ATV4k saturates my gigabit network. Seems to work better on wifi.

[PinkyMacGodess]

This has been rather nuts.

If the ATV4k is on and streaming, the entire network is practically unusable. Nothing can get out, although I can still get email announcements but can't check them.

After doing some research, people said to switch it to wifi, and it works better. Well, I did, and it seems to work, but 'muscular' websites still choke off. Odd thing is that the ATV4k doesn't seem to cache as much, which makes no sense. The wifi connection is a garden hose compared to the gigabit, and it seems to defy logic that it appears to be working better on the garden hose.

I'm stumped.

Is it the ATV4k that is naughty because of a defect int he software, or is there an issue with the network, which seems hard to believe as it works fine 99.9% of the time when the ATV4k isn't on.

Is this 'normal' for this model? I almost think I need a separate provider just for the dang ATV's! How crazy stupid and expensive is that! Why won't they play nice? I was going to try dialing the resolution on the ATV, but didn't know if it's possible, and if it is, that could blow...

And the 'worst half' is furious about losing the internet during a YouTube binge fest.

HELP!!!

 

[barbu]

I use a wired ATV with no issues. I wonder if there is something amiss in your network, such as IP address duplication or something. Can you describe your network configuration?

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I use WiFi for my Apple TV 4K again with zero issues when streaming iTunes 4K Dolby Vision films from their servers. I do 5ghz rather than 2.4ghz which in my area is plagued with interference and drops from 403mbps to 0.3mbps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again no problems in the olden days with my Apple TV3 in 2012 using 6mbps broadband and Apple TV4 in 2015 with 50mbps broadband.

Sounds very bizarre!

But no problem using WiFi as Apple seem to implement WiFi antennas well with ATV and the 'majority' of their portfolio

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

See, that's the real issue. I've had every version of Apple TV, and it's the ATV4k that seems to suck the hardest. Suck on the network.

It's hard to believe that one ATV4k can bring a gigabit network to its knees.

My configuration? A SonicWall firewall, a gigabit backbone, with a fiber link to the living part of the house. Cat5e cable throughout. It's been solid for just about everything, until now...

 

[cmaier]

See, that's the real issue. I've had every version of Apple TV, and it's the ATV4k that seems to suck the hardest. Suck on the network.

It's hard to believe that one ATV4k can bring a gigabit network to its knees.

My configuration? A SonicWall firewall, a gigabit backbone, with a fiber link to the living part of the house. Cat5e cable throughout. It's been solid for just about everything, until now...

I used to have a similar problem, but I replaced my router and now everything is fine. Maybe there is a switch or router that is not happy with your apple tv for some reason?

 

[hdrummon]

I have 4 Apple TV 4ks on gig Verizon Fios line with zero problems whatsoever. I would check the router situation and replace probably. Lots of great ones out there. This should not be happening.

 

[HDFan]

f the ATV4k is on and streaming, the entire network is practically unusable.

When this is happening try to determine what is happening with your network. For an initial check run speed test on the Apple TV and the other devices when you are having problems. A better test is to run a local network speed tester, such as tamosoft throughput tester. You run the server (normally on a mac) and then test with Apple TV and IOS clients. This allows you to test your network, eliminating your internet connection as a factor.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I did three sets of pings, one to the local DNS server, one to the inside port on the firewall, and one to the inside port of the U-Verse RG, and aside from occasional spikes in the 200+ms range, everything looks fine.

So after running wifi for a while and doing the pings, I switched back to wired, and it seems to be working better. I'm on MacRumors, and it's working. Before, I wouldn't be able to. I'm thinking it's an ATV4k issue somehow... Being on wifi 'taught' it to be nice? Hmm...

 

[HDFan]

I did three sets of pings,

Pings can be useful, but for best diagnosis you need a bandwidth tester.

I'm thinking it's an ATV4k issue somehow..

The vast majority of problems are network, not atv issues.

 

[konqerror]

A SonicWall firewall

I agree it's likely your router. The "cheap" small SonicWalls really can't handle much traffic, particularly when you turn on features like IPS, deep packet inspection, etc. You'll find throughput often drops to 10s of megabits. Not much different on other vendors like Cisco ASA either.

You should be able to monitor CPU consumption while it's happening.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

The Sonicwall is a TZ500. It's not a windup toy firewall. I don't think it's a large part of the problem. It's well capable of handling the traffic from my U-Verse connection, I'd think.

 

[HDFan]

It's well capable of handling the traffic from my U-Verse connection, I'd think.

Looks like a good ethernet router. If you install the Developer HUD on the ATV you can compare how much bandwidth it is using on ethernet vs WiFi.

