michaelanthonyricco69
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Apple TV is useless

I purchased an Apple TV on February 7, 2012. It worked great the first week. Since February 15th, it has progressively  worse. I cannot even get through 30 minutes without it freezing or losing its connection. I have spent hours on the phone with Apple. The problem is NOT with my router or with my home. Apple TV is garbage. Buyer Beware.

Mac mini (Mid 2011), iOS 5.0.1, Aperture 3

Posted on Mar 4, 2012 11:26 AM

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michaelanthonyricco69

Q: Apple TV is useless

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  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Mar 4, 2012 11:29 AM in response to michaelanthonyricco69
    Level 10 (104,171 points)
    Apple TV
    Mar 4, 2012 11:29 AM in response to michaelanthonyricco69

    The problem is almost certainly your network, there are many many users that don't have this problem, you need to fix your own network rather than trying to put others of a perfectly fine device.

  • by julesnewtoMac,

    julesnewtoMac julesnewtoMac Mar 4, 2012 11:32 AM in response to michaelanthonyricco69
    Level 4 (1,261 points)
    Mar 4, 2012 11:32 AM in response to michaelanthonyricco69

    I had a similar problem at first which a  simple software update solved. It now works very well, I get max 2 freezes on an HD stream movie, sometimes none.

  • by michaelanthonyricco69,

    michaelanthonyricco69 michaelanthonyricco69 Mar 4, 2012 11:37 AM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 4, 2012 11:37 AM in response to Winston Churchill

    The problem is NOT with my network. I have a top of the line router with blazing speed. All my other devices and computers work fine with this router. It is the Apple TV that does not work!

     

    Interestingly, it worked great for the first week or two and never went down. However, since February 14th, it has progressively become less and less reliable. It is now effectively useless! I repeat ... BUYER BEWARE!

  • by michaelanthonyricco69,

    michaelanthonyricco69 michaelanthonyricco69 Mar 4, 2012 11:49 AM in response to julesnewtoMac
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 4, 2012 11:49 AM in response to julesnewtoMac

    You say that you get "max 2 freezes on an HD stream movies". If I understand correctly ... you're saying that movies are still freezing while playing through your Apple TV. If so, how long do the freezes last and what do you do to "unfreeze"?

  • by julesnewtoMac,

    julesnewtoMac julesnewtoMac Mar 4, 2012 10:49 PM in response to michaelanthonyricco69
    Level 4 (1,261 points)
    Mar 4, 2012 10:49 PM in response to michaelanthonyricco69

    Michael

     

    Probably should have said buffers, they are brief (5 seconds or so) and I think it is the network (the infrastructure is old where I live) and not the ATV.  I have just upgraded to 12 mbps from 8 and it is much better, hence my view it is my Internet.

     

    Goog Luck

     

    Julian

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Mar 5, 2012 1:02 AM in response to michaelanthonyricco69
    Level 6 (19,583 points)
    Mar 5, 2012 1:02 AM in response to michaelanthonyricco69

    michaelanthonyricco69 wrote:

     

    The problem is NOT with my network. I have a top of the line router with blazing speed. All my other devices and computers work fine with this router. It is the Apple TV that does not work!

    It is usually the network - the fact that your router is good is to some extent irrrelevant - numerous things as you know including interference, distance and sharing of bandwidth on the network can affect performance.  On top of that there is always the possibility your machine is a lemon or that the wifi circuit is faulty.

     

    If feasible, it may not be, connect to the router via ethernet - is it ok?

     

    If so, then you've narrowed it down to wi-fi - either the AppleTV itself or other factors affecting communication.

     

    If it's pretty new and you say the problem has started recently, just think if you've had any new devices or users on the LAN which may be interfering with comms or competing for bandwidth.

     

    One other thing to consider - are the problems when streaming content fro itunes or from the internet - if solely from the internet, and you do not know already check the small print of your ISP contract to see if they throttle connections at certain times or if you've used up a certain quota every month.

     

    Appreciate this is frustrating, it usually is the network though, it may be AppleTV it may be something else affecting it (microwaves, cordless phone base stations etc).

     

    Frankly if it's so new, I'd be tempted to get it exchanged or refunded if you're that unhappy.

