Netflix Problems

If you have the problem where everything in Netflix works fine EXCEPT your Instant Queue, try deleting items. I did everything else that both Apple AND Netflix recommended during over a dozen phone calls, but finally a Netflix rep noticed I had 316 items in my queue. He said that SHOULDN'T be a problem, but that maybe the ATV had trouble reading that many items and pulling up all of the artwork. I deleted like mad and got the queue to 230-something. It worked right away after that.

JaronE wrote:
Same error message for me when trying to play on Netflix. The solution was to hardcode my DNS in the AppleTV—for some reason it had been inserting the address of my wireless router instead of the DNS provided by my Internet provider. Once I stuck the ISPs DNS into Apple TV Netflix started working.

THANK YOU!! I was on the phone with Apple about this issue and their solution was for me to drive an hour to the apple store. They really need to update their knowledgebase so their helpdesk people have this. Adding the DNS fixed my problem.

Message was edited by: adhall

I went into my netflix account. Clicked "Your account and help", then scrolled down to the right hand side and clicked "Manage netflix devices and computers". I then deactivated the apple tv, and closed out of my web browser.

I then went back to appletv, restarted it by uplugging it and plugging it back then. I then went to netflix and re-entered my email and password, and everything went back to working.

I have had the same problem. The first time it occurred I updated the AppleTV software and then it worked. The second time I unplugged the AppleTV power cable and replugged it and it worked.

The problem is specific to streaming from Netflix. The other services provided through AppleTV such as Youtube, Podcasts, etc, worked fine. So it is not a network or wireless issue with the router. Also, I could always stream movies to a computer that was hardwired to router.

Even though I could not stream from Netflix I could see all of the menus (Instant queue, search, recently played, etc.) and could interact with them fine.

The problem is with AppleTV. It is a shame because otherwise I have had no other problems and the streaming, when it worked, was excellent.

I had the same problem with my AppleTv and Netflix, here is a proven and easy solution to this bug. If Netflix is having problems streaming the content and you receive either these two messages "Netflix is not available at the moment try again later" or another message that ends with this "(112)" then here is the solution. Login as normal then attempt to view any content once the error comes on, then with the Tv turned on disconnect your AppleTv from the powersource, ex:from the back of the device or from the power outlet. Leave disconnected for about 20 seconds then re-connect. You should see the Apple logo come on your Tv screen and the AppleTv itself will be blinking the bright white light from the remote receiver which is in front of the AppleTv. (not the Remote). Once the main Menu comes back up, you might or might not be prompt to Log-in to your Netflix account. Once your in the content should stream.

Buster Blocker, you nailed it. A "fix" that involves unplugging-plugging in the device along with some weird combination of other events is usually no more than an actual representation of the effects of randomness at work.

I too was having the same issues with specific titles that would play for 2-5 seconds, then kick me back to the movie menu. I too spoke with Apple, Netflix, and Cox. Apple directed me to call Netflix, Netflix acknowledged the issue but didn't suggest any solution. Cox suggested a faster internet service. I ignored this last recommendation.

The issue only happened on the TV, but not for every title. Resets, software updates, waiting for lunar alignment...none of that worked. One by one, I upgraded my old equipment: replaced an older Linksys router with a new Airport Express, replaced a 5yr-old cable modem with a new Motorola modem, all to no avail. This, however, changed when I gave in and upgraded to a faster tier of internet speed, since I had the "standard" 3Mbps. Switching to the second tier (15Mbps), solved the problem instantly. For two days now we've been going through all the titles that didn't play before, only to have them come up instantly and play without glitches. I called Netflix again to provide some positive feedback, and they mentioned that "a faster connection usually results in a better streaming service", which sounded a bit too generic of a comment, but hey, at least the issue is no longer there.

Now, I can't suggest to everyone with the same issue to immediately throw away all their equipment and replace it with new stuff, but at least look at any items in the path between the web and your device that could be potentially causing any troubles before pointing fingers. Even with fast internet connections, older/outdated routers or high latency could be introducing problems on the way.

As it was said before in the thread, if it was an issue with the TV, everyone (or at least more people) would be reporting similar problems.

All,
This problem started for me when I updated to the latest iOS for ATV2. Netflix would take an extremely long time to load a show then quit after a few minutes. Streaming to any other device worked fine, which ruled out bandwidth problems.

Called Netflix and they basic said to wait until it cleared up on its own. No help there.

Tried the manual DNS change (8.8.8.8) on ATV2 and nothing was better. Was about to slit my wrist when it occurred to me to unplug ATV and plug it back in. Basically a hard reset.

That worked.

So, while it is NOT a fix, it IS a work-around. Manually set your DNS on your ATV2 to 8.8.8.8, make sure it is set by looking at the TCPIP settings, put it to sleep, unplug it, wait 10 secs, plug it back in.

That should do it.

OH, if you are using an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad and a remote you may have to reset the remote to get gesturing to work again once you've changed the DNS. Not sure why it matters, but gesture control from my iPhone stopped working once DNS was changed.