 

[MarkAtl]

I’m running Untangle on an overkill system (repurposed HP 800 G1) and have zero issues streaming on the ATV4K either wired or wireless. My “wired” is really via a MoCA 2.0 adapter as I only have coax and not an Ethernet run.

i also have 5 ATV4Ks in the house and none have issues, some are wireless. Streaming Apple 4K movies, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc.

 

[konqerror]

The Sonicwall is a TZ500. It's not a windup toy firewall. I don't think it's a large part of the problem. It's well capable of handling the traffic from my U-Verse connection, I'd think.

View attachment 895246

Not really. Reading between the lines, Threat Protection costs you half the throughput, Anti-malware cuts it in half, IPS gives you 70%. Therefore, you turn all of those on, you can make 250 Mbps, which is about half of my home cable. Besides, those are always the best case, some traffic types require more complex inspection, which chokes them up.

The root problem with those things is they stick firmware meant for a multi-socket rackmount Xeon system on crappy embedded processors.

In any case, you should be able to connect to it and monitor its CPU usage, instead of just assuming expensive=good.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Well, I'm really getting pissed. *Something* is going on, and I can't figure it out.

I've got the Linksys Velop mesh system, and three AP's. They are spaced as far apart from each other as I can get them. So I have the ATV4k running on wireless. It's feet from a Velop AP. It can't play a streaming movie from the media server (A Mac Mini) without the thing bombing out based on the wifi dropping. They are on the same gigabit network as everything else. I'm at a loss now to determine what's going on. Damn. When even my LAN is bombing, I'm just bummed...

There has to be an answer.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Not really. Reading between the lines, Threat Protection costs you half the throughput, Anti-malware cuts it in half, IPS gives you 70%. Therefore, you turn all of those on, you can make 250 Mbps, which is about half of my home cable. Besides, those are always the best case, some traffic types require more complex inspection, which chokes them up.

The root problem with those things is they stick firmware meant for a multi-socket rackmount Xeon system on crappy embedded processors.

In any case, you should be able to connect to it and monitor its CPU usage, instead of just assuming expensive=good.

None of the security functions are turned on. This is an NFR Sonicwall, and I spent a few hours on the phone with them last week trying to get it updated. They used to have s SKU to update an NFR unit to a non-NFR status, but apparently since they were spit out my Mike Dell, they figured they didn't need that money (OR wanted the money of selling another TZ500?), AND short answer, I'm looking for a replacement firewall. But that still doesn't explain what's going on with the network right now.

The SW logs seem rather uninteresting, although there does seem to be an Apple device that is trying to get its DHCP address fairly frequently. Fing shows it as 'generic', and can't get the MAC, but the SW says it's an Apple device. I guess I go looking at all the ATV's and see if I can find the chatty one.

But gigabit ethernet should be more resiliant than this is, and I'd hope that the Velop mesh wifi was more robust, considering that Apple recommended it after they dropped their own system.

So my LAN is crap right now. Hmm... Nice.

)Oh, NFR wasn't very expensive. And it came with a year of everything.)
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Looking at a Cisco FirePower 1120. Yeah, I'll get the support package.

 

[nutmac]

None of the security functions are turned on. This is an NFR Sonicwall, and I spent a few hours on the phone with them last week trying to get it updated. They used to have s SKU to update an NFR unit to a non-NFR status, but apparently since they were spit out my Mike Dell, they figured they didn't need that money (OR wanted the money of selling another TZ500?), AND short answer, I'm looking for a replacement firewall. But that still doesn't explain what's going on with the network right now.

Do you have QoS turned on by any chance? Some QoS doesn't get along with Apple TV's Ethernet connection.

 

[apolkowski]

I had similar case some time ago with IPTV. The reason was IP address conflict in the network. One of devices had static address which was not excluded from DHCP range.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

No QoS, and the Sonicwall does DHCP. I check the Windows server logs fairly regularly, and have never seen a duplicate IP address message. The DHCP pool is large enough that it *shouldn't* have an issue, and there is only one DHCP server too. The Velop is in bridge mode.

Weird user story: I briefly had a 'client' that had tried to put two Netgear 'routers' in their home network. It was a weird setup. They had a home based business, and someone was apparently trying to segment their network to keep the home and business networks apart. (Which was impossible, except for security on the server. They obviously had no server based antivirus either) Well, when I got there, they were having comm problems on their business side of the network. I started looking at systems, and some would connect to the server fine, and others wouldn't. It was odd. One system would work fine all day, and the next, not able to see the server. Finally it dawned on me to check the IP addresses after a printer 'disappeared'. Yep, two pools. Whoever 'setup', I use that term loosely, their network, had the 'home' router installed backwards. They had two active DHCP servers on the network, and somehow the 'home' side was still getting addresses, but so was the 'business' side, and it was just luck of the draw as to what address they got. I flipped it around, and verified that there was only one DHCP server, and the 'business' side settled down, but then someone flipped the damn second router around again. (Probably because they wanted to access the 'business' side from the home side (eyes rolling)) I finally quit them. The wife was a flake, the husband a hothead, and the daughter was chatting with someone on the internet, and planning to meet them in a nearby city. What a mess.

