Ethernet speed is way slower than Wi-Fi

[zamboknee]

The Ethernet connection on my 4th gen Apple TV is really slow. 93mbps when it’s supposed to be 300+.
I connected my MacBook into the Ethernet and the speed there is fine so it’s something in the Apple TV (A1625).
Anyone else have this issue? How’d you fix it?

 

[Juicy Box]

This is normal.

Anyone else have this issue?

Everyone has that issue on the ATV4. It is not Gigabit Ethernet, just 10/100.

How’d you fix it?

Get an ATV4K, or use Wifi.

What are you doing on your ATV4 that you need a link speed above 100Mbps?

 

[fischersd]

The Ethernet connection on my 4th gen Apple TV is really slow. 93mbps when it’s supposed to be 300+.
I connected my MacBook into the Ethernet and the speed there is fine so it’s something in the Apple TV (A1625).
Anyone else have this issue? How’d you fix it?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that ATV only has 10/100 Ethernet, not gigabit.

TV & Home

Simply connect Apple TV, HomePod mini and other accessories to experience a smart home that runs flawlessly across your devices.

www.apple.com

 

[zamboknee]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that ATV only has 10/100 Ethernet, not gigabit.

TV & Home

Simply connect Apple TV, HomePod mini and other accessories to experience a smart home that runs flawlessly across your devices.

www.apple.com

Oh.

 

[zamboknee]

So even the new ones only have 10/100 Ethernet as well, correct?

 

[Juicy Box]

So even the new ones only have 10/100 Ethernet as well, correct?

Both ATV4k models have Gigabit Ethernet.

 

[waw74]

but...

93Mb is probably way more than you need. Which is probably why they only included a 10/100 port.

appleTV+ and Netflix both suggest 25 Mb/s for 4k Dolby vision. (only checked the 2, sure others are similar). Which won't even play on the 4.

1080 streams are about 5Mb/s, so with that 93Mb/s you're good for about 18 concurrent streams


Your apps might update a tad slower, but they'll run the same.

 

[Jus711]

And it’s a more stable connection than the faster WiFi, I stream some rips with uncompressed TrueHD or DtS-HD MA and it will sometimes stutter on WiFi and play fine on Ethernet and I have 400Mbps internet

 

[Mcckoe]

My most demanding streaming requirement is only 60Mb/s, 90 should be fine for anything you’re doing with the ATV. Considering the chipset, you shouldn’t need more than 20Mb/s…

 

[Juicy Box]

I am curious to what the OP is doing that 100Mbps isn't enough. Or maybe it was just that the OP saw what they thought was a speed discrepancy and wanted to fix it just because.

Netflix both suggest 25 Mb/s for 4k Dolby vision

1080 streams are about 5Mb/s

Yup, 100Mbps is overkill for Netflix.

Netflix's actual usage for Dolby Vision 4K is about 17Mbps, and 3.5 Mbps for 1080p.


A little off topic, but I see a lot of people signing up for Gigabit internet speeds, spending a lot more money just to do things like Netflix and Facebook when even a 100Mbps connection would be overkill for their usage.

 

[Jus711]

I am curious to what the OP is doing that 100Mbps isn't enough. Or maybe it was just that the OP saw what they thought was a speed discrepancy and wanted to fix it just because.



Yup, 100Mbps is overkill for Netflix.

Netflix's actual usage for Dolby Vision 4K is about 17Mbps, and 3.5 Mbps for 1080p.


A little off topic, but I see a lot of people signing up for Gigabit internet speeds, spending a lot more money just to do things like Netflix and Facebook when even a 100Mbps connection would be overkill for their usage.

since everything is connected now there’s a lot of things hitting your internet, I think my eero at home shows 30+ devices at times, the more speed you have the more you have that can be divided up especially if you have multiple people streaming at 4K HDR at the same time. It also helps if you download and upload big files a lot for work, streaming security cameras, etc etc

 

[Apleeseed84]

since everything is connected now there’s a lot of things hitting your internet, I think my eero at home shows 30+ devices at times, the more speed you have the more you have that can be divided up especially if you have multiple people streaming at 4K HDR at the same time. It also helps if you download and upload big files a lot for work, streaming security cameras, etc etc

Wait until you find out your network is shared with the whole neighborhood. Your PFP(or splitter) or network card in the neighborhood is done by 25 people at times per card, even on fiber that’s the case but they don’t tell you this. Whenever you pull a speed test on any device is what the card can handle and to tell you truth if you getting close to 100 megs you are good though. If you try it at other peak times you will notice a different result all together. You only need 25mbps to stream 4k even if done so at the same time on multiple devices no need to worry really

 

[Mcckoe]

Highest bit-rate needed for this SOC’s output:
H.264 video up to 1080p, 60 fps, High or Main Profile level 4.2 or lower
Highest H.264 1080p@60fps = ~35mbps

There is no way to attach or share a drive over USB; so this device would never need more than 100mbps.

AppleTV4K on the other hand can handle H.264 4k@60fps ~150mbps— however, I don’t know why you would use H.264 over H.265(HEVC) for 4K files(~45mbps), especially at 60fps(~90mbps).

 

[Juicy Box]

since everything is connected now there’s a lot of things hitting your internet, I think my eero at home shows 30+ devices at times, the more speed you have the more you have that can be divided up especially if you have multiple people streaming at 4K HDR at the same time. It also helps if you download and upload big files a lot for work, streaming security cameras, etc etc

The number of devices alone isn’t a good metric for determining an appropriate internet speed, better to take in account actual usage of combined devices. Of course there are specific use cases for Gigabit internet and higher, but the example I used was for Netflix and Facebook.

