Streaming from web

[Grieffromthemissus]

Hey everyone

I’m sorry if this has been answered before, but I’ve spent the last 3 hours searching for an answer and I can’t find one - but this forum seems to be the most helpful.

When I try to stream live video from my iPhone X or MacBook Air to either my Apple TV 3 or 4 it stutters.

It’s not my internet speed, I’m generally over 200m.

But, streaming is too bad to watch.

I regularly reset all components (my router is a virgin super hub 3) - but it doesn’t help.

One Apple TV is plugged into a 1080 and the newer one into UHD.

I’m at the end of my tether. Any suggestions?

Thank you

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Presumably it does not stutter when you watch it on your iPhone or Air, right?

Running with that "presumably," the internet speed won't matter if the source device is getting a stutter-free version. The issue is likely the bandwidth INSIDE of your home.

One quick & easy test is to try the alternative to how you connect to your TV now. That is, if you are currently connecting your TV to the internet via wifi, test a wired connection just to rule out (or in) the wifi itself (not necessarily as a permanent solution- just a test). If you hook up the other way and the stuttering stops, you can focus in on the problem much more specifically.

Since you are leaning on airplay, is there anything in between your usual seated position and your TV that might be wifi unfriendly? Any obstacles? Any RF-disturbing tech? Temporarily but significantly relocate your TV to a very different location and try to run some stuttering videos again. Still stutters?

Do you have multiple people in the household taking bites out of your overall wifi bandwidth at the same time? There is only so much capacity available. If lots of people are taking bites, there may not be enough leftover for stutter-free consistency.

Are the issues repeatable at different times of day & night? For example, can you find one problematic video that always stutters and then test it at different times of day to see if it always stutters. If it doesn't take note of the times of day and then explore what may be affecting your wifi at those times? Close neighbors running something that might adversely affect bandwidth?

Can you find something on youtube or similar that always stutters when you airplay it? If so, try the native app on TV locate the exact same video and see if it also stutters via the app? Again, the idea here is to narrow in on the issue vs. suggesting you only use apps instead of airplay.

Are the problematic videos barely compatible? Are you asking too much of the TVs horses in playing specific videos that are encoded beyond it's capabilities (which may not be the case with your X or with a computer's graphic card). The "4" and even older "3" have aging hardware not able to deal with much beyond their relatively narrow specs. Maybe you are asking them to do more than they can?

Are stutters random or always repeating at the same point in videos?

Are stutters maybe stuttering because you are multitasking with the source device? If you are asking the source device to do a few things other than just airplay a video, maybe the load is overtaxing the source device. Even a loaded iMac will stutter if the multitasking load is too heavy.

If you can possess a few of these stuttering videos, test them another way: dump them into iTunes and directly stream them to your TV (not via Airplay). While this is just another test of airplay, if they don't stutter as an iTunes stream, you'll know it's not the files themselves, nor a file that is too much for your TV to process.

And of course, you have tried the old "swap out the HDMI cable" too, right? (just to eliminate a cable issue).

If pretty much everything stutters, even- say- Apple's movie trailers- you might try "reset to factory settings" just to clear out any crud that might have accumulated.

And, for the "4", do you have a fair amount of free space or is it near full of apps? Some people report stuttering when they've "filled" an TV with apps (even though it is supposed to dynamically dump apps when it needs more space).

On a reread, you reference "live" video. Is that maybe something from a streaming service (like PS Vue or similar)? Or by "live" do you just mean a recorded video like millions on YouTube? An actual "live" stream might be in a format that is too complicated for a live conversion for Airplay. I'd be even more suspicious if you were trying to maybe toss something from a cable or satt app to TV as those players might toss some kinks into the process to try to push lease boxes instead of people getting by on some TVs with Airplaying.

 

[Grieffromthemissus]

Presumably it does not stutter when you watch it on your iPhone or Air, right?

Running with that "presumably," the internet speed won't matter if the source device is getting a stutter-free version. The issue is likely the bandwidth INSIDE of your home.

