ATV on 5Ghz via Airport Extreme?

[gwerhart0800]

I just swapped out my old router (SMC Barricade) for an Apple Extreme. I am keeping my old LinkSys WAP54G wireless access point for the older "G" only stuff in my house. I configured the AEBS to run an "N-Only" 5Ghz network which I was assuming that the ATV would be able to see. So far, no joy, the ATV only sees my "G" network (2.4Ghz) and a neighbor's 2.4Ghz "N" network.

I poked around the menus on the ATV, did a reboot, but I can't find anything that says how to get the ATV to see the 5Ghz network. I have an Airport Express that is linked to the AEBS on that 5Ghz network with no issues. (I have it connected to a 5 port hub and running in ProxySTA mode so that all of my office stuff + the mini serving iTunes to the ATV will be on the 5Ghz "N" network. That part seems fine.

The tech specs on the Apple web site don't provide any insight. I thought that people were using their ATV on a 5Ghz "N" network without issue after the "wide channels" problem was fixed in 2.0.2 firmware. Am I wrong here?

Any clues for the clueless?

Thanks

 

[Kittychan]

I just got Airport Extreme last week and it worked fine with my AppleTv...

Maybe you can turn your old router off first then turn your AEBS on and see how it goes.

If not working you can try plugin the ethernet port directly to your appletv and see.

 

[gwerhart0800]

I think I have figured it out ... the 5Ghz signal does not go through walls as well as the 2.4Ghz signal. I switched the AEBS and Express to "N" only on 2.4Ghz and the ATV could see the network. So, for now, I am running a 2.4Ghz "B/G" network and a 2.4Ghz "N" only network. It's a good thing I live way out in the country ... no interference.

In my case, the AEBS is in the basement and the ATV is sitting on a stack of components (Direct TV boxes, etc.) in the upstairs family room. I am thinking that the metal of the component boxes is enough to kill the 5Ghz signal. (I may try to move stuff around, but my wife has final say on how it looks.)

I played with the ATV in this configuration and it seems to be much more responsive for streamed movies. So, for the moment, I will leave it this way. If I ever build a house, I will get it wired with Cat-6 ... but for now, wireless will have to do.

 

[paduck]

I've always thought that the limited ability of 5ghz to penetrate walls somewhat defeated the purpose of wireless connectivity it supposedly provides.

 

[gwsat]

I never had any trouble getting my Apple TV to see my Time Capsule when it was configured for 801.11n, 5 GHz. Nevertheless, I have changed the TC’s configuration to 2.4 GHz because I had a lot of instability with 5 GHz transmissions. In 5 GHz mode, the network would periodically disappear from my MB Pro’s Airport and its connection with the Apple TV would be lost before the ATV could finish syncing a bunch of movie files stored on the TC. All of that was an unwelcome surprise, because the TC, ATV, and MB Pro are all in the same room and within line of sight of one another. After I reconfigured for 2.4 GHz I succeeded in syncing movie files comprising more than 15 GB without a bit of trouble. Consequently, I have reluctantly concluded that the current Airport 5 GHz mode is not yet ready for prime time.