Alright - this is weird

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Level 3

598 points

Alright - this is weird

Alright - figure this one out?

Equipment:

1 Time Capsule 1 TB size. Settings with Wireless Network Options of 802.11n only (5 Ghz) - 802.11 b/g.

2 AppleTV's - one LR, one MB connected to TC wirelessly on 5GHz side

5 Macs ALL connect wirelessly 3 on the n 5GHz, 1 on the g side of TC and one MBP as server for iTunes connected to TC via ethernet.

3 iPhones - of course g side

1 iPad n side

2 xboxes connected via ethernet to TC

second TC connected in Bridge mode in office server two printers wirelessly and as the Time Machine backups.

We do not have TV. Only cable connection for internet getting a 32 Mbps down and 5+Mbps up.

All works flawlessly until today.

The AppleTV's are used daily and very much all day with the kids. We buy content from iTunes.

so the problem

Today the the one AppleTV in bedroom working fine all day. Connected to 5GHz wirelessly.

Kid came in LR - started the AppleTV and noto shared iTunes Library. No interment connection, ie no youtube, iTunes, MobileMe gallery. BUT settings say connected to the TC with full signal bars.

Reboot ATV - nothing. Reboot TC -nothing on ATV. Reboot MBP server -nothing on ATV. So I reset settings of ATV -nothing. Still ATV has no iTunes sharing or internet. SO…

I go get the ATV that is literally playing a tv show in the MB. Unplug it and bring to LR. Now it doesn't work. WOW. So I change the channel of the TC 5GHz side for a what the heck shot. No change!! So I disconnect the MB AppleTV -

put the LR AppleTV back up and connect it to the g side of the TC and it works. Watching as I type - Top Gear 🙂 Love that show. But the g lags the stream. So as an edit to this post I connected it via ethernet for no lag.

I take back the MB AppleTV to the bedroom - plug it in and it is back to normal wirelessly as usual!!!! on the 5GHz. But for some reason in the LR - it just stopped working. But all the wireless n using computers as we sit in the LR are working fine. iPad fine. I'm typing on one now. Kids on the theirs. All using n!

I even relocated the LR ATV to be right next to the TC. If there was interference. No n 5GHz. MB ATV no 5GHz ONLY IN THE LIVING ROOM! Only for the APPLETV's.

Any ideas? I hope I describe this so it's understandable?

This is a weird one for me I have to say. My network works flawless daily. I work from home so it's always up ann running, printing, gaming, internet etc…

Message was edited by: musicmaker

Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on May 26, 2010 2:58 PM

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Answer 1

May 26, 2010 4:05 PM in response to musicmaker

A little difficult to follow but in summary would you say:

Neither tv work over 'n' in the living room, but at least one does in the master bedroom, the tv that was in the living room does work over 'g'.

Did you try using the living room tv in the bedroom.

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Answer 2

musicmaker Author

Level 3

598 points

May 26, 2010 4:44 PM in response to Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill wrote:
A little difficult to follow but in summary would you say:

Neither tv work over 'n' in the living room, but at least one does in the master bedroom, the tv that was in the living room does work over 'g'.

Did you try using the living room tv in the bedroom.

Sorry I tried to lay it out. I really wanted to clarify all the equipment that does work on n.

Neither showed the shared content of iTunes in the LR on n. The ATV that lives in the bedroom works fine back in bedroom on n.

Taking the LR ATV to the bedroom connects fine to the 5GHz side !!

And when you posted I did it all over again too. Both ATV's connect wirelessly to the 5GHz side of TC in the bedroom 50 feet away. Sitting next to the TC in the LR - neither connect to the 5GHz side! The AppleTV says "There was a problem connecting to the network -6"

This is beyond strange. And like I said this setup has worked flawlessly for over a year. And all computers work fine on 5GHz side of TC anywhere in the house.

I am stumped. I even disconnected the second TC in the office that is in Bridge mode for printers.

I would think if there is interference in the LR - nothing would connect. AND there are no other routers I see using the 5GHz band. I see some g routers using iStumbler. But they have always been visible.

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Answer 3

May 26, 2010 5:02 PM in response to musicmaker

I think I understand most of your set up, I'm presuming that both tv's are, or are trying to connect to the same AP.

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Answer 4

musicmaker Author

Level 3

598 points

May 26, 2010 5:42 PM in response to Winston Churchill

AP?

So this is what I just did.

I too the living room ATV to bedroom. Connected fine to the TC 5GHz. Restored the ATV. Which goes and re-downloads the latest ATV software. Installed it all. Reconnected to the iTines MBP iTunes server. Re-connected all the MobileMe gallery's. Logged back into youtube account.

All 5GHz wirelessly. Put ATV in standby mode. Unplugged it. Came to LR. Plugged it in. Went to connect again to the 5GHz network - same error. Not sure why the ATV didn't retain the configuration I just setup in the bedroom.