     

    AC

  • by michaelanthonyricco69,

    michaelanthonyricco69 michaelanthonyricco69 Mar 5, 2012 3:24 AM in response to julesnewtoMac
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 5, 2012 3:24 AM in response to julesnewtoMac

    I have a cable internet connection with a download speed up to 32 mbps.

     

    I tried to exchange the box but the Apple store would not exchange given that I purchased it more than 14 days ago (February 7, 2011).

  • by michaelanthonyricco69,

    michaelanthonyricco69 michaelanthonyricco69 Mar 5, 2012 3:29 AM in response to Alley_Cat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 5, 2012 3:29 AM in response to Alley_Cat

    The Apple TV worked great the first week. Since then, the performance gets worse with every passing day. I have not purchased any new devices since the purchase of this Apple TV box. I cannot connect via ethernet cable because the router is one floor above my TV.

     

    No, I cannot move the TV and Apple TV box closer to the router.

     

    Thank you all for your help.

  • by BDubs ,

    BDubs BDubs Mar 5, 2012 1:03 PM in response to michaelanthonyricco69
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 5, 2012 1:03 PM in response to michaelanthonyricco69

    It is very frustrating. 

     

    My iPad, two iPhones (4&4s), roku and laptop all work perfectly fine on my wifi, as was the appletv, until this past week.  Now appletv keeps freezing up.  It makes no sense. 

  • by michaelanthonyricco69,

    michaelanthonyricco69 michaelanthonyricco69 Mar 5, 2012 1:15 PM in response to BDubs
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 5, 2012 1:15 PM in response to BDubs

    We have 3 MacBook Pro computers, 1 Mac Mini, 2 iPads, 1 iPhone. They all work great with our wireless modem. It is the Apple TV that keeps freezing! It sometimes freezes for minutes and sometimes for hours. It is crap!

  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Mar 5, 2012 1:37 PM in response to michaelanthonyricco69
    Level 6 (19,190 points)
    Apple TV
    Mar 5, 2012 1:37 PM in response to michaelanthonyricco69

    That doesn't rule out network issues i'm afraid, it could very well be interference or something ISP related.

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Mar 5, 2012 1:58 PM in response to vazandrew
    Level 10 (104,171 points)
    Apple TV
    Mar 5, 2012 1:58 PM in response to vazandrew

    I believe we are wasting our time, I don't think they want to listen.

  • by Bev@ipswich,

    Bev@ipswich Bev@ipswich Mar 5, 2012 5:41 PM in response to michaelanthonyricco69
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 5, 2012 5:41 PM in response to michaelanthonyricco69

    Sorry everyone who is all for the Apple TV.  Mine started playing up last October, could not get it running okay until the end of February, it kept telling me to turn on home sharing, which was already on.  Spent hours on the phone to Apple.....not much help, they just reset everything, which I had already done and it had not worked. Finally got it working myself, I was so confused about what the solution turned out to be, still don't even know, just glad it was up and running again.  I had spent months on it just about everyday, was way over it.  Suddenly, Yesterday had a problem in trying to rent a movie, ATV said Unable to connect to the server, try again later.  Have been trying since then, no luck.  A movie I had already rented 14 days ago would not even play, Apple gave me a refund.....no explanation.  So reading the forums I tried to reset my remote as suggested by holding down the menu & rewind buttons together for 6 seconds or so.....NOW my remote not responding at all, the light on the ATV flashes when I press it but cant move to different options on the screen anymore........man, I am so over the ATV.  Has anyone got any suggestion as to how I fix this, I have tried doing the same thing again....still no luck.

    PS: Have just got a Telstra T Box for the other TV and it works beautifully, downloads movies, never have an issue.....why is my ATV such a problem, not only for me by the look of the forums.

  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Mar 5, 2012 5:57 PM in response to Bev@ipswich
    Level 6 (19,190 points)
    Apple TV
    Mar 5, 2012 5:57 PM in response to Bev@ipswich

    Did you rent the movie on the ATV or through iTunes?

     

    Resetting is done by holding the down arrow and menu

    If you had paired it with the remote app on an iOS device you could use that or grab a micro USB and restore in iTunes

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3180

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4367

     

     

     

    This is a forum for those to come who have issues but it almost always comes down to the network

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