How quickly does your appleTV start streaming?

[macfaninpdx]

My appleTV(s) are on their own dedicated 5GHz network. I did this because I did not want any 2.4GHz devices connecting and slowing them down. But I have found that even on their own network, the time from when I click play to the time they start playing seems to vary quite a bit. I have tried to optimize my network by using wide channels, and using only the 5GHz band. I even put on a password to make sure no neighbors are loitering.

I do realize that the actual time depends on the size of the movie file, among other factors. But I wanted to get an idea of what other people are experiencing. Most of the lag I am seeing seems to be before the blue progress bar appears. Once the blue bar appears, it begins playing almost immediately. Sometimes I select the movie from the menu and wait 1-2 minutes for the blue progress bar to appear. Other times it only takes a 10-20 seconds.

So what is your experience? To be helpful, please state your network type(5GHz, 2.4GHz, shared), and general observations.

 

[iSaygoodbye]

pretty fast for me

 

[rayward]

I have dual band wireless (the old fashioned way) so that the ATV runs on an unhindered n network. Streaming iTunes content is virtually instantaneous, and playing downloaded content - even HD - has only a few seconds lag while it buffers. My iMac with the stored content is connected to the router via ethernet, which may help.

 

[VTMac]

Once the blue bar appears, it begins playing almost immediately. Sometimes I select the movie from the menu and wait 1-2 minutes for the blue progress bar to appear. Other times it only takes a 10-20 seconds.

So what is your experience? To be helpful, please state your network type(5GHz, 2.4GHz, shared), and general observations.

What are you streaming? Your own ripped movies stored on a mac? How is the mac connected to the network? Are the movies stored on an external hard drives? Does the hard drive sleep? Does the mac sleep?

Rented iTunes movies? What type of internet connection do you have?

In general, my movies that are stored on an external drive start streaming within 5-10 secs and this is over an 802.11g network. This does not happen if the external drive they are stored on has gone to sleep. If it has slept then it can take 40-60 seconds for everything to spin up and start streaming.

Movies that I rent (usually HD) start streaming in about 30-60 seconds average (from the time I confirm to rent) and play with no stutter, but I'm fortunate to have a 20 Mbps internet connection.

 

[Rich1963]

Ditto on what VTMac said. I've got a Drobo and have it park the drives whenever possible. If they're already spun up, 2-5 seconds. But if it is spun down, 20-30 seconds is the norm. As a side note, I recently noticed a Drobo doesn't spin up all of the drives simultaneously, but sequentially. Also, the drives in question are Western Digital Green Power, which prize low power usage and drive longevity while sacrificing raw speed and access times.

 

[MLC4SGR]

I have all my stuff on my 4TB Drobo, ALL my movies start up and play within 5 seconds..

 

[rayward]

I wish Apple would hurry up and release a media server.

 

[eleven59]

so you guys with a drobo have them connected directly to the comp with itunes correct? i had been wondering what the access/stream speeds were.

 

[FF_productions]

Ever since I hard-wired my Apple TV to my g-router, I get what feels like 10x faster streaming. I ditched wireless a while ago, wired is so much more reliable, I'm able to skip through movies at about the speed of a DVD, which is pretty damn good considering all the technicalities. These are handbrake ripped movies, and some are converted from visualhub, so the range is 2.5-5 megs data rate.

(My storage is basically 4-5 terabytes worth of USB drives hooked to Mac Pro that are sharing the load to Apple TV, I have felt no need to get a N router just yet)

 

[bucksaddle]

so you guys with a drobo have them connected directly to the comp with itunes correct? i had been wondering what the access/stream speeds were.

Yep - Drobo v2 connected by Firewire 800, 3 x 1TB. It takes about 5 seconds to start streaming a Blu Ray ripped 5Gb handbrake'd file to the Apple TV.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

One other thing: keep in mind that many hard drives spin down when not in immediate use. Then, when you ask for something on them, they have to have the time to spin back up again. I've got a wired connection and couldn't figure out the pre progress bar delay for some time. Eventually, I narrowed it down to this delay effect.

 

[nando2323]

One other thing: keep in mind that many hard drives spin down when not in immediate use. Then, when you ask for something on them, they have to have the time to spin back up again. I've got a wired connection and couldn't figure out the pre progress bar delay for some time. Eventually, I narrowed it down to this delay effect.

Yep this is the exact delay that I have but once it's up and spinning its instant almost to do anything, even on wireless like I am.

 

[xraydoc]

My wired Apple TV - streamed movies start within 10 seconds, max.
The two wireless Apple TVs - up to 20-25 seconds on a 5GHz 802.11n-only network.