Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

JimBanville

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 18, 2014
86
17
I have 2 atv4's in two rooms in my home. Both are wired to my tp-link n/ac speed archer c8 router. I'm using 300mbps cable internet. The cables are all cat6. One is from amazon. Another is from monoprice. I installed Speedtest app on the atv's. On wifi my speeds are right at 300 on both atv's, but wired, speeds only reach around 50-80. I've even wired the atv's directly to my modem, bypasssing the router, and the speeds still only reach 50-80. Any idea why? Thanks.
 
I have 2 atv4's in two rooms in my home. Both are wired to my tp-link n/ac speed archer c8 router. I'm using 300mbps cable internet. The cables are all cat6. One is from amazon. Another is from monoprice. I installed Speedtest app on the atv's. On wifi my speeds are right at 300 on both atv's, but wired, speeds only reach around 50-80. I've even wired the atv's directly to my modem, bypasssing the router, and the speeds still only reach 50-80. Any idea why? Thanks.

The apple TV only has a 10/100BASE‑T Ethernet port for some bizarre reason so the absolute maximum speed you can get out of it would be a theoretical 100mbps. Add overhead and you're at the 50-80 you're seeing. If you have a decent router, wireless will definitely be faster
 
Probably faster in bursts, but less stable and ultimately more likely to buffer. 50-80Mbps should be more than enough for anything the aTV4 will play, although why Apple didn't put in a 1Gb network adapter is beyond me. Penny pinching in the extreme, like removing the optical out.
 
Probably faster in bursts, but less stable and ultimately more likely to buffer. 50-80Mbps should be more than enough for anything the aTV4 will play, although why Apple didn't put in a 1Gb network adapter is beyond me. Penny pinching in the extreme, like removing the optical out.
They probably did it to conserve power. The ATV is an "always on" device and was thus designed to consume as little energy as possible. A Gigabit Ethernet port uses several times as much power as a 10/100.
 
They probably did it to conserve power. The ATV is an "always on" device and was thus designed to consume as little energy as possible. A Gigabit Ethernet port uses several times as much power as a 10/100.
Or they're cheaper. Either way.
 
Or they're cheaper. Either way.
No, they simply did it because of the number of hardware interrupts.
Interrupts are triggered bz hardware, as the name says and they could not guarantee smooth operation with regards to decoding and playback using Gigabit Ethernet.
 
No, they simply did it because of the number of hardware interrupts.
Interrupts are triggered bz hardware, as the name says and they could not guarantee smooth operation with regards to decoding and playback using Gigabit Ethernet.
They also still don't support 4K when everyone else does.
 
  • Like
Reactions: colodane
Or they're cheaper. Either way.
Either way it doesn't matter much. ;) As someone wrote, it's more than fast enough for anything the ATV can stream. At most you might see slightly longer initial buffering.
[doublepost=1481733040][/doublepost]
No, they simply did it because of the number of hardware interrupts.
Interrupts are triggered bz hardware, as the name says and they could not guarantee smooth operation with regards to decoding and playback using Gigabit Ethernet.
That makes little sense since they'd have the same problem with the 802.11ac Wifi. ;)
 
A power saving? Really? I'd love to know how much power they might have saved by using 10/100T. I'd bet it's less per year than it would have cost them to put in Gigabit adapter. I think a little bell rings in Tim's office every time someone manages to take something cheap out of a product that saves a few pennies :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: JamesPDX
The Roku 4 and new FireTV support 4K and also have 10/100 Ethernet ports. Works fine. There is currently no need for GigE in these devices.
Of course there's a need. They're just not putting it in the devices yet.
 
Downloading updates and apps benefit from the fastest possible speed, as does airplay streaming / desktop sharing
Downloading updates may be slightly faster, but they aren't large to begin with. Airplay mirroring encodes the desktop content to H.264 on the fly and uses bitrates way below 100Mbps. The maximum total bitrate specified by Apple for streaming content is ~40 Mbps.
 
They probably did it to conserve power. The ATV is an "always on" device and was thus designed to consume as little energy as possible. A Gigabit Ethernet port uses several times as much power as a 10/100.

Meh... Add up your iPhone charging, etc. GB ethernet is smart. I'm surprised (or not) that we're not all using 10Gb ethernet.
 
Two things that could be the problem here, Interference from other wireless sources, or the WiFi router is going out, Try testing it from other Wireless devices from different locations in your home.
 
So it seems most here use the WIFI vs the wired connection? I stream from my NAS device over WIFI and had no issues (the NAS is next to the Apple TV). Though about running an ethernet cable from the ATV4 to the router though, but may stick with wifi
 
Yar! You guys are saving me money! I would like to use an ATV 3 or 4 for mirroring a display and routing audio as I see fit. Suggestions? Returning my AEBS tower. Too expensive for a mere jolt to transmitting power attached to my 2011 AEBS. And the USB ports on these really are useless. Maybe I'll try a different brand. Suggestions?
What can I really do with an ATV without buying another subscription to something? I have Amazon Video right now, but it's more like Hoopla on steroids. What say you?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.