Vernon Seward wrote:
All,
This problem started for me when I updated to the latest iOS for ATV2. Netflix would take an
extremely long time to load a show then quit after a few minutes. Streaming to any other device
worked fine, which ruled out bandwidth problems.

Vernon, does your ISP throttle connections to their network based on MAC address? There are ISPs that will restrict bandwidth or deny a connection completely to devices which you have not registered the MAC address with them ahead of time. Some also use the MAC address to limit the number of devices, thus preventing people from setting up server farms on their connections. This would give you the illusion that your connection is fine, while leading you to believe there is something wrong with the AppleTV.

I am not saying this is the case with you, but I would be interested to know if this is the case with your ISP so we could check this off from the list of possible external causes. Additionally, it would be a great help if you could use a computer on your network to visit Speedtest.net and check your bandwidth to see if there is a bottleneck at the same time you are having problems.

brian5678 wrote:
"I too was having the same issues with specific titles that would play for 2-5 seconds,
then kick me back to the movie menu."
Count me as having this problem.

And we have had evidence posted this is a possible bandwidth starvation issue, which does not point to the ATV being the culprit. Have you done any testing of your bandwidth to verify or deny there is a bandwidth starvation issue?

Point 1: This streaming client should be the best out there.

What evidence do you have that it is not? Given the evidence at hand (not everyone having the problem, no media-manufactured 'scandal', et cetera), I am curious as to how you draw the conclusion that Apple has anything at all to do with the quality of the streaming. The AppleTV is, after all, only a conduit and Netflix is solely responsible for their stream; The AppleTV is merely an interface between your network and your TV. If the bandwidth you have available is provably insufficient to meet the minimums AppleTV requires for streaming any content, precisely and exactly explain how this is in any way proof that Apple has a sub-standard device or software.

Point 2: The same movie at the same time day that has problems on my AppleTV
plays back WITHOUT problems on my Wii.

And as I have already pointed out, the Wii streams and displays at a different rate and resolution than does the AppleTV. All this proves is that your Wii meets the minimums necessary to meet your expectations and judgments of quality, not to mention possibly lower bandwidth availability. It does not prove your connection meets the minimums necessary for the AppleTV's higher quality, higher bandwidth requirements.

In other words, the maximum the Wii will display is 480p, which requires a magnitude less bandwidth than the 720p of the Apple TV. So will someone - anyone! - having these issues PLEASE test their bandwidth while having Netflix 'problems' and report back so we may get to the bottom of these issues once and for all using real, verifiable proof.

While waiting on that evidence, I have just completed another follow-up call with Netflix, and it appears there are problems to be addressed. They would share no hard and fast numbers with me, understandably, but they did say (by way of anecdotal information) relatively few AppleTV complaints are being called in. They are receiving a lower volume of calls than history has shown with other new Netflix streaming devices. To be blunt, Netflix cannot fix that which they are unaware of. If you are having ANY issues with Netflix streaming and AppleTV they encourage you to call it in. They sincerely want to know about any and all problems anyone has with Netflix and Apple TV.

Please call it in!

But it is also a huge piece of evidence that the vast majority of AppleTV's are - in fact - not problematic, which lends credence to my claim this is not inherently an Apple or AppleTV problem.

I also report to you the Netflix rep related that nearly all the issues they have resolved with AppleTV are bandwidth starvation issues. Netflix was quite willing to share the fact if the internet connection dips below 1.5MB/second, even momentarily, you WILL have problems. In my professional opinion everyone should consider the Netflix 1.5MB/second requirement as a concrete floor representing the very minimum necessary to participate in Netflix streaming. And if you truly wish to stream 720p (from Netflix or any other source) you should either prepare for long buffering times and interruptions or increase your bandwidth to a minimum of 4MB/sec.

*I cannot speak for Netflix and make no promises, warranties, or claims on their behalf*; that being said, it is my sole opinion in the near future anyone who calls Netflix with an AppleTV streaming issue may be required to conduct a bandwidth test as part of a sound troubleshooting procedure. This is not to say there have not been account problems; there have. Netflix wishes to have very active participation by customers in calling or contacting Netflix support so if there are issues of any sort with Netflix they may be addressed as rapidly as possible.

So unless someone has additional issues to bring to the fore, with evidence to back them up, it would appear by weight of evidence the AppleTV / Netflix issues fall into one of two camps :

1. Bandwidth starvation.
2. Account issues.

Based on the evidence and data collected Netflix is of the opinion - at the moment - that bandwidth issues are 99% of the AppleTV problem. If you can bring evidence and fact to the table it is otherwise, I encourage you to do so for the betterment of the entire community of AppleTV and Netflix users. If you cannot, I encourage you to refrain from muddying the waters more by slinging baseless, unprovable accusations as to exactly what the 'problem' is, or who is at 'fault'.

*PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE* : go and test, return and report; else, stay silent.

I really believe it is an issue with the new software update. I have been on the phone with Apple three times now. Prior to the update, any netflix show started within 15 seconds. After the update last Tuesday night, it takes about 10-15 minutes to start. Nothing else has changed. My DSL speed is timed at 2.54 mb/s. The Apple supervisor said that I need at least 5 mb/s to have netflix work, and they will not even bring the issue to the software engineers unless I had at least that speed, because I have not met the minimum specifications. When I told them it worked perfectly for three weeks prior to the update, but now it doesn't, they had no answer. I have a wii on the same network, and it will start streaming the exact same episode within 10 seconds that takes the Appletv 15 minutes to load.

