Call me a troll if you want, but I find the Apple TV to be very shortcoming on the things it promises to do. Perhaps it's my wi-fi signal (which has been complained about in another thread, but that was Xbox-related). Perhaps it's the location of the device. Perhaps I got a faulty unit. But for the sole functionality I bought the Apple TV for - to stream music from my MBPs and iDevices to it and through my sound bar - it fails more than it passes.
And now, to top things off, the directions for resetting it per Apple's website don't work for me. I hold the Menu button and the Down button until the light flashes rapidly.. then nothing. The animal slideshow continues. Every button pushed via the remote results in a flashing light. My computer finds it on the network (THIS time it does, anyway) and plays music fine, for the most part (it skips and goes silent usually once or twice a song), but I still can't push a button. I'd rather not have to unplug the device for thirty seconds every time I wish to use it, as it seems to happen about that often.
Okay, so I ranted a bit. But as high as my expectations were for a device to work nearly perfectly, it's fallen way, way short. Heck, Netflix doesn't even always work on it. And AirPlay is hit or miss depending on whether my iDevice will find it without me having to restart the iDevice (which may not be a fault of the Apple TV, but happens with it and AirPlay regardless).
So am I the only one who faces these frustrations on a consistent basis with the Apple TV, or can someone share their disappointment (as my music stops playing completely.. again)?
I never understood these threads. If its defective, exchange it. Problem solved. Mine works perfectly.
Panch0 said:Here are some things I would try, related to Wireless.
1) make sure you have set up the 5GHz network on the AEBS
2) make sure that you are extending the 5GHz network on the AE
3) move the AE (not the AEBS) to near the entertainment center
4) plug the ATV into the ethernet port on the AE - I think there is a seting in the AP Setup utility that you have to enable for this.
5) optionally, you could also check that the ATV is using the 5GHz SSID, but if the wire to the AE is working, you could just leave that.
I had similar problems streaming to my PS3 (only has wireless G), and the above setup made a huge improvement for me.
the 5GHz band typically has less interference than 2.4 GHz...
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)
Can't. Not all wireless devices in the household run on 5 GHz band.
Airport Extreme runs 2.4 and 5 GHz at the same time. It is Dual band. Moving the things that CAN do 5GHz of the 2.4 GHz band will reduce the interference.
If I'm not mistaken, only channels 1, 6, and 11 are good on 2.4 GHz, correct?
Irishman said:If I'm not mistaken, only channels 1, 6, and 11 are good on 2.4 GHz, correct?
Yes! stay away from the other channels. They will lessen your performance.
Also, there could be a possibility of neighboring wi-fi networks nearby on channels that could be interfering with your performance. (In other words, they could be on channel 2, 5, 9, etc). There are some programs available for Mac and PC that let you take a look under the Wi-Fi hood, so to speak, in order to see this data. The names are escaping me at the moment. Maybe someone else can recall them?
I could but that very well defeats the purpose of having wireless streaming capabilities. I mean, I know it's my own fault if I refuse to test that out, but the whole point of having wireless streaming capabilities is to be able to place it nearly anywhere within a reasonable distance of the router (given the quality of the router). Plugging it in directly to the router requires moving my sound bar which is hooked up to two tvs and the Apple TV directly. If it works, it proves nothing but the wireless quality is lacking, which apparently no amount of routers will fix because you suggest that streaming from two routers to the Apple may be too much. So it's either I rewire the broadband in the house to move the modem and thus the router closer to my Apple TV location (which is likely to move from TV to TV depending on circumstances).. or I accept that the Apple TV is the problem here.
Not trying to be rude or put down any help, I just think it's pointless to plug an Apple TV directly into a router to test it. Like I said, if it works, then great. I learned that I need to rewire the broadband into my bedroom then anywhere else I want to use the Apple TV. Either that, or I need to buy a much more quality router than a 2nd generation AEBS.
You're right, it is dual-band. But mine's not SIMULTANEOUS dual-band (not my model, anyway). So I can only run one or the other.
I suppose what I'll have to do is plug the Express in my room and behind my TVs and plug the Apple TV in directly and see if that improves the streaming.
For the record, I've acknowledged that it's most likely my network causing the issues. It just seems odd that all devices in my room (laptops, iPhones, and Xbox) show full bars on each device.. the Apple TV shows 4 out of 5 (or is 5 out of 6?) when looking at Network settings. So it very could be the wifi antenna inside the Apple TV causing the issues, but if a wired fix is all that's needed, I'll give it a shot.
So am I the only one who faces these frustrations on a consistent basis with the Apple TV, or can someone share their disappointment (as my music stops playing completely.. again)?
I never understood these threads. If its defective, exchange it. Problem solved. Mine works perfectly.
I, too, have had issues. Namely, I routinely have to turn Home Sharing off, and then on again on the ATV2 in order for it to find my computer. I have two ATV2s and they both do this. My iTunes library is on a new Mac Mini, which is hardwired to an Airport Extreme, so there shouldn't be hardware compatibility issues.
I, too, have had issues. Namely, I routinely have to turn Home Sharing off, and then on again on the ATV2 in order for it to find my computer. I have two ATV2s and they both do this. My iTunes library is on a new Mac Mini, which is hardwired to an Airport Extreme, so there shouldn't be hardware compatibility issues.
There are also features I wish I had, such as a shuffle for TV shows (or just the ability to have it play an entire series of something in sequence). Also more content, like Hulu for example.
I'm going to ask the stupid question - you leave iTunes running on your Mini all the time?
Yes, the Mini is always on and iTunes is always open.
I, too, have had issues. Namely, I routinely have to turn Home Sharing off, and then on again on the ATV2 in order for it to find my computer. I have two ATV2s and they both do this. My iTunes library is on a new Mac Mini, which is hardwired to an Airport Extreme, so there shouldn't be hardware compatibility issues.