One quick & easy test is to try the alternative to how you connect to your TV now. That is, if you are currently connecting your TV to the internet via wifi, test a wired connection just to rule out (or in) the wifi itself (not necessarily as a permanent solution- just a test). If you hook up the other way and the stuttering stops, you can focus in on the problem much more specifically.

Since you are leaning on airplay, is there anything in between your usual seated position and your TV that might be wifi unfriendly? Any obstacles? Any RF-disturbing tech? Temporarily but significantly relocate your TV to a very different location and try to run some stuttering videos again. Still stutters?

Do you have multiple people in the household taking bites out of your overall wifi bandwidth at the same time? There is only so much capacity available. If lots of people are taking bites, there may not be enough leftover for stutter-free consistency.

Are the issues repeatable at different times of day & night? For example, can you find one problematic video that always stutters and then test it at different times of day to see if it always stutters. If it doesn't take note of the times of day and then explore what may be affecting your wifi at those times? Close neighbors running something that might adversely affect bandwidth?

Can you find something on youtube or similar that always stutters when you airplay it? If so, try the native app on TV locate the exact same video and see if it also stutters via the app? Again, the idea here is to narrow in on the issue vs. suggesting you only use apps instead of airplay.

Are the problematic videos barely compatible? Are you asking too much of the TVs horses in playing specific videos that are encoded beyond it's capabilities (which may not be the case with your X or with a computer's graphic card). The "4" and even older "3" have aging hardware not able to deal with much beyond their relatively narrow specs. Maybe you are asking them to do more than they can?

Are stutters random or always repeating at the same point in videos?

Are stutters maybe stuttering because you are multitasking with the source device? If you are asking the source device to do a few things other than just airplay a video, maybe the load is overtaxing the source device. Even a loaded iMac will stutter if the multitasking load is too heavy.

If you can possess a few of these stuttering videos, test them another way: dump them into iTunes and directly stream them to your TV (not via Airplay). While this is just another test of airplay, if they don't stutter as an iTunes stream, you'll know it's not the files themselves, nor a file that is too much for your TV to process.

And of course, you have tried the old "swap out the HDMI cable" too, right?

If pretty much everything stutters, even- say- Apple's movie trailers- you might try "reset to factory settings" just to clear out any crud that might have accumulated.

And, for the "4", do you have a fair amount of free space or is it near full of apps? Some people report stuttering when they've "filled" an TV with apps (even though it is supposed to dynamically dump apps when it needs more space).

This is super helpful.

*Your assumptions are correct.

* Others won’t be accessing my network.

* the problem is 24/7

* stutters start immediately and after 5-10 minutes the display freezes, but simply turning airplay off resolves the issue on the original device

* the tv, Apple TV, router and device are all within 5 metres of the middles of the room

* I did have the Apple TV connected to the router by Ethernet, but that seemed to stop it working as a home hub for lights, etc

* playing directly from the Apple TV is fine, it’s just streaming from another device. Youtube also fine on Apple TV.

Your analysis and my answers leads me to believe something is wrong between the devices and (the router then) the Apple TV or between the Apple TV and the tv or the settings on the tv. That’s all I can think of but I’m clueless about how to fix it.

Thanks again

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Some great advice there.
Also have you tried switching from 2.4ghz to 5ghz WiFi?
I ask that because something in my house area causes temporary WiFi death for an hour or two once or twice a week or at anytime.
I have upgraded my fibre to 350mbps - on 5 ghz it's often reading 353mbps BUT the other night I couldn't Apple Homeshare anything to my Apple TV or even using Instagram on my iPhone X.
When I checked, i'd been using 2.4ghz WiFi and it was coming in at 0.6mbps!!!!!! Nothing in my house is causing this interference as only the iPhone, MacBook and ATV use/are connected to the Internet.
I'm on my third router - each usually dies at 11 months old and all - different brands - have suffered over the last 4 years with this drop in 2.4ghz.
Maybe try 5ghz and see how you get on.
Virgin is known for having super slow broadband at times when there are a few houses in your street connected to their broadband. The internet is full of these reports.

