Netflix Problems

I hope you mean 1.5 megabits not MB/second. I have 35 years of hardware and software experience. Your defensiveness of apple does not help apple or the customers.

As you note, just because people don't call in issues, does not mean they don't exist. Since apple specifically advertises the use of Netflix on atv2, apple is partially responsible for issues related to this topic. Telling people to follow your method or back off is offensive and counterproductive.

davepaisley wrote:
Please brush up on your reading comprehension and read everything I wrote.

Physician, heal thyself.

I have carefully turned everything off, rebooted the cable, router and turned
on only the ATV2 - same problem.

Have you eliminated the settings of the router as being a problem? In other words, have you added the AppleTV to the DMZ where the router would not interfere in any way with the internet connection between the AppleTV and Netflix and tested the AppleTV to see if the problem continued?

The odds that the exact same problem which appears to be affecting you exists in two different AppleTVs, picked at random and sent to you are infinitesimally small. They approach impossibility. The fact is that something at your residence is causing the problem, and I would be willing to bet you a steak dinner if you took that AppleTV anywhere else and hooked it up wirelessly there would be zero problems. That's also a troubleshooting technique, by the way.

And yes I tested the bandwidth (12Mbps) and no, none of the other devices have a problem.

None of your other devices have the bandwidth requirement of the AppleTV. Again, what good does it say to report that all Chevys are running fine while your Ford is broken down? It proves nothing about why your Ford is broken, or what the solution is. Adding your AppleTV to your router's DMZ would.

Regardless of why, the fact is the ATV2 is the only wifi device that has any
problems in my house and is more finicky than any other wireless device I
own, and it seems to be quite a widespread problem.

Netflix disagrees with you about the prominence of the problem, and if anyone would know one would think it would be they. Claiming everyone has a problem, or more people have a problem because you have a problem solves nothing.

For a device that is supposed to be literally plug and play, that is a major failure.

The only major failure here is on the part of people who refuse to use any logical testing procedure to eliminate all possible causes EXCEPT the AppleTV. People are making huge leaps of 'logic' bereft of any fact to back up their claims. If you add your AppleTV to your routers DMZ *WITHOUT CHANGING ANYTHING ELSE* and report back the results it would be a tremendous service and might actually draw us closer to a solution than the workout you are getting by jumping to conclusions.

List of ports that may be in use by Apple TV :

TCP port 53
TCP port 80
TCP port 123
TCP port 443
TCP port 3689
UDP port 5353

List of known ports used by Apple Products : http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1629

Please set up the DMZ to the AppleTV according to the instructions of your router manufacturer, and report your findings back so we may move forward in finding a solution. Thanks for your help!

blah blah

The quality of the picture really just does not matter if the AppleTV can not play the movie.

Clearly "Buster Blocker" you are too connected to the project to see the real issue here, that the customers just want the device to work.

Let's see -

"I would be willing to bet you a steak dinner if you took that AppleTV anywhere else and hooked it up wirelessly there would be zero problems. That's also a troubleshooting technique, by the way."

So you owe me a steak dinner, as it has the exact same issues at my friend's house.

Otherwise, blah, blah, blah. I'm not going to enumerate the hours of testing and configuration I've tried, chats with Apple on the phone, etc.

Once again:

1) Marketed as plug and play, but it isn't.
2) All other devices work fine with no fiddling/configuration or grief from asshats like you

Well from my simple experience, I know the ATV2 handles Netflix differently than my WII.

I've had Netflix for 3 months using my WII (wireless connection). Good performance and acceptable picture quality. Once I had an audio drop out that lasted 3 seconds.

Then bought the ATV2 and connected directly to the router via cable. Netflix performance is mixed. Often blocky quality on any videos. Numerous times the audio drops out and up to 20 seconds. On occasion the video freezes then jumps ahead a bit. This was noticed just after hooking up the ATV on the same day that I just finished Netflix on the WII without problems.

