TWalkerPolk

Q: Apple TV HD Rental Streaming Problem

I wanted to create this topic to ask if others are running into the same issues I am with streaming rented HD movies. I go to play the rented HD movie and am transferred to a screen that says "Loading...." for about a minute or two. Then, that message is replaced with one that says "Ready to play in [xxx] minutes"...with horribly long times listed (my movie was rented last night, and as of this evening, it shows "Ready to play in 232 minutes").

This seems like a MAJOR flaw with the Apple TV. I have no problem viewing YouTube, HD Netflix movies, HD trailers, etc. I have even been able to watch an HD TV show rental within about 5 mins of selecting it. Seems like there may be a major flaw in the streaming process for HD Movie rentals over the Apple TV.

If you haven't tested this yet (or if you have no issues), please post what is happening with your HD movie rentals.

TWP

Note: I have rebooted everything, used my Airport Express with the ethernet cord directly into the Apple TV, over wiFi, adjusted the distance between my router and the Apple TV. Nothing has worked.

Dell Laptop m1330, Windows 7

Posted on Oct 8, 2010 9:05 PM

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Q: Apple TV HD Rental Streaming Problem

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  • by jclorden,

    jclorden jclorden Jan 31, 2011 10:55 AM in response to Krissypaps
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 31, 2011 10:55 AM in response to Krissypaps
    Funny, I had 4 failed attempts at renting a movie (both SD and HD) then I rented "The Town" and it worked perfectly like the previous posters experience. I then tried to rent another movie (WallStreet) and it was back to the slow download times. I thought it was fixed, but it was just a tease. I guess I will be renting HD on my iPad then airplay to my ATV.

    I think everyone should email a link to this forum to Apple Support. When I called them this week they acted as if they had no idea this issue existed (However they were quick to say that I could mail them my ATV and they'd send me a new one) If the new one works then there is something fishy going on!

    Message was edited by: jclorden
  • by grpullar,

    grpullar grpullar Jan 31, 2011 1:18 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 31, 2011 1:18 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    My theory was that it was an authentication problem, soooooo...

    I would sign out of ATV after watching each 24 episode, and then sign in again. It worked like a charm for about 4 episodes but alas it returned to the same condition. I restored last night, and am looking forward to trying it again.
  • by nor10,

    nor10 nor10 Jan 31, 2011 3:03 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 31, 2011 3:03 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Both Apple and NetFlix have over sold the AppleTV2 and the streaming service. The service is very poor and the AppleTV is in serious need of and update...
  • by Simon Rioux,

    Simon Rioux Simon Rioux Jan 31, 2011 5:25 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Apple Watch
    Jan 31, 2011 5:25 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Talked to a support technician at Apple Canada today, and went through quite a process since the movie would not start playing after 5+ hours of streaming.

    1) Checked my connection on my iMac via Speedtest.net (got 2.5Mbps)
    2) Checked the wireless network connection on ATV 2g (success)
    3) Powered off ATV 1g & iPhone from my Airport Express to make sure there was no interference
    4) Rebooted Airport Express and DSL modem.
    5) Tested a YouTube HD video (before and after reboots), and a movie preview (YouTube was v. slow; close to 2 minutes to start playing a 49 secs clip)
    6) Restored the ATV 2g
    7) Re-rented the same movie: same result. 5+ hours of waiting time.

    All these steps were required by Apple before escalating the problem to the software engineers.

    I would urge others with the same problem to go through the same, because as it stands, they are aware that "some" users are having streaming problems, but most all of those are fixed by doing one of the above.
  • by Patrick Gey,

    Patrick Gey Patrick Gey Feb 1, 2011 12:57 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 1, 2011 12:57 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Have experimented exactly the same issues with streaming rented HD movies. Rebooted everything and still not working. This issue applies also to HD previews.
    It was working properly two weeks ago with almost instant play.
    Hope apple fix this issue soon.
    PG
  • by jclorden,

    jclorden jclorden Feb 1, 2011 4:52 AM in response to Patrick Gey
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 1, 2011 4:52 AM in response to Patrick Gey
    Gave it one more shot this morning. I am Streaming at between 8 to 10 Mbts per my ipod, ipad, and laptop. Netflix is streaming on apple TV in woderful looking 720P with no hickups. Tried to rent an HD movie and was told "8 hours to watch"

    Doesn't this have to be a problem at the source? I'm not a tech guy but based on the netflix performance (I know it throtles but it's operating at a very high level right now) it seems that the apple tv itself can easily communicate with the internet.

    I was slowly moving towards an apple only house but this TV experience has soured me to the brand. The frusteration is driving me insane!
  • by tgibbs,

    tgibbs tgibbs Feb 1, 2011 8:08 AM in response to jclorden
    Level 1 (70 points)
    Feb 1, 2011 8:08 AM in response to jclorden
    I doubt whether Netflix and Apple are necessarily streaming data in exactly the same way, so it is possible that a router problem at your end could be interfering with communication from one source but not the other.

