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Ethernet / Wireless / AppleTV Question

M

mac&cheesey

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 21, 2008
294
6
I was reading this thread : Apple TV...streaming is 'hitchy'! What gives? and got to thinking about my own set-up. For the last week I have noticed stuttering in my video performance on my AppleTV when streaming content from iTunes.

Here is my set-up:
iMac in office.
Media drive with iTunes library connected to iMac via USB2.0
iMac connected to internet/network wirelessly via AEBS
AppleTV in living room connected wirelessly via AEBS
Media being streamed out to AppleTV

In reading the above noted thread though, it has occurred to me that my media content is being sent wirelessly from the iMac (with connected drive) to the AEBS and then wirelessly from the AEBS to the AppleTV in the other room.

If I hardwired the iMac to the AEBS via ethernet (they are about 12" apart) would I notice better performance at the AppleTV end? Also, as a side note, would I notice faster internet too? Since the iMac and AEBS are so close together I'm not really sure why I use wifi.

Thanks in advance.
 
Are you having any problems now with wireless streaming? If not, then don't worry about it. If so, then consider wiring your setup.

As for internet speeds, 802.11g is already faster than broadband, so you aren't going to get any faster internet speeds by going wired.
 
Yes you will notice a difference if you wire the iMac. This will help you save bandwidth etc on the AEBS.

The ethernet is faster and at the same time you will allow the AEBS to dedicate itself to streaming to your ATV and not have to deal with iMac.

At the moment you have too much buffering going on- the hard disk to the iMac, the iMac to the AEBS and the AEBS to the ATV.

I have my computer wired to the Time Capsule and the TC streaming to the ATV. No issues.
 
the biggest issue i found with 5 ish wireless devices was the apple tv would kill my overall speeds all around. for now its hardwired until i put up an N network to relive the stress it placed on my g. that said if running is an option its ALWAYS better. and will help
 
update

Thanks for the responses. An update...

I connected the iMac to the AEBS with ethernet.
I restarted iTunes (for some reason the AppleTV would not find the contents of my library although it did recognize that there was a library there. It just beach-balled trying to load the library).
I have started to watch another show. There was some mild stuttering immediately after starting it although I didn't get the blue progress bar at the bottom of the screen as I normally do. No stuttering after that, although it is still too early to tell. I've only watched about 10 minutes of video.

I'll update again after watching an evening's worth of TV and see how it does.

Thanks again,
m&c
 
I ahve been having real problems with streaming from my PC to :apple:tv, I thoguth it was due to the firmware update of Airport Extreme. Since rolling back the update I can now sync items purchased on :apple:tv to my PC but syncing the other way round is still a problem.. and it was all going so well! :confused:
 
update

So, after watching several tv shows (recorded from eyetv) the problem still exists.

It was never this bad before. And to be honest, I don't think wiring the iMac (with the connected iTunes media drive) to the AEBS with ethernet has helped the issue whatsoever.

Wasn't there an AEBS update recently? I think that may have been around the start of my problems.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
m&c
 
mac&cheesey said:
So, after watching several tv shows (recorded from eyetv) the problem still exists.

It was never this bad before. And to be honest, I don't think wiring the iMac (with the connected iTunes media drive) to the AEBS with ethernet has helped the issue whatsoever.

Wasn't there an AEBS update recently? I think that may have been around the start of my problems.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
m&c
Click to expand...

is the iMac connected to your home network by both wireless and Ethernet? turn off the wireless if so.

And yes, be sure your Airport base station firmware and client software are all up-to-date.

Something to keep in mind, AppleTV is 802.11n. If you Airport Base Station is running a 802.11n network in a/b/g-compatible mode, when an a/b/g client is connected the network bandwidth is significantly reduced. Meaning the n-Network drops down a gear so that it can 'talk' with the a/b/g clients. This could impact the streaming performance to the aTV.
 
mac&cheesey said:
So, after watching several tv shows (recorded from eyetv) the problem still exists.

It was never this bad before. And to be honest, I don't think wiring the iMac (with the connected iTunes media drive) to the AEBS with ethernet has helped the issue whatsoever.

Wasn't there an AEBS update recently? I think that may have been around the start of my problems.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
m&c
Click to expand...

It sounds like we're having the same problem. My ATV is on wired Ethernet to a regular Linksys wireless router/switch and all of my content (EyeTV or otherwise) pops up the blue loading bar every few minutes. I've done everything I can bloody think of with no luck. See https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/676205/
 
last update (i hope!)

