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Home sharing buffering
- Thread starter Graz9
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I am also having issues with my 64GB ATV4 and with Inside Out and Ant-Man both downloaded to iTunes on my iMac. Other movies play fine... these are the only two I have noticed so far. I do not have unlimited internet at home, so I download all my movies and do not stream them directly form the Apple TV most of the time.
Jeff
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https://flic.kr/p/BhxzmU
https://flic.kr/p/APucUG
First picture is over ethernet. Second is over wifi. I tried it with Avatar with is my largest file at 22GB. Both times I watched the buffer stop and when it caught up it would buffer again but not very much. BUT the second time each caught up is when it would start to buffer much more in advance. So I think 9.1 helps the buffering issue but it's not completely fixed.
Plex unfortunately does not show a buffering bar. Avatar via Plex over ethernet played fine with no transcoding. Over wifi, I had trouble getting the app to resume but after a few attempts it worked and I let it play for another 5 minutes without interruption.
As far as the Plex App goes, it's only on it's 3rd update so the app itself still has some fixes incoming I'm sure. As far as Home Sharing goes, 9.1 seems to alleviate buffering issues. Maybe not completely but we should all be able to enjoy movies uninterrupted. I use a Time Capsule with N wifi and my ATV is a foot from the router where the files are stored so YMMV but for me. 9.1 has done the trick.
I'll post back later if I run into any issues.
https://flic.kr/p/APucUG
First picture is over ethernet. Second is over wifi. I tried it with Avatar with is my largest file at 22GB. Both times I watched the buffer stop and when it caught up it would buffer again but not very much. BUT the second time each caught up is when it would start to buffer much more in advance. So I think 9.1 helps the buffering issue but it's not completely fixed.
Plex unfortunately does not show a buffering bar. Avatar via Plex over ethernet played fine with no transcoding. Over wifi, I had trouble getting the app to resume but after a few attempts it worked and I let it play for another 5 minutes without interruption.
As far as the Plex App goes, it's only on it's 3rd update so the app itself still has some fixes incoming I'm sure. As far as Home Sharing goes, 9.1 seems to alleviate buffering issues. Maybe not completely but we should all be able to enjoy movies uninterrupted. I use a Time Capsule with N wifi and my ATV is a foot from the router where the files are stored so YMMV but for me. 9.1 has done the trick.
I'll post back later if I run into any issues.
Thanks for the update. It sounds promising that this is at last an area where work is being done.
FYI, in my experience, the movie never stops to buffer but just stutters badly for up to 30 seconds before smooth playback resumes. Do you ever see this behaviour or do you get the spinning circle with the movie stopped as it buffers?
FYI, in my experience, the movie never stops to buffer but just stutters badly for up to 30 seconds before smooth playback resumes. Do you ever see this behaviour or do you get the spinning circle with the movie stopped as it buffers?
I did. I've had buffering issues via Home Sharing and Plex which made no sense as my ATV was wired to the Time Capsule where the files were stored. I was just frustrated as I've always used wireless with my ATV3 and never had issues with buffering. I wanted to try 9.1 before I gave up and returned my ATV4. Everyone is always going to have issues with streaming but I know my stuff and I know my setup should not stutter ever.
Thanks, I'm in the same boat. Will wait for 9.1 to drop before making a decision. It is frustrating that my iPhone 5s with a slower processor, less ram and using a slower wifi N network typically over a greater distance can play back these files flawlessly. The ATV 4 over the same WiFi N network and only 4 metres line of sight from the router stutters and does the exact same over AC or Ethernet.
The iPad 4 mini which is technically the closest match with the A8 and 2GB RAM again plays back flawlessly from anywhere in the house over Wifi N!
I can only reason that something in TVOS is borked and will hopefully be resolved by an update but I will not be waiting forever for a fix. I bought the ATV 4 for convenience as a single box to handle AirPlay & Plex. If 9.1 doesn't do it then the ATV 4 goes back and I'll stick with the ATV 3 for AirPlay and the TV's built in Plex client, albeit a slower UI to navigate.
The iPad 4 mini which is technically the closest match with the A8 and 2GB RAM again plays back flawlessly from anywhere in the house over Wifi N!
I can only reason that something in TVOS is borked and will hopefully be resolved by an update but I will not be waiting forever for a fix. I bought the ATV 4 for convenience as a single box to handle AirPlay & Plex. If 9.1 doesn't do it then the ATV 4 goes back and I'll stick with the ATV 3 for AirPlay and the TV's built in Plex client, albeit a slower UI to navigate.