    Scanning the threads, I see every permutation. There are people who report that Apple content works perfectly but not Netflix, people who report that Netflix content works perfectly but not Apple. People who are having trouble with both, and people who find that both of them work perfectly.
  • by anappleaday79,

    anappleaday79 anappleaday79 Feb 2, 2011 9:17 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2011 9:17 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I had the same issue. I have Apple TV 2 and Airport Extreme. I tried renting an HD movie with my apple tv last night. It loading and gave a time to watch of approximately 5hrs. I checked my network speed and found it to be running at about 10Mbps. The next day I looked again and it stated that it had over 3hrs left to load. I called Apple and they simply had me unplug the Apple TV for 30seconds and then plug it back in. As soon as it booted up again the movie was ready to watch.
  • by jclorden,

    jclorden jclorden Feb 3, 2011 7:50 AM in response to anappleaday79
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2011 7:50 AM in response to anappleaday79
    I have sent my apple tv back to get looked at. Hopefully this is some sort of hardware issue. I also have sent this thread to apple customer support. Hoping to at least elicit a response.
  • by FelixGarcia,

    FelixGarcia FelixGarcia Feb 3, 2011 12:24 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 4 (2,831 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 3, 2011 12:24 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Just an FYI I rented Salt this morning, started playing right away, I was a little concerned after reading the posts but everything went just fine.
  • by brian24587,

    brian24587 brian24587 Feb 3, 2011 12:54 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2011 12:54 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I guess I must own the record. I got my new Apple TV for Christmas. Everything works great except for the rentals.

    Tried to rent Legend of the Guardians a couple of days after Christmas - 2 hour download for HD version.

    Tried Shrek 4 last week - 8 hour download.

    And the winner: Tried to rent The Town yesterday afternoon - 27 hours until ready to view. That's right - 27 hours.

    After the Shrek download, I called Apple Support and they had me check my connection, (3Mbps down through AT&T DSL), and reset everything (modem, iMac, Apple TV, etc.) to no avail. Finally, the support rep throws this line at me:

    "Apple is aware that some users are experiencing issues with slow download speeds. We believe the problems lies with the servers of the third party content providers. They are not able to handle the load as we expected." I asked him if that was Apple's official response to this problem, and he said "Yes, it is". There is nothing to be done about it. He told me 3 Mbps down is a little slow, but no way it should take 5 hours.

    And this was before the 27 hour The Town download. I opened a support ticket online for that one but have only received an acknowledgment.

    I am another that has just about converted to an all Apple household. Apple's customer response has usually been fantastic. They even replaced my kid's broken iPod and my wife's iPhone when the battery died even though neither were under warranty. But it is like they have no answer for this and aren't too interested in doing anything about this not-ready-for-primetime product. I too am souring on the brand over this thing.

    I called AT&T and they claim they are not throttling.

    27 hours to download a movie on a 3 Mbps download. Wow.
  • by tgibbs,

    tgibbs tgibbs Feb 3, 2011 1:07 PM in response to brian24587
    Level 1 (70 points)
    Feb 3, 2011 1:07 PM in response to brian24587
    This has been my suspicion all along, that at least some long delays were due to problems with content delivery networks contracted by Apple having difficulty keeping up with the demand. I suspect that this may be the case with some of the reported Netflix issues, as well. Even before Christmas, Apple has sold a million Apple TV2's, and they may not have expected it to take off quite this fast. Presumably, these problems will gradually abate as Apple's CDN's add more capacity.
  • by egreen76,

    egreen76 egreen76 Feb 5, 2011 7:01 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 5, 2011 7:01 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    What's most offensive is that you have to fight iTunes for a refund and also Apple's silence about this problem. They know this is an issue so refunds should be automatic. This seems ripe for a class action suit. I'm truly the biggest Apple Fanboy out but they ARE becoming the evil empire. Breaks my heart.
  • by jamesnseattle,

    jamesnseattle jamesnseattle Feb 5, 2011 10:59 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 5, 2011 10:59 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Horrible service. Attempted to rent a movie last week and the message was that it would be ready in 2 hrs. Attempting to watch it now after a week and it stopped about 9 times. I deserve a refund. I will stream from Amazon from now on with my Roku device. I'm so disappointed. And I'm a loyal customer.
  • by Krissypaps,

    Krissypaps Krissypaps Feb 6, 2011 4:34 AM in response to jamesnseattle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 6, 2011 4:34 AM in response to jamesnseattle
    I rented The Town last week. It downloaded in less than a minute and played immediately. The quality was excellent. But this is with the replacement ATV2 I got from Apple. I returned the first one because of significant problems streaming from Netflix and my inability to download TV shows from iTunes. I also upgraded my cable modem.

    So if your ATV2 isn't working as advertised, I recommend contacting Apple and insisting on a replacement. I also think that getting a new cable modem has helped quite a bit with the streaming and downloading issues I was having.
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