I am using my AppleTV (version 2.0) with an Apple Airport Express router. The other day while watching something streamed from my computer, the signal dropped the moment I started the microwave, and came back as soon as it started. Can a microwave oven effect wi-fi streaming, or is this a really weird coincidence?
MacMini (intel),
Mac OS X (10.4.8),
AppleTV; 8GB iPhone; 30GB 5G iPod
Yes, my microwave oven affects my wireless network (G), disrupting my connection on my powerbook. It's becuase microwaves operate ~2.45Ghz, very near the frequency of wi-fi. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_ovens
Many routers have an option to help with interference from Microwave ovens or cordless phones. On the Airport Extreme this is under "Wireless" -> "Wireless Options and is called "Use interface robustness". I believe what it mostly does is to change the timeout intervals for retransmission if a collision occurs (because your microwave is shouting). The standard collision backoff mechanism interacts badly with microwave output timing or some such. Anyway, you might try turning this on and seeing if it helps.