This is so weird. And I'm no dummy with this stuff - or so I thought. There has been nothing added to what I listed. Well the iPad when that came out. And everything works perfectly. Except today this started.

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Answer 5

May 26, 2010 6:01 PM in response to musicmaker

AP = access point, or in this case your TC. Are both tv's connected to the same TC. If so I'd be almost certain given the information provided that this is a network issue and I'm currently tending towards interference although it seems you think this has been ruled out.

Interference over 5 Ghz is less common but not impossible, you should also remember that 5 Ghz has a significantly shorter range than 2.4 Ghz and although you say you have moved it closer to the TC, in my opinion it's possible to move it too close.

I don't really have a suggestion for you at this time and agree it's all rather strange but I might have a better idea once I know if both tv's are using the same AP.

Probably not the answer you are looking for, but the tv works perfectly well over 'g' which you say you can connect over, if you are unable to solve this problem it may be that connecting over 'g' will provide you with the same experience as you had over 'n' in any case.

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Answer 6

musicmaker Author

Level 3

598 points

May 26, 2010 6:46 PM in response to Winston Churchill

Yes both to the TC. Been working fine for over a year. And connecting in one room and not the other is bizarro land 🙂 Even had the kids move the xboxes (MS karma - lol)

Everything has been pretty much static - no moving of any equipment sort of thing for a long time.

I do the 5GHz because of the other routers I do see in the area. And that too has been that way for a long time.

My next steps are to go through the TC settings and change channels. I have to wait a couple of hours to do that though. One kid in an xbox tournament the other doing school research. They put off enough so far with me restarting everything and shutting down xboxes, moving them. Good kids and patient. TIme for me to reciprocate their patience and allow them to do their thing too.

Should I switch to 2.4GHz? I thought the 5 was better for internal file transfers among computers and hard drives. Faster at least.

Why one room and not the other is just so weird.

Winston I very much appreciate your help and time.

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Answer 7

May 26, 2010 7:00 PM in response to musicmaker

Must admit the x-box causes issues in our household and is the only device which has any network issues. Initially the x-box affected the tv's until I removed the M$ dongle and plugged an ethernet cable directly into it and attached it to an airport express which was part of a WDS network.

We still have issues with the x-box but at least it no longer affects everything else. Yes when it drops off the network it can cause an issue, but only because Winston jnr wants me to restart the network immediately which of course is not always possible if someone is in the middle of watching a movie.

5 Ghz 'n' is much faster than than 'g', 144 Mbps for single band (300 for dual) against 54 for 'g', however since the tv only needs 5 Mbps to stream video, the additional speed of the 'n' network is superfluous. Even syncing the tv doesn't get much advantage from a faster network since I've found the speed at which the tv can receive and write data is still well below the network speeds mentioned.

I have 1 tv on ethernet, 2 on 'n' and 2 on 'g', they all work just the same, even syncing is no quicker from one to another.

"This is my tv set-up"

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Answer 8

musicmaker Author

Level 3

598 points

May 28, 2010 7:11 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Alright I got this working. I changed the channel on the TC - I was running it on 161. Last year with the previous update of 7.4.1 - my whole network went away. I spent a long time - then even called Apple. I was escalated and the even sent me a new Airport, giving my the TC to replace just the Extreme. Very impressed. BUt same issue. We changed channel manually to 161 and it worked. They never had a cause either why 149 wouldn't work at all for computers or anything. Now it does. I must have aliens or something in my home? LOL

So for my current issue - I eventually ended up putting the TC back in Automatic mode and the the ATV connected in the LR.

Now why the LR ATV and MB ATV would connect in the bedroom on 161 and neither would not in the LR is the 64k question - and I hate not figuring things out. LOL

I really appreciate your input WInston. I also love your setup and the planet naming scheme - I might swipe that - I like it - if you don't mind?

I love the AppleTV. I really hope Apple updates soon. June?? I hope. Or at least takes it out of a hobby. As I wrote I got rid of TV. About 5 months ago. Even my kids said yeah get rid of it - we just use ATV. It was, TV alone costing me $104 per month from Cablevision. We've used the Apple TV since they came out and just buy so much on iTunes - no one watched TV.

Again thanks so much. Have a great weekend.

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Answer 9

May 28, 2010 7:46 AM in response to musicmaker

musicmaker wrote:
Now why the LR ATV and MB ATV would connect in the bedroom on 161 and neither would not in the LR is the 64k question - and I hate not figuring things out. LOL

Interference can come from a number of sources, including other networks and electrical equipment such as microwaves and cordless phones. iStumbler will only pick up other networks. There are software/hardware combinations available for hunting down other types of interference, but I don't know of any for the 5 Ghz band.

http://www.metageek.net/products/wi-spy-24i

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