AirTunes.

Clearly you have issues with your wireless.