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Really Upset with Apple TV (newest)

R

RealEyes

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 23, 2012
184
0
I have the Apple TV, latest gen, and I can't watch movies on it. I have movies on my hardrive, on the home server, on an external harddrive and it's impossible to watch a film using AirPlay because its so jittery and laggy, it doesnt even look good and its not comfortable.

I purchased the beamer app and it's choppy too. It stops, then goes, then stops, then goes.

Im mainly watching .mkv files that vary in size. Maybe 15GB down to about 2 or 3GB is the smallest.

Should I convert these to mp4 and then add them to iTunes and try airplay?

What should I do?
 
RealEyes said:
I have the Apple TV, latest gen, and I can't watch movies on it. I have movies on my hardrive, on the home server, on an external harddrive and it's impossible to watch a film using AirPlay because its so jittery and laggy, it doesnt even look good and its not comfortable.

I purchased the beamer app and it's choppy too. It stops, then goes, then stops, then goes.

Im mainly watching .mkv files that vary in size. Maybe 15GB down to about 2 or 3GB is the smallest.

Should I convert these to mp4 and then add them to iTunes and try airplay?

What should I do?
Click to expand...

First, is your Apple TV using ethernet or wireless? What about your Airplay source? You can try hooking both up via ethernet to check and see if your wireless network is causing the stuttering. If not, I would try and converting to MP4. All my videos are in MP4 and added to iTunes and I haven't had a problem yet, although my network is wired via ethernet.
 
I have an Airport extreme, everything is wireless. I think I can ethernet everything though.

What do you use to convert mkv to mp4?

----------



This is the speedtest I'm getting on my rMBP, I have a thunderbolt display as well, so I could use that for the ethernet plug in. Im just not sure it's my network thats at fault here...
 
U have to optimize your WIFI.

First (easy) use ethernet between ATV and switch, not WIFI.

Then if you have 802.11n, find out whether your router supports QOS, if so configure it and assign all traffic to ATV as top priority.

I assume you are already using the best WIFI channel according to your environment (neighbors)?

If u only have an 802.11g router (oy) u have a prayer if u can move your playing machine close enough to the router to get a 50+ db s/n. S/N=Your WIFI signal over the noise.

Sorry, no ez answer.
 
I have an Airport Extreme. Does that support QOS?

How do I change the channel of the wifi?
 
Hmmm...

I've never had a problem with mp4 files.

Maybe convert a few and see?

I'm wireless, too.
 
RealEyes said:
This is the speedtest I'm getting on my rMBP, I have a thunderbolt display as well, so I could use that for the ethernet plug in. Im just not sure it's my network thats at fault here...
Click to expand...

Your external internet speed from your ISP has nothing to do with your internal network speed. You need to establish the wireless transfer speed between your rMBP and your Apple TV.

Try ethernet first. First, you can try by connect both your rMBP and Apple TV to your wireless router's ethernet inputs. Second, you can just connect the rMBP directly to the Apple TV via ethernet. If both still stutter, then it's likely the MKV file type causing the problem. I'd try to convert the file to MP4, add to iTunes, and then try again over ethernet and wireless.

----------
RealEyes said:
How do I change the channel of the wifi?
Click to expand...

Your router should automatically pick the wireless channel with the least noise. You can download iStumbler and it will show you all of the wireless networks within range of your location, the signal strength of each, the noise affecting each, and which channel and frequency they are on. If it appears the router has picked a popular channel, in your admin settings you will be able to change your channel.
 
RealEyes said:
Got it figured out! Ethernet solved everything.
Click to expand...

Now since ethernet solved it that means it was wifi...on your airport extreme create 5GHz network name and connect your rMBP and AppleTV both to it. Do not connect them to 2.5 GHz...you will be all set.
 
arnurnaakala said:
Hello Friends,
Anyone who buys Apple products will eventually experience deep frustration with Apple the company.I have apple tv.I assume you are already using the best channel according to your environment.
Nice to meet you.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

"When someone where I’m from calls you friend, they don’t consider you one.”

Thanks, friend.
 
Don't expect AirPlay to work as perfectly as Apple states it does. It's just anothe example of an incomplete feature from Apple. Games and film lag no matter if its wifi or Ethernet. It's really quite useless apart from viewing static web pages or documents on a large tv. Apple TV needs A6 to deal with lagging. As an example, there is an improvement using the iPhone 5 to AirPlay in comparison to older devices. The iPhone pushes out a strong airplay signal (?) but the Apple TV can't deal with it- after a minute it chokes up! On a 4S or 4 or a touch or iPad AirPlay lags like crazy even more. Ever tried playing Real Racing over AirPlay? Total bull, which is a shame.
 
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