Q: Dropouts using Airplay on iPad

Try turning off "ask to join networks." Seemed to work for me.

@dd9944, Bingo. Turned off "ask to join networks" in addition to switching Bluetooth off and so far so good. How long did it take you to figure that out? I've been frustrated ever since Airplay became available.

im having a similar issue and i dont know if its airplay, itunes, apple tv or my network. here's my set up: wireless secured network, mbp connected wirelessly, apple tv connected to same network. both my atv and mbp are in the same room. this is my first time streaming from my mbp, i have previously done so from my ipad using pandora. tonight itunes will play 1 song then stop. it did this for several times. finally, it started playing more than 1 song at a time but stopped again after 2 or 3. when i switch windows back to itunes to see whats going on, it is completely stopped. as if i hit the stop button or something. i know mine just recently updated so im wondering if it has to do with the update or something i did. any ideas?

ok, so somehow i just found "page 2" my question is where do i go to turn off "ask to join networks"? do i do this in itunes or on the apple tv settings menu?

i found it in airport. is the only place that i need to do this?
btw i seem to get a more steady connection when i go through the apple tv and connect to my mbp via homesharing than if i open itunes on my mbp and click on airplay. is this just my imagination or does anyone else experience this?
i was able to stream from my ipad's pandora app perfectly yesterday for hours without a single interruption, so im not sure if its the network or what.

Elizabeth, Good question. It's in your *iPad settings*. On your iPad home screen. click the icon with gears on it that says "Settings," then click WIFI.

A page will come up. At the bottom, look for the item labeled "Ask to Join Networks." If it's on, switch it OFF.

It's similar on the iPhone. Hope this helps.

yes, it does. thank you. i found it on my mbp but didnt even think to look on my ipad. i still think its curious to note that regardless of the "find networks" setting, when i tell apple tv to play something off my library it works fine and for hours (i left it on when i went to be last night accidently) but when i tell it to go through airplay, it will play from 1 to 40 songs before quitting and i have to tell it to play all over again.

Elizabeth, yep, quite unsatisfactory for me too.

If you are using wifi with Apple TV, try using wired connection. Most of the audio dropouts can be fixed with a faster connection. I had the same problem before, until I installed a fast 11g bridge between my router and Apple TV.

That said, there is no doubt that this is a bug in the Airplay. I wish there is a way for us to file bugs against Apple development team. I don't know if they are paying any attention to the complains in the forum.

@kinmanc, Alas, my Apple TV is connected via ethernet. Streams from the server and my desktop flawlessly, but drops the ball on Airplay. Very frustrating.

My AX (7.5.2) is also on a wired link to the router. I have the same drop-outs on wireless or on a wired link.

While listening to music on my iphone through the phone's speaker, because the AX wasn't announcing itself, i noticed that firing-up itunes on my MBP immediately made the speaker icon appear on the iphone.

So maybe it needs to force bonjour through the network by itunes in order to be seen ?

Bottom-line: i don't think it has anything to do with the wifi connection but more with the discovery of the bonjour devices... although i could be wrong.

Any help from Apple would be appreciated.

I have been grappling with this issue for 3 or 4 years and have bought an Airport Express 3 times, on each occasion i have returned it to the Apple store under the 14 day return policy. I was originally trying to stream music from my iMac or my Macbook pro to my amp via Airport Express and it suffered from stuttering, i have again recently tried to make this work using Airplay with my iPhone and iPad and get exactly the same problem. I have tried every possible setting, spoken to support, who don't admit there is a problem even though the internet is littered with people complaining about this issue, but it still wont work for more than a few hours. Personally i think it's an absolute disgrace that Apple sell this as a plug and play feature and don't admit to the stuttering issue, however they have lots of form for this. I suspect that one day it will just work as Apple will address it in an upgrade without letting anyone know, however i also think the problem is going to become more of a problem for them now as more and more people try to use Airplay and encounter this problem. I certainly will not be buying an Airport Express again until i find no one complaining about music/films stuttering. I also have an Apple TV1 with a hard disc which i use for playing movies and i wont be upgrading this anytime soon either.

Exactly the same thing here - iPhone 4 4.3.1 plays fine through Airport Express speakers, however playing the same album on my iPad 2 4.3.1 through the same speakers it stutters and drops out all the time.

Streaming from my Apple TV Mk 1 works fine...

It's not just the iPod app on the iPad that has problems - the video app, NPR, and YouTube app all behave the same.

Tim

EXPENSIVE TIP: Just eliminated 90% of my dropouts and all of my "AirPlay icon disappears" problems by pulling out my D-Link bridge that served as a wireless extender and substituting an AE. So my system now runs like this:

AX Base Station→ethernet→Apple TV
↓
wifi
↓
AE in WiFi Extender Mode
↓
wifi
↓
iPhone 4, iPad, MacBook Air

NOTE: Every link in this layout (except for a TrendNet switch) is Apple, which is expensive but alas necessary. Also, since this scheme cleared up most of the dropouts and ALL AirPlay connection losses, I believe the trouble-maker is Bonjour, which also crashes often on my PCs and desperately need an update -- and some device in the chain, perhaps the AE, may need a better buffering solution.