One could have over fifty 4K Netflix streams going on simultaneously using Gigabit internet.

 

[Jus711]

The number of devices alone isn’t a good metric for determining an appropriate internet speed, better to take in account actual usage of combined devices. Of course there are specific use cases for Gigabit internet and higher, but the example I used was for Netflix and Facebook.

One could have over fifty 4K Netflix streams going on simultaneously using Gigabit internet.

For your example I agree completely, I'm just saying there are home use cases where the extra speed could be beneficial and I think more headroom can't hurt anyway. The streaming services use lossy compression, but I have rips I stream from the cloud that have much higher bitrates and lossless audio adds even more, its probably never going over 50Mbps (though maybe spiking to 80 or 100) for a stream, but you have 3 or 4 devices doing that at the same time along with everything else in the house and you may see some stuttering. Thats incredibly rare of course but its nice to have that available if necessary especially of the cost per month from the ISP isn't that different.

 

[Boyd01]

I have been disappointed that the ATV3 and ATV4 only have 100 base T ethernet, currently have two ATV4's on wired ethernet. One is close to my 802.11ac router, so I tried switching it to wifi and it feels a bit more responsive than the wired one.

I understand the point about bandwith needs for streaming video, but IMO that is not the whole story. The slow ethernet means it's slower to start a video and especially, it can't keep up "scrubbing" the timeline. I don't have a 4k TV but am thinking about replacing one of my ATV4's with the new one just to see how much difference it makes.

Aside from that, IMO the ATV4 is just a slow device. Really, I felt my old ATV3's were more responsive because the interface didn't do stuff like loading live previews. Only reason I upgraded from the ATV3 to ATV4 was the Sling app.

 

[waw74]

And it’s a more stable connection than the faster WiFi, I stream some rips with uncompressed TrueHD or DtS-HD MA and it will sometimes stutter on WiFi and play fine on Ethernet and I have 400Mbps internet

if the files are going from a computer on your network to another computer on your network, that 400Mb/s never ever comes into play.

the 400 is the speed of your connection to the outside world. if something is all internal to your network, it never touches the outside world. Even if you had a speed of 0Mb/s (meaning you unplugged your modem) it would still work

It's like how the speed limits on the roads leading to the Daytona speedway are 55mph, but on the track the cars are going 175mph.

in the same way that that 55 doesn't affect the 175 on the track, the 400 doesn't affect the speed on your network.

 

[mhmercer]

You might want to read through this: "PSA: 100 Mbps is not enough to direct play 4K content (see test results inside)"

 

[Jus711]

if the files are going from a computer on your network to another computer on your network, that 400Mb/s never ever comes into play.

the 400 is the speed of your connection to the outside world. if something is all internal to your network, it never touches the outside world. Even if you had a speed of 0Mb/s (meaning you unplugged your modem) it would still work

It's like how the speed limits on the roads leading to the Daytona speedway are 55mph, but on the track the cars are going 175mph.

in the same way that that 55 doesn't affect the 175 on the track, the 400 doesn't affect the speed on your network.

I'm talking about rips I have in the cloud, not on my home network

 

[fischersd]

You might want to read through this: "PSA: 100 Mbps is not enough to direct play 4K content (see test results inside)"

Do any of the services actually stream the full quality 4k original? Which codec? H264 or H265?

Anytime we've had the option to download copies to watch offline, it's always been blatantly obvious that the streaming providers are down-sampling their sources before offering them up.

Until gigabit internet becomes the vast majority of consumers, you're not going to see the streaming providers updating to provide the high quality masters. Heh. To say nothing to the cost incurred by the content delivery networks.

 

[SkiHound2]

I am curious to what the OP is doing that 100Mbps isn't enough. Or maybe it was just that the OP saw what they thought was a speed discrepancy and wanted to fix it just because.



Yup, 100Mbps is overkill for Netflix.

Netflix's actual usage for Dolby Vision 4K is about 17Mbps, and 3.5 Mbps for 1080p.


A little off topic, but I see a lot of people signing up for Gigabit internet speeds, spending a lot more money just to do things like Netflix and Facebook when even a 100Mbps connection would be overkill for their usage.

We're using Verizon Fios and are still using their cable service. Last time we re-upped they offered a package deal we really couldn't beat with any combination of streaming packages. And we live in a location in which OTA for local channels is not feasible. The deal included Gigabit internet. The wouldn't let us downgrade the package. We sure as heck don't need it. A reliable 100Mbps with low latency would be more than sufficient for our needs.

 

[Boyd01]

A few months ago I got an e-mail from Verizon saying they hoped I was enjoying my free trial of gigabit FIOS. I have the 400/400 package which really comes close to the promised speed and have been very happy with that. I would never have known they upgraded me without that e-mail, I couldn't tell the difference. Did a speed test, and it actually was faster, but not gigabit.

They wanted another $20/mo for gigabit, so I passed on that. I only have FIOS internet, was never interested in their TV service.

 

[Juicy Box]

I would never have known they upgraded me without that e-mail, I couldn't tell the difference.

I think this would be the case for most families.

At least where I live, many people have been duped into thinking that they need the Gigabit speed by the ISPs. It is often $20-$30 a month more, which isn't a huge amount, but considering that it is unnecessary for many, those costs really add up overtime.