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Do not use ATV2 for Netflix

laurim said:
What's your ATV sitting on or near? Just curious. A few people have reported simply moving their ATV drastically improved their connection.
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It sits on top of an empty stand with just the TV. Like I said in my post, this entire issue is both hardwired and wireless. It has nothing to do with my home network connection.

The ATV2 has a network test which tests your streaming speed with iTunes. Whenever I test this, and I have done this also with Apple Care on the phone, it ALWAYS passes the 10mb + speed test. The issue is not with my network at all. The network test is proof.
 
Let me just chime in with the no problem crowd. 2 ATV2s, Time Warner 10-ish connection, both ATVs wireless through a Time Machine and I sometimes move one ATV to the kitchen TV. Never so much as a rebuffering with Netflix.
Hope the others get it squared away.
 
nah no problems with my apple tv2 with netflix. I have everything going thru my time machine. Ps3, macbook pro mac mini and iphone 4. I rarely get a hiccup thru netflix. Just watched the jersey shore season 2 the other night. lol.

"cabs here "
 
I'm glad you posted because I have AT&T 6mb/s, their fastest DSL option available. I'm having problems with Netflix too. It's getting really irritating, let me know if you figure out a solution. I haven't updated because I put XBMC to stream movies from desktop. Please let me know if you figure something out because this sucks. I wish I could get FiOS, that would be nice. AT&T's 6 mb/s blows!!

wiredup72 said:
Long time lurker first time poster -- and yes I joined so I could start posting about this Netflix/Atv2 problem.

The problem is not fixed with the new update. Plus, I was given a replacement apple tv today from the Apple store and still the same problems.

To anyone who thinks they are unconcerned about the stuttering and pausing issues, and anyone else having these problems, start calling Netflix and ask them what connection speeds you have actually been getting with which devices.

I have been working with Netflix and Apple Care for over a week with this streaming issue. Here is what Netflix and I have consistently found.
(I have 20mb Verizon FiOS service and use a time capsule for my network and have methodically used wireless and wired connections)

Macbook Pro - we have tested my connection speeds multiple times of day and night and I regularly get 12-20mb/sec bandwidth connection speeds.

iPhone - same tests and consistently get 10-18 mb/sec connection speeds.

AppleTV2 - same tests, over and over, day and night, .25-1.2mb/sec. THIS is the problem. Netflix tells me that at 1.2 mb/sec the service will start pausing and having aud/vid sync problems and connection problems.

This problem with Apple TV/Netflix has been consistent from the day I bought the ATV2 three months ago. It works sometimes and we can watch shows, but sometimes a show that is 30 minutes may take 1-2 hours to finish because the stops and starts.

I see threads all over the net about this issue and even the people who say they don't have problems admit that it pauses a lot. Those people should start calling Netflix and find out their actual connection speeds and post them in my opinion.

Netflix sounds pretty bummed about it when the talk to me because I have told them I have the service because of the ATV and will probably cancel because it is mostly unwatchable. I would look for another device, but I use my ATV2, plus my old ATV to network several stereo systems and I really like AirPlay so far. I would rather this damn Netflix thing just worked right.

Cheers.
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wiredup72 said:
It sits on top of an empty stand with just the TV. Like I said in my post, this entire issue is both hardwired and wireless. It has nothing to do with my home network connection.

The ATV2 has a network test which tests your streaming speed with iTunes. Whenever I test this, and I have done this also with Apple Care on the phone, it ALWAYS passes the 10mb + speed test. The issue is not with my network at all. The network test is proof.
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Your network may be fine, but doesn't mean the ATV (Netflix part) isn't having a problem with something on the network. Whether it is your router (including settings like DNS server) or equipment on ISP's backend.

IF I was testing I would take the Time Capsule out of the equation. I would look at the DNS servers I use. Make sure it hooked up directly to a TV.

I mean how else do explain that it works for most folks? Gotta be something particular between your ATV and the Netflix servers that causes this.

Could be some ATV settings that creates a bug that drops bandwidth down.


.....hell maybe FIOS in your area weeds out Netflix traffic from ATVs.

Anyway I have FIOS and works fine. I can count the hiccups/pauses in 6 months on 1 finger.
 
RoarinRow said:
I used to have problems renting from iTunes and Netflix. I would have long wait times with iTunes and lots of buffering with Netflix.

