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

ohernan6

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 6, 2019
26
11
Torrance, CA
Hello,

Has anyone ever encountered connectivity issues with their Apple TV and Wi-Fi when the router is placed in an adjacent room?

I live in a 1BR apartment and my Apple TV HD (4th Generation) losses connection constantly in my bedroom — Netflix will get extremely pixellated, while other streaming such as Disney+ or HBOMAX will just pause to buffer. My router is in the living room, which is the next room over, and a separate Apple TV 4K in the living room functions perfectly.

I'm assuming the router and internet is functioning correctly — I have no problems with any other devices. The Apple TV itself says it's connected to the Wi-Fi with 5/5 dots (bars). I also ran a speedtest with my MacBook Pro after placing it right next to the problematic Apple TV and it scored a Download: 228.85 Mbps and an Upload: 10.59 Mbps.

Is there anything I should look for or do before I try resetting all the data in that Apple TV?

Here is a photo and quick video of my setup to see if it helps:

ATV1.jpg

And here is a video so you can see the distance between router and Apple TV:


Thank you!
 

w5jck

Suspended
Nov 9, 2013
1,516
1,934
You might try doing a restart (not a reset though) Restarting often solves minor glitches. Avoid doing a full reset though as that will wipe the ATV clean and cause you to spend time setting everything up again.

As far as things to try first:
  • Best option would be to use an ethernet wired connection if possible.
  • Use Wi-Fi 5G rather the 2G. The 5G is faster but it has less effective distance than 2G. However, if the router is just on the other side of the wall 5G should get a good connection.
  • Verify that no other device(s) are hogging the Wi-Fi bandwidth.
 

pmiles

macrumors 6502a
Dec 12, 2013
812
678
Too many factors can interfere with WiFi. Building construction, neighbors leeching, et al.

Buy an ethernet cable that is long enough for you to route it to your AppleTV. I have one running from my router in the bedroom of my apartment to the AppleTV in the living room. It's a 25ft cable. I run it along the baseboards so that it's out of sight for the most part. There's no damage done to the apartment with this approach. You get the best possible connection you could ever get with this approach too.

Example of what I mean:


WiFi will only continue to have issues, it's only like $12 and five minutes of your time to do.
 

Javabird

macrumors 6502
Apr 27, 2015
414
162
I have an Apple TV in another room, connecting with WiFi on my 5g network. It does buffer occasionally with some apps. I have 75 mbps download.

Instead of running a long Ethernet cable, you could try using a Powerline adapter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: elvisimprsntr

w5jck

Suspended
Nov 9, 2013
1,516
1,934
I have an Apple TV in another room, connecting with WiFi on my 5g network. It does buffer occasionally with some apps. I have 75 mbps download.

Instead of running a long Ethernet cable, you could try using a Powerline adapter.
My ATV 4K 2017 would occasionally buffer on 5g even with my 200 Mbps service. I switched to ethernet and that solved the issue.
 

kirbalo

macrumors newbie
Jan 21, 2022
20
10
I also ran a speedtest with my MacBook Pro after placing it right next to the problematic Apple TV and it scored a Download: 228.85 Mbps and an Upload: 10.59 Mbps.
You can download "SpeedTest" (Ookla) on the ATV Apple store and run it directly, as the method you indicate isn't really testing the Apple TV connection itself...
 

2REPOU

macrumors regular
Jun 6, 2019
152
68
Just an FYI, I had a few issues yesterday with both my AppleTV and Homepod Mini losing internet several times. No issues since. Never happened before
 

elvisimprsntr

macrumors 65816
Jul 17, 2013
1,050
1,590
Florida
@ohernan6

You might try re-locating the WiFi AP/Router. You currently have it on the floor next to a sliding glass door. The glass bookcase and table don't help either. Nor do the plastic figurines on top of the ATV. You also placed the ATV on top of what appears to be a sound bar. Pulsing magnetic fields from speakers might interfere with the ATV

1. Hard reflective surfaces create WiFi multi-path interference patterns and time of arrival issues.
2. Elevate the WiFi AP/Router off the floor. Height is your friend in this case.
3. Try to locate centrally in your apartment away from hard reflective surfaces, but keep away from other 2.4GHZ appliances (microwave, cordless handsets, other bluetooth devices, etc.)
4. Download a WiFi scanning tool to see how much congestion exists. If your WiFi AP/Router is constantly channel switching, clients may have trouble staying connected. You could try to fix the WiFi AP/Router channel vs letting it auto select.



If that doesn't solve the problem, then a pair of Ethernet over Power adapters will allow the ATV to connect via wired Ethernet

 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.