ATV4 64 9.0.1 here. Absolutely no problems with home sharing from a Mac mini running El Capitan 10.11.1 and latest iTunes. I also run a Plex server on the same Mac mini/USB3 external hard drive and again no problem with either HD movies (eg Avatar, Blade Runner, etc) or with standard definition movies. By the way the Mac mini is plugged via gigabit Ethernet to a Apple AirPort Extreme AC router while the ATV4 is on wifi on the AC network. All smooth here. My ATV3 was also fine using the same setup except it connected via N (obviously).
Did you read that or have you tested yourself? I'm looking for this clarification.
You should take a look at your home network setup -- something(s) not configured correctly. Plex has been working flawlessly for me. No buffering at all, all my 720p and 1080p media starts instantly and never stops to re-buffer. An older or misconfigured router sounds more likely to blame -- not Apple.
It's affecting a number of people and and the exact same setup for me can stream flawlessly to any iOS device, Roku or a couple of Samsung TVs. Only the Apple TV exhibits this behaviour with Plex. Even with Home Sharing, the Apple TV 3 never had an issue but the Apple TV 4 struggles badly with the exact same media. Doesn't matter if you try Wireless N, AC or Ethernet. There may be some specific combinations which the Apple TV 4 struggles with but no other device has this so I personally lay the blame squarely with the Apple TV 4!
I have a near new AirPort Extreme
It is only 3 meters from the ATV 4
I also have 2 other ATV 3s and an ATV 2 all much further away from the Airport and these stream fine
I Have tried the ATV 4 wired and get the same problem
The ATV4 has no buffering if downloading a movie
So I pretty certain it's the ATV 4 !
Not sure your exact setup but as benjitek states more than like something with your network. I have much the same setup and my ATV4 and ATV3 have no problems whatsoever streaming hd 1080p content from either home sharing or a Plex server running on a Mac mini. Everything stream smoothly and without any buffering. Check your router and/or connections?
I also have a near new Airport Extreme 802.11ac router with multiple devices (about 10 or so) connecting to it. Both my ATV4 and ATV3 stream hd content without any issue. Perhaps you are getting some kind of interference? You might try doing a factory reset on the Airport Extreme and go through the exercise of reconfiguring your router with particular attention with the 2.4GHz and 5GHz options. I am using the 5GHZ option on my ATV4 since distance is not an issue.
If it is, you should exchange it for a new one. More likely, it's either your internet connection or your peer-to-peer device connection. Installing and running SpeedTest on your ATV would rule out the internet connection. If it's your P2P@home, maybe your router is the issue. Regardless, it isn't an overall issue with ATV4's.
Trust me, I have checked out all the possibilities. The only device that cannot stream without stuttering roughly every 10 minutes is the Apple TV 4. I have monitored the server for network and cpu activity and both are minimal. I can even stream the same content to an iPhone and iPad as well as the ATV4 and the iOS devices stream it perfectly. This is definitely an ATV4 issue.
Very strange! As benjitek above asks, have you run the SpeedTest app on the ATV4? How does it compare to your results on other devices? Does your ATV3 perform ok if placed in the same location as the ATV4? (I know, grasping at straws) Or for that matter, have you tested the ATV4 in another location to preclude any kind of radio frequency interference? Are you in a position to exchange your ATV4? I certainly would try that option if possible. You're being incredibly patient my friend!
Yes, tried Speedtest app over AC which averaged 68Mbps. ATV4 was in the exact same location as the ATV3. Also tested over N and Ethernet. Swapped out the 32Gb ATV 4 for a 64Gb ATV 4. Still no difference. I can play 1080p material and it will play flawlessly for around 10 minutes then will stutter for around 30 seconds and then play the next 10 minutes flawlessly and again stutter for 30 seconds and keep repeating. Same with 720p material although that will only stutter for 10-15 seconds at a time. I can replicate this every time. Happens with both Plex and Home Sharing. It seems to cache around 10 mins of video and then stutters as it clears this out and refreshes the cache - at least this is what it appears to be doing to me.
I personally confirmed on 3 separate atv4 after the beta is installed it buffers the whole movie like atv3 did prior.
That's the exact same behaviour I get, buffers 10 min or so then stutters than repeat
It's not my network that all checks, so either some ATVs have a hardware issue or there is a software Bug of some sort. Will wait on 9.1 and hope that sorts it.