To fix my problem I did the following.

- Changed from Comcast cable internet to SureWest optic fiber internet (25Mbps up/down, compared to 16Mbps with Comcast)
- Changed wireless router from D-Link 650 to Apple Extreme
- Replaced local DNS entries from SureWest to OpenDNS
- Relocated other wireless devices near the AppleTV2 to other areas of the house
- Relocated the Apple Extreme to have line of sight with my AppleTV2
- Changed my channel on my router to be different than my neighbor's

Now all my streaming rental and Home Sharing works almost immediately.
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I forgot to mention that I installed a DNS tool from Google called 'namebench' on my MBP - http://code.google.com/p/namebench/

It locates the fastest DNS service in your location.
 
I've had mine since it basically came out and I have had nearly no issues with netflix. I had AT&T 1mbps Internet and it worked fine! (with a ton of buffering in the beginning tho). Switched to comcast 15 Mbps and it's even better! Love the thing.
Sully
 
trip1ex said:
Your network may be fine, but doesn't mean the ATV (Netflix part) isn't having a problem with something on the network. Whether it is your router (including settings like DNS server) or equipment on ISP's backend.

IF I was testing I would take the Time Capsule out of the equation. I would look at the DNS servers I use. Make sure it hooked up directly to a TV.

I mean how else do explain that it works for most folks? Gotta be something particular between your ATV and the Netflix servers that causes this.

Could be some ATV settings that creates a bug that drops bandwidth down.


.....hell maybe FIOS in your area weeds out Netflix traffic from ATVs.

Anyway I have FIOS and works fine. I can count the hiccups/pauses in 6 months on 1 finger.
Click to expand...

All been tried.

I don't think FIOS would be weeding out traffic on ATV's when I can get 20mb/sec on my laptop and 12mb+ on my iphone. I don't even know if FIOS even has the capability to read the specific packets that say what device was connecting to Netflix. They would only see packet headers and encrypted data.

Apple Care and I even ran the same show on all three devices at once and Netflix said I had over 10mb on the laptop, 8mb+ on the iphone and still a measly .5-1.0 on the ATV.

I am not doubting anyone that says they aren't having pausing issues.
As of now I do doubt anyone who claims they are getting HD streaming from Netflix with their ATV. Again, the only way to know is to call Netflix and ask them what their connection speed was for a specific show. I want to hear of proof that people are actually getting 5mb+ connections on their ATV2.
 
wiredup72 said:
All been tried.

I don't think FIOS would be weeding out traffic on ATV's when I can get 20mb/sec on my laptop and 12mb+ on my iphone. I don't even know if FIOS even has the capability to read the specific packets that say what device was connecting to Netflix. They would only see packet headers and encrypted data.

Apple Care and I even ran the same show on all three devices at once and Netflix said I had over 10mb on the laptop, 8mb+ on the iphone and still a measly .5-1.0 on the ATV.

I am not doubting anyone that says they aren't having pausing issues.
As of now I do doubt anyone who claims they are getting HD streaming from Netflix with their ATV. Again, the only way to know is to call Netflix and ask them what their connection speed was for a specific show. I want to hear of proof that people are actually getting 5mb+ connections on their ATV2.
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I took your challenge. It's 9:20 pm central time. I went on Netflix and found the first HD movie I could find (The Chaperone, lol). It buffered for a couple seconds and is running perfectly. I called Netflix and the woman told me my connection speed to them is 1.32 Mbps. So, yes, it's not 5 Mbps but the movie is playing perfectly and looks great (little to no quality throttling visible on my 46" LCD). I fast-forwarded 45 minutes to try to make it choke and it didn't. She said if I do experience any problems I should power cycle the modem and the ATV. But I don't have any problems, so I won't. :)

edit: sorry I didn't do this immediately but my speedtest is 9.8 Mbps at 9:35pm
 
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Add me to the list of people who haven't had any problems. I just got my ATV yesterday, hooked it up and watched a couple episodes of the office in HD without any stuttering or lag. I have U-Verse 18mpbs
 
No issues here with my ATV2. I also have a PS3 and use that as well. FIOS, 25mbps down, 15 up. ATV2 is connected over wifi (n) to my AEBS. PS3 is wired to AEBS.
 