I like the ATV2 for the ability to access my computers and radio stations. I also watch videos I've got stored on my computers (either PC or Mac). And I've not experienced poor image quality or sound drop outs like I do with Netflix (on ATV2). However, I did try a rental via ATV2, and finally stopped watching it. It kept freezing and dropping out. So I doubt I'll rent again for viewing on the ATV.

So the question is, is it ATV2 not handling Netflix properly, or is it that Netflix is not be delivered in a suitable format to ATV2? I'm not a tech, but regardless, at the moment, if I want to see a "more stable Netflix", I will use my WII.

BTW, experience with the ATV is the same before and after the recent update.

Groovyguru wrote:
I hope you mean 1.5 megabits not MB/second.

Of course. I am sorry I didn't catch that error, and I thank you for doing so.

I have 35 years of hardware and software experience.
Your defensiveness of apple does not help apple or the customers.

But people committing random acts and posting them as 'fixes' does? Leaping to conclusions without evidence does? You have a very warped concept of help.

As you note, just because people don't call in issues, does not
mean they don't exist. Since apple specifically advertises the use
of Netflix on atv2, apple is partially responsible for issues related
to this topic.

I will ask again : specifically, how?

It has been demonstrated and proven this is not a wide-spread issue universally affecting all AppleTVs. In my own instance the solution was communicating with Netflix then simply doing nothing. Exactly and precisely how is a Netflix account problem or bandwidth starvation issue Apple's problem, fault, or responsibility? It is, however, completely illogical and irresponsible to point fingers at anyone or anything without the proof to back it up.

I have already allowed there may very well be people with AppleTV hardware issues, but there have been far too many random 'fixes' posted to be able to tell how widespread the issue is or is not. Unless and until we eliminate ALL the exterior causes, we will never know for sure if Apple or AppleTV has any share of the blame to accept, or to what degree. If you find that concept offensive, I really can't comprehend how you can repair anything.

Telling people to follow your method or back off is
offensive and counterproductive.

So it is offensive and counterproductive to ask people to quit being random and make logical, documented steps eliminating one cause at a time until we have a cause and solution?

Wow.

Just wow.

davepaisley wrote:
So you owe me a steak dinner, as it has the exact same issues at my friend's house.

And does your friend use the exact same routing equipment and exact same ISP as you?

I should have added more clarity to that declaration, so I am sorry that was not as clear as it could have been. I am looking for a completely unblocked, un-firewalled connection to the internet. That is what setting up a DMZ pointing at the AppleTV would accomplish. My gut is still telling me there is something specifically about your internet connection that is either not routing the traffic correctly to the AppleTV or not supplying it with the bandwidth it needs.

Have you tried using one of your computers to ping the IP address of the Apple TV, and if so what were the results?

There is one thing for certain : adding connection testing to the iOS of the AppleTV would be a big help to tracking down any connection issues. I will suggest this to Apple and see what happens.

1) Marketed as plug and play, but it isn't.

There is no evidence backing this statement up. I am really, truly sorry you have had a bad experience, but the evidence is, for the vast majority of AppleTV users, AppleTV is plug and play exactly as Apple has claimed.

2) All other devices work fine with no fiddling/configuration or grief from asshats like you

And now that you have started calling names, the problem magically corrected itself, right? Look, I don't care what you or anyone else thinks of me. I care that we all take steps to find the cause of the problems which will ultimately offer up the solution, no matter what that solution is. If you don't want to be a part of that effort, then why go after those who are?

Same issue. Ussue began after IOS 4.1 update. Apple TV is connected to network via Ethernet (ie not WiFi). I can connect to Netfix, browse movies, etc but an attempt to play a movie either results in perpetual "loading..." or being dropped back to previous screen. My xbox 360, connected to same switch via Ethernet, (Apple airport extreme) has no issues streaming Netflix.

Eckdale wrote:
Same issue. Ussue began after IOS 4.1 update. Apple TV is connected
to network via Ethernet (ie not WiFi).