I will point out though that I do find Apple Homesharing a complete hit an miss. Sometimes, it plays a iTunes 1080p film with no problems - other nights, it will stop and buffer once or twice or more through the film. It did that last night when friends came over to watch a film and it made me feel really stupid as I was saying how fantastic ATV is. (More prone to buffering if it's a 1080p download rather than a 720p or less).

Just a shame that you can't download for a night or so a iTunes film to your ATV so that you don't have to rely on broadband/WiFi/HomeSharing.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

So now the challenge is trying to zoom in even further to pin down the problem.

First, invite someone with a different iDevice over and try to Airplay problematic video from their device. Still stutters? That will start ruling out the likelihood of the problem with your phone & Mac (already unlikely since apparently you have the same problem airplaying from either device).

When it was connected via Ethernet, did Airplay work fine? If so, then it narrows in on your wifi.

Can you borrow another router from anyone? That may be hard to do. So, take your TV to someone else's home, connect it and then try Airplaying the same problematic video to it from your iPhone and Air. Does it work on the friend's wifi setup. If so, then it's probably your router or router settings.

Based on what has been shared so far, I'm guessing the problem is in that router or router settings. That last suggestion would be an easy way to test and rule out your TV, your HDMI cable hooked to it and your iPhone and/or Air. At that point, the question becomes what is left that is different from your setup at home? Router, wifi settings and their broadband source. But you'll rule out almost all other possibilities by just taking it over to a friend's home and seeing if the problem repeats there (or not).

 

[Grieffromthemissus]

So now the challenge is trying to zoom in even further to pin down the problem.

First, invite someone with a different iDevice over and try to Airplay problematic video from their device. Still stutters? That will start ruling out the likelihood of the problem with your phone & Mac (already unlikely since apparently you have the same problem airplaying from either device).

When it was connected via Ethernet, did Airplay work fine? If so, then it narrows in on your wifi.

Can you borrow another router from anyone? That may be hard to do. So, take your TV to someone else's home, connect it and then try Airplaying the same problematic video to it from your iPhone and Air. Does it work on the friend's wifi setup. If so, then it's probably your router or router settings.

Based on what has been shared so far, I'm guessing the problem is in that router or router settings. That last suggestion would be an easy way to test and rule out your TV, your HDMI cable hooked to it and your iPhone and/or Air. At that point, the question becomes what is left that is different from your setup at home? Router, wifi settings and their broadband source. But you'll rule out almost all other possibilities by just taking it over to a friend's home and seeing if the problem repeats there (or not).

I think you are 100% right as it happens to both Apple TVs (as above). So, if we think router settings (or Apple TV settings - where do I start). Also, this is probably my 4th phone in the last year. They’re all the same.

 

[techwarrior]

Also have you tried switching from 2.4ghz to 5ghz WiFi?

This!

2.4Ghz is a crowded spectrum, competing with neighboring networks, microwaves, radars, bluetooth, wireless phones and keyboards\mice.

5Ghz, while having less range, operates in spectrum that is less susceptible to interference. When you connect to a 2.4 network, it might appear ok, but then something happens in the area and packets get dropped.

I always set my 5Ghz SSID different than the 2.4, so I can choose which network to join. If they share the same SSID, there is little to control which frequency you will connect with.Even 5Ghz 802.11n is more than enough bandwidth for streaming video, even 4K. So, connecting to 5Ghz WiFi effectively eliminates the chance of interference that can cause 2.4Ghz signals to be flaky.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

This!

2.4Ghz is a crowded spectrum, competing with neighboring networks, microwaves, radars, bluetooth, wireless phones and keyboards\mice.

5Ghz, while having less range, operates in spectrum that is less susceptible to interference. When you connect to a 2.4 network, it might appear ok, but then something happens in the area and packets get dropped.

I always set my 5Ghz SSID different than the 2.4, so I can choose which network to join. If they share the same SSID, there is little to control which frequency you will connect with.Even 5Ghz 802.11n is more than enough bandwidth for streaming video, even 4K. So, connecting to 5Ghz WiFi effectively eliminates the chance of interference that can cause 2.4Ghz signals to be flaky.

Totally agree. This evening my 2.4Ghz is 353mbps but it can drop instantly to 0.6 in a flash!