Okay,
rikers_mailbox...
The imac is not connected by both wireless and Ethernet. it was during my first post but then I hardwired it with Ethernet and turned off the airport on the iMac.
As for the updates, I actually think that updating was the cause of the problem. More on that below...
Only wireless n clients on the network (with the odd exception of an iPod touch or iPhone but even then it was only for short times and the stuttering of the video did not correspond to the times when said devices were on the network).

So now for the update...
I did some searching on the Apple Discussion Forums. There seem to be many complaints and issues surrounding the 7.4.1 Airport update. A common suggestion was to downgrade to 7.3.2. I did the downgrade for both the AEBS and the AE and, since downgrading, haven't noticed any stuttering.

This seems to have solved the issue. If anything changes I'll post it here.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and efforts.

m&c
 
Undecided said:
Actually, I think you're both right - and wrong. According to this review at Ars Technica, actual throughput is on the order of 40mbps, far shy of the 100mbps (or more likely 80 or so) you get from wired.
Click to expand...

I can easily maintain 15 MB/sec (126 mbps) with my Macbook and Airport Extreme Base Station, with peaks to 20 MB/sec (168 mbps). Your mileage may vary.

A.
 

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mac&cheesey said:
Okay,
rikers_mailbox...
The imac is not connected by both wireless and Ethernet. it was during my first post but then I hardwired it with Ethernet and turned off the airport on the iMac.
As for the updates, I actually think that updating was the cause of the problem. More on that below...
Only wireless n clients on the network (with the odd exception of an iPod touch or iPhone but even then it was only for short times and the stuttering of the video did not correspond to the times when said devices were on the network).

So now for the update...
I did some searching on the Apple Discussion Forums. There seem to be many complaints and issues surrounding the 7.4.1 Airport update. A common suggestion was to downgrade to 7.3.2. I did the downgrade for both the AEBS and the AE and, since downgrading, haven't noticed any stuttering.

This seems to have solved the issue. If anything changes I'll post it here.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and efforts.

m&c
Click to expand...

How do i downgrade to 7.3.2 as i can find it anywhere on apples site

thanks
 
downgrading process

Santangelo...

Go to the Spotlight and find the Airport Utility.
Open Airport Utility.
Select the wireless device (AEBS or AE) that you want to downgrade.
Click "Manual Setup" in the bottom left.
Under the Summary tab put the cursor over the word "version". As you put the cursor over the word you'll see it get surrounded by grey with a small arrow.
Click on the word "version".
A window will drop down.
In that window you can select whatever version you want in the pull down menu.

Good luck. Downgrading to 7.3.2 seems to have fixed my issue thus far. I hope it works for you.

Take care,
m&c
 
Amazing that it was the update. I have the exact same set-up but with TC and AEBS. I hardwired the iMac to the TC and have had great success with streaming.

I must admit that the TC and the ATV are actually within a line of sight.

How is your set-up now?
 
mac&cheesey said:
Santangelo...

Go to the Spotlight and find the Airport Utility.
Open Airport Utility.
Select the wireless device (AEBS or AE) that you want to downgrade.
Click "Manual Setup" in the bottom left.
Under the Summary tab put the cursor over the word "version". As you put the cursor over the word you'll see it get surrounded by grey with a small arrow.
Click on the word "version".
A window will drop down.
In that window you can select whatever version you want in the pull down menu.

Good luck. Downgrading to 7.3.2 seems to have fixed my issue thus far. I hope it works for you.

Take care,
m&c
Click to expand...

Hi

i only have one option an that is the 7.4.1 is there somewhere i can download from

thanks
 
on and on it goes...

Okay,

So the problem persists. However, I have narrowed it down somewhat, but the reason eludes me.

It seems that the stuttering only occurs when I'm watching television shows that I've recorded on my iMac with EyeTV3, converted with the EyeTV3 software to the AppleTV, imported to iTunes and am streaming to the AppleTV in the living room. The problem does not occur when watching movies that are also in iTunes and are streaming to the AppleTV.

The TV shows are converted with EyeTV3 and the movies are converted in Toast 10 Titanium. I'm surprised that the conversion process could cause stuttering during the streaming but I can't see where else in the chain of events something is getting messed up.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? How could I go about fixing this? I'll double check to make sure the EyeTV3 software is up to date but I'm fairly certain it is.

Thanks,
m&c

PS... santangelo; not sure where to download it. I had the option to downgrade to those versions in my drop down menu. Sorry I couldn't help more.
 
santangelo said:
that link is no good as the download link just dents you to asupport page

Cheers anyway
Click to expand...

Sorry, I stopped at the download page. I guess Apple would prefer that people don't use the old firmware. There were more than the usual number of complaints with it.

A.
 
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