By any chance at all, does the router have MAC address filtering turned on? Have you tried pinging the AppleTV's IP address?

MAC address filtering is not enabled.
Apple TV replies to ping. IE basic network connectivity is not the issue. Apple TV screen saver is successfully pulling images from Flickr etc.

I should note: Internet connection is 6Mb DSL.

Message was edited by: Eckdale

Eckdale wrote:
Apple TV replies to ping.

Nazzo fast, Guido. How does it reply to the ping? Is there any packet loss reported? What are the response times?

Have you opened a DMZ to the Apple TV? Are any of the ports the AppleTV uses blocked in any way on the router?

Thanks again for checking !

PeterinBC wrote:
So the question is, is it ATV2 not handling Netflix properly,
or is it that Netflix is not be delivered in a suitable format
to ATV2? I'm not a tech, but regardless, at the moment,
if I want to see a "more stable Netflix", I will use my WII.

If the ATV is playing local network video correctly, but not accepting streaming video from the internet, it points to a possible misconfiguration in the router. Have you tried connecting your AppleTV data cable directly to your cable modem or DSL router? It would be interesting to see what would happen if you were to connect the AppleTV data cable directly to the modem/router and rebooting both and observing the results.

Would you mind doing this and reporting back?

If the ATV is playing local network video correctly, but not accepting streaming video from the internet, it points to a possible misconfiguration in the router. Have you tried connecting your AppleTV data cable directly to your cable modem or DSL router? It would be interesting to see what would happen if you were to connect the AppleTV data cable directly to the modem/router and rebooting both and observing the results.

Would you mind doing this and reporting back

Here's more data on mine

Wired:
ATV2 works fine (apple store, Netflix, etc.) when plugged into router directly with ethernet cable.

Wireless:
Local network wireless works fine (streams from iTunes libraries on computers, etc.)
Apple store, Youtube, Netflix show menus (slowly) but have insufficient bandwidth to stream content.
Example: a 30 second TV show preview in the store takes 2+ mins to download enough to start playing the clip.
DMZ to ATV2 makes no difference.
Throwing all the ports open makes no difference.

Friends router was same (Linksys WRT160N - 2 of them we tried, as he had a spare one for his in-laws) but cabel provider is different as he's 40 miles away.

I seriously doubt it's the router, as there must be millions out there and other people with this problem are using a variety of routers - including Airports.

Again, no other device has a problem, and the ATV2 isn't "a bit" slower - it's several orders of magnitude slower.

davepaisley wrote:

Here's more data on mine

Dave, I am done helping you. You are a liar, and you are wasting everyone's time "troubleshooting" an AppleTV that - by your own admission - works perfectly if connected to a router that isn't yours, just like I said. I don't know if you have some psychotic need for attention, or if you are a narcissist and to be frank at this point : I don't care.

I will not be lied to or have my time wasted. Go solve your own problems.

Based on the information at hand, right now, from this thread and other sources of information, here is what I think to be an (unofficial!) "best practices" troubleshooting guide if your AppleTV will not play Netflix (or other) streaming video wirelessly as you expect it to :

1. Cycle the power on your AppleTV. Just unplug it from electricity and wait a minimum of 30 seconds before applying power again. Check to see if the problem continues, or not.

2. Power down your entire network, including the AppleTV. This includes your router and your cable modem / DSL router. Again, give it a minimum of 30 seconds without power before plugging anything in. Apply power again in the following order : cable/DSL, router, AppleTV. Check to see if the problem continues.

3. Unplug everything from your network and run a data cable from your cable modem / DSL router directly to your AppleTV so the AppleTV is the only device on your network and see if the problem persists. This is now the baseline for testing. If the AppleTV works, there is a high probability something was interfering with your network or the router was misconfigured in some fashion.

