Apple TV taking a long time to download an iTunes Store movie rental

What did you go through in order to come to that conclusion?

Sounds like you got a bad support technician, it can happen. You can always file a complaint

Every network is different so it would help to know more.

what is your speed (speedtest.net)?

Are you on wifi? Have you checked for interference?

Using ISP DNS?

Same problem - taking over one hour to download a movie I rented - why New Mac Pro too.

Answer questions above and what else you have done to troubleshoot

My Apple TV says 5 hours remaining to updatet the software. I have full signal strength and a very fast internet connection. When I use ethernet the download is under 10 minutes but the installation always fails with ethernet as reported by others.

This thread relates to movie rentals, you have a separate issue.

In any case I would look into network interference as that seems the most likely cause. Check istumbler or netstumbler to verify.

Sorry for the hijack. I found this thread with google and then checked the others. I have an airport express extending my network and the latest extreme as my base station. The update threads just say to disconnect the cables and restore with a micro USB. Pretty silly that Apple can't get it to work over ethernet and you have to buy additional cables to upgrade software.

No problem, just easier to create separate threads so things don't get confused.

The Ethernet issue is with a particular build of software and I don't think it affects everyone. Updating over wifi works but like I said there could be interference that's causing the issue there.

If you think it's easier to just restore that's fine too

Seriously Apple?!?! Left itunes and my computer on all night and figured I just watch the movie the next day. So tonight I go to start the movie and it restarts the whole download process?!?! I Tunes has been open all day and night and so has my Apple TV. How do I get a refund? Cheaper, quicker, and easier just to pick up a bluRay from the local redBox or just use AmazonPrime on my PS3.

So who do I email to cancel and get a refund?

Where did you rent? Apple TV has no storage

Ok I get that I can't download in HD (4+ hours). Nevertheless, I suffered through the 4+ hours and the movie was ready to watch. I pressed "Play" to make sure it would really start. It did so I stopped it so we could watch it later. 3 hours later, sat down to watch it, now it had to repeat the entire 4+ hour download again!! Since I had started it, the 24 hours had started running, by the time it downloaded AGAIN, it was the middle of the night and I have to work today. This stinks!! Why did it have to re-download??? What if I'd watched part of it and stopped, only to come back later? Even SD download time takes at least 20 minutes.

Second problem--while watching a different movie, for some unknown reason, ATV disconnected from my wireless internet, movie stopped, had to use settings to sign back on, then wait another 20 minutes for movie to re-download. What happened?

DirectTV is the worst ever but ATV is frustrating. Thank you fo any help.

As has been stated the Apple TV has no storage. If you access other content, turn off it will require reload. The time determined is based on your network.

Can not believe this. I'm trying Apple TV for the first time. Rented animated flick "Brave", highest resoulution was going to take over 16 hours. I then selected mid-level resoultion and that was going to take 12 hours. I've selected the lowest resolution and it's going to take over 3 hours to Download! Ridiculous. Why can't I just stream this like Netflix. I don't want to download. I just want to watch the movie. And I wanted to watch it now, not 16 hours or 3 hours from now.

Network issues (speed, interference, DNS etc) will have bearing on load time. It will start once a small portion had loaded. Netflix adapts to the connection, iTunes is fixed and yields a higher quality.

It takes 3 hours to download at the lowest level of resolution. In Theory, for a 2 hour movie, it would have to be 1.5 hours to the download before it could play uninterrupted. Although, since's it playing and downloading perhaps longer? Anyway, at this low resolution it is not comparable to the streaming quality of Netflix.

I'm not seeing the value of Apple TV.