 

[HDFan]

Whoever 'setup', I use that term loosely, their network, had the 'home' router installed backwards.

I flipped it around,

What do you mean by "backwards" and "flipped it around"?

 

[bearda]

What do you mean by "backwards" and "flipped it around"?

I'm guessing modem connected to the LAN side and the client on the WAN side.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

The two routers were installed such that one would get an address from it, and the other side could get addresses from both routers. They were using a different scope on each, which was surprisingly sophisticated. Whoever set it up at least changed the scope for the 'business' side to give the same pool range that the server was in. It was such a mess.

Users are usually their own worst enemies.

 

[stockseer]

I have 4 ATV 4k (5th Gen.) models; often with 2 in-use simultaneously. Also using multiple iMacs (stock market analyst) on as well. Have NEVER had a problem with thruput, aside a nagging synch issue most notable using AT&T TV Now (CNBC or any audio will tend to lead video regardless of settings). With AT&T wireless gigabit service I have ample provisions (ethernet over 900 mpbs symmetrical and 400+ using WiFi). I will say that the Apple TV WiFi speedtest is half what it is when I use a short ethernet cable to connect to a "mesh" extender across the house. That truly improves speed so I use it in every room except the home-office where the ATV WiFi is fine; but only feet from the wireless router. Also you might check the WiFi 'channel' to be sure you're on one with less traffic not the same as your neighbors. Just a thought. (And I hope the AppleTV 6th Generation has HDMI 2.1, as that might relieve my sync issues.)

 

[mannyvel]

If you're streaming over wired what I'd to is perform some cable tests between your ATV and Mini. I'll bet that one of your cables is wonky. Cables do go bad, somehow.

Since it's only the ATV, maybe a wire frayed at its jack or something ridiculous like that.

Make sure that everything's GB and full-duplex at every connection point. I've seen cases where the device was fine to the switch, but the switch<->switch connection for some reason negotiated a 10mbit connection. Switch2 to the other device was GBE/full as well. When cables go bad, weird things happen.

Always check the hardware first, because it's physical and fails. Also it's super-easy to check compared to trying to troubleshoot software issues.

The multiple requests for DHCP makes me think there's a short in the cable run.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

If you're streaming over wired what I'd to is perform some cable tests between your ATV and Mini. I'll bet that one of your cables is wonky. Cables do go bad, somehow.

Since it's only the ATV, maybe a wire frayed at its jack or something ridiculous like that.

Make sure that everything's GB and full-duplex at every connection point. I've seen cases where the device was fine to the switch, but the switch<->switch connection for some reason negotiated a 10mbit connection. Switch2 to the other device was GBE/full as well. When cables go bad, weird things happen.

Always check the hardware first, because it's physical and fails. Also it's super-easy to check compared to trying to troubleshoot software issues.

The multiple requests for DHCP makes me think there's a short in the cable run.

I'm trying to get the boss to okay replacing the wiring. I'm looking at using cat6a, because it's at least 'future-proof'. I could go and replace all the patch cables, but what's the point, because if it is that, I've spent money on cat6 patch cables, and don't have the full benefit. *shrug* The update isn't going to be all that expensive. Well, not hideous expensive, I guess...
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I have 4 ATV 4k (5th Gen.) models; often with 2 in-use simultaneously. Also using multiple iMacs (stock market analyst) on as well. Have NEVER had a problem with thruput, aside a nagging synch issue most notable using AT&T TV Now (CNBC or any audio will tend to lead video regardless of settings). With AT&T wireless gigabit service I have ample provisions (ethernet over 900 mpbs symmetrical and 400+ using WiFi). I will say that the Apple TV WiFi speedtest is half what it is when I use a short ethernet cable to connect to a "mesh" extender across the house. That truly improves speed so I use it in every room except the home-office where the ATV WiFi is fine; but only feet from the wireless router. Also you might check the WiFi 'channel' to be sure you're on one with less traffic not the same as your neighbors. Just a thought. (And I hope the AppleTV 6th Generation has HDMI 2.1, as that might relieve my sync issues.)

The 5Ghz channel is almost totally clear. So it's got to be something in the 'plumbing'. Grr... I used to hate things like this when I ran my business. You could spend a lot of time trying to troubleshoot the mess, or a lot of money in testers to try to find the fault, or just replace runs and see what fixed it.

I may actually try replacing patch cables. It could work, but updating/replacing the drops should still be done at some point. It's cat5e cable throughout. Gigabit fiber would be great too.