Che Castro said:
This thread still going on huh
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It's going because a group of people continue to have problems, despite tinkering for long periods of time with it. I'm kind of amused at some of the steps people are suggesting to get things working - not that these aren't valid things to try. But really, nobody should need to spend time tweaking DNS settings, resetting, exchanging devices, etc. for a consumer level device such as this, especially since other devices do not exhibit the same problem on people's same home network.
 
No issue with my Apple TV with 4.2 firmware, I haven't updated mine to 4.2.1 yet.

My connection is only 7Mbps (top) downlink and <1Mbps uplink Qwest DSL.
 
richpjr said:
It's going because a group of people continue to have problems, despite tinkering for long periods of time with it. I'm kind of amused at some of the steps people are suggesting to get things working - not that these aren't valid things to try. But really, nobody should need to spend time tweaking DNS settings, resetting, exchanging devices, etc. for a consumer level device such as this, especially since other devices do not exhibit the same problem on people's same home network.
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I think the point here is that many of us are just curious as to why this device works perfectly for some and horribly for others--such a wide variance in quality of service is perplexing. :confused:
 
bobr1952 said:
I think the point here is that many of us are just curious as to why this device works perfectly for some and horribly for others--such a wide variance in quality of service is perplexing. :confused:
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It's not that perplexing. You see these same threads on the Roku forums and any other major Netflix streaming device. Netflix does nothing but streaming so a non-optimal network setup or flaky network connections result in a terrible Netflix experience. Even minor things such a DNS setups can affect Netflix since they rely on DNS to find the best data center for each person to stream from. There's not much Apple can do to improve streaming to these users. About the best you can hope for is that Apple can improve the software to better recover from bad connections. However, this isn't really going to help the overall streaming experience for these people.
 
bozzykid said:
It's not that perplexing. You see these same threads on the Roku forums and any other major Netflix streaming device. Netflix does nothing but streaming so a non-optimal network setup or flaky network connections result in a terrible Netflix experience. Even minor things such a DNS setups can affect Netflix since they rely on DNS to find the best data center for each person to stream from. There's not much Apple can do to improve streaming to these users. About the best you can hope for is that Apple can improve the software to better recover from bad connections. However, this isn't really going to help the overall streaming experience for these people.
Click to expand...

In my case, my router is handling all DNS, not the devices. Using the same DNS setting from it, my PS3 and XBox 360 stream perfectly, while my ATV2 stutters and hangs.
 
richpjr said:
In my case, my router is handling all DNS, not the devices. Using the same DNS setting from it, my PS3 and XBox 360 stream perfectly, while my ATV2 stutters and hangs.
Click to expand...

Yes--that would be my point--and maybe perplexing wasn't the right word--entertaining maybe? :D
 
bozzykid said:
It's not that perplexing. You see these same threads on the Roku forums and any other major Netflix streaming device. Netflix does nothing but streaming so a non-optimal network setup or flaky network connections result in a terrible Netflix experience. Even minor things such a DNS setups can affect Netflix since they rely on DNS to find the best data center for each person to stream from. There's not much Apple can do to improve streaming to these users. About the best you can hope for is that Apple can improve the software to better recover from bad connections. However, this isn't really going to help the overall streaming experience for these people.
Click to expand...

Nah, Netflix is not streaming a live event. They could buffer their streams a little more and solve many of the problems people are having.
 
I tried netflix and hated it! I streamed it from my tivo series 3 at the time and it buffered like crazy and this is with 30mbps download!

I have since traded my tivo for a apple tv with that said you can't blame apple tv when other products are having the same issues.
 
FERRARIFRANCIS said:
I tried netflix and hated it! I streamed it from my tivo series 3 at the time and it buffered like crazy and this is with 30mbps download!

I have since traded my tivo for a apple tv with that said you can't blame apple tv when other products are having the same issues.
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I think you are missing the point. There are several people posting that it doesn't work on the ATV2, but does on other devices on the same network. It does appear to be something with the ATV2 that affects a few "lucky" people.
 
I did have a couple of episodes with my ATV2 where Netflix video would spontaneously speed up for about 5-10 seconds - I'd have to rewind and replay that section to see what I missed. No buffering issues, though.

I still have better luck with Netflix on the ATV2 than I ever had with it on the WII.
 
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