4. Write down or otherwise record all the settings you can find from your router AND your AppleTV. This is a good practice no matter what. Before you go on make sure you have - by paper or text file or screen shot - recorded ALL the settings of your router AND AppleTV. *DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU HAVE NOT BACKED UP BOTH SETS OF SETTINGS*. You have been warned.

5. On the internet, search for the reset instructions from the manufacturer of your router. Do a 'hard' reset, taking the router back to factory settings. On some routers, there are two levels of reset : hard and soft. For example, on some Linksys routers holding the reset button for 5 seconds will give you a non-volitile (you won't lose settings) 'soft' reset, while holding the same button for 10-12 seconds will give you a 'hard' (all your settings are wiped out) reset. Perform the hard reset on your router, and also reset your AppleTV back to factory settings.

6. Wait for your router to fully restart from the resetting sequence. Without changing any data, or altering any settings anywhere, attempt to connect your AppleTV to the router using the default settings for both the router and AppleTV. Test for correct operation of Netflix or another streaming service you were having trouble with.

7. If all the preceding steps have failed, try taking the AppleTV to another location and testing operation with that wireless network. If your AppleTV works at another location, but doesn't work at your location, I am 99% certain the problem is your router. I suspect, but cannot prove right now, there may be an incompatibility problem between the AppleTV and certain routers. At this point, I believe this is what is making people believe this is an Apple or Netflix problem. I also note this is not a high improbability as there are compatibility issues with AppleTV and certain HDTVs.

*It would be very helpful if those who are having wireless connection issues where they cannot stream Netflix or other video with an AppleTV to post the brand, model numbers, and software/firmware version numbers of their routers to see if there is any correlation to be had there.*

8. If you are able and comfortable with changing the settings on your router, try taking it manually to a "B" connection instead of letting it auto-select between A, B, G, and N. Test the Netflix streaming on your AppleTV to see if it works.

9. Re-enter all the settings of your router, paying particular attention to re-entering them correctly. Do so with your AppleTV as well. Try the Netflix streaming again, and if it does not work immediately run a speed test from speedtest.net, and pick closest server to you. If your bandwidth is not running over 1.5mb/second, there isn't anything anyone can really do for you. As I stated in another post, for optimal performance and quality that 1.5mb/second limit should be treated as concrete, not jello. In other words, no - there is no 'fudge factor' to that limitation. It really is the absolute minimum for correct function.

10. Please call Netflix. If nothing has worked so far, and streaming from the Apple Store is working correctly, there is a high probability that it may be your Netflix account. Netflix would really like to hear from you no matter the device you are having trouble with. They really, sincerely want to get to the bottom of this so every AppleTV / Netflix experience is a great one. Repeating once more : Netflix can't fix what they don't know about, so please, please, please call Netflix even if you are somehow sure it is all Apple's fault. Netflix can use all the data they can get to find a solution.

11. Call Apple. The same reasoning applies here, too. Apple would like to get to the bottom of this if it truly is their product that is defective, but they can't prove that without your help in supplying them with data. Following these steps is a great start to doing that, so long as you do them before you call.

These steps are NOT meant to be all-encompassing. This is just a 'launching pad' for other troubleshooting steps. You should still check all your wires, cables, et cetera. Nothing I have written here obviates the need for troubleshooting steps like that. These are just the first line of defense, as it were, and not meant to be the entire process.

But I will also repeat : *PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO US ALL A FAVOR : DO NOT CHANGE MORE THAN ONE THING AT A TIME IN YOUR TROUBLESHOOTING, AND PLEASE OBSERVE ANY AND ALL CHANGES FOR THE BETTER OR WORSE BEFORE YOU JUMP TO THE CONCLUSION THIS PROBLEM IS ANY COMPANY'S FAULT.*

I am open to believing the AppleTV has a fault, but I will not go there without iron-clad proof to offer up to Apple so the problem will be permanently fixed. Everything posted here that doesn't move us forward is just noise, and I beg you : please let's keep the noise to a minimum until we have a solution.