My theory as to what has happened: I think netflix is no longer able to downgrade the transmission to fit with your particular download speed. On all my other devices, (wii, computer, laptop, etc) it seems that netflix first determines your speed and adjusts the video quality accordingly to match your speed so buffering does not take too long ( I assume this is through lower resolution or higher compression) The fact that the appletv still works, but takes forever to buffer and start, seems to indicate that netflix is sending a full hd resolution program regardless of my download speed. It may well be the case that I needed at least 5 mb/s to stream full hd resolution, and that is why my performance now seems so slow. If something in the new software update screwed up the netflix ability to determine your download speed, that could explain what has happened to me anyway.

I have just ordered a higher DSL speed which should be available to me in the next few days. If it starts working well with the 6 mb/s speed, I will be happy. If it doesn't work, I will call Apple back and finally be able to escalate the issue.

By the way, I did all of the usual checks of my network, router, dsl modem and did both a reset and restore, etc. prior to even getting to second level of support at Apple.

I decided to do a little investigating into my Internet speed considering this solved the problem for many people. While investigating, I learned that Uverse lowered their prices on Internet packages in March. The Max (10 Mbps) (my plan) was lowered from $55 to $45. The Max Pro (18 Mbps) was lowered from $65 to $55. I have been paying $55 for the The Max (10Mbps) since first installing Uverse in January of 2009. Anyway, I upgraded my plan from The Max to The Max Plus (no change in my bill) and Netflix on Apple TV is now working again. We'll see how long this fix lasts... Needless to say, Uverse is a bit corrupt.

In a related note, I called Uverse and demanded my $80.00 back from March-November for the pricing differences in plans. If you have Uverse, I suggest you investigate.

I have been on the phone for a few hours with my dsl provider, netflix and
Apple. We tried every configuration possible and ran every test on my line that could be run, and the conclusion they all came up with is that it was the Apple TV that now had the problem with the new software update. So last night I went to the Apple store and exchanged for a new one with the old software on it. Everything worked perfectly immediately, just like it had before the software update. Netflix titles that were taking 15-20 minutes to start, were now taking about 12 seconds to start and streamed perfectly.

At this point it seems there are only two possibilities. Either my Apple TV experienced some hardware failure that affected streaming only some (not all) Netflix titles at the exact same time that I did the original software update, or (much more likely) something in the new software update interfered with the way the Apple TV connects to some of the content on Netflix.

I am waiting to hear again from Apple as to whether they want me to do the final test of updating the software on the new unit and seeing whether the same problems resurface. If I need to do this and it does ruin it again, they have told me they will give me another new one with the old software on it.

From what I have read on the Roku forums (which are extremely informative and technically thorough), Netflix streaming problems are more often than not directly related to problems between Netflix and their CDN (content delivery network) - the company who's actually responsible for delivering the video stream down the pipe to our Apple TV boxes. (Akamai - in Netlix's case).

You still need to figure out the fastest DNS server for your location. There is a great free tool to help you do that: http://code.google.com/p/namebench/ - You enter your current DNS server and the app runs a bunch of tests and tells you by how much you can improve your speed when you use their recommended servers - based on your location.

So, don't simply trust your ISP's DNS server and don't simply trust Google's DNS server. And remember - this new DNS server needs to be entered into your router settings AND your Apple TV network (manual configuration) settings for optimal speed.

Once you've done that and made sure that your internet download speed and bandwidth are up to the task ( http://speedtest.net/ and http://pingtest.net/), if you're still having problems, it's most likely on Neflix's end. Meaning, there is little we can do other than report every problem via Netflx's "report a problem" feedback link for each stream. I do think that they are actively trying to fix their streaming issues. They don't send out those "how was the quality with stream x" e-mails for nothing.

Magically, I haven't had any streaming problems in days now. Speaks to the CDN theory, because nothing has changed with my setup and I am still streaming/watching the same show.

So, do take care of that Netflix feedback option. - Oh, and I am not sure if it's really making a difference, but every time I have streaming problems, I run the network test on my Apple TV and sent the results back to Apple. One can only hope for the best...

azrookie wrote:
I'm "peeling the onion", so the next experiment will be to run a cat 5 cable and see if that changes anything. But that's not a very elegant solution. I have spoken to Netflix on the phone. They insist that it is an ISP cable company issue. None of their doing. I realize I'm speaking to a call center person who says what he/she is told to say. And I respond to all of Netflix' email surveys that ask "how was your viewing?" We are in a major metro area (greater Phx, AZ, so I suspect the delivery infrasturcture should be adequate.

AFAIK, Phoenix doesn't have its own Netflix streaming center. L.A. would be the closest one for you. In order to see if you're indeed accessing Neflix' L.A. servers run a traceroute test via your terminal app. Just enter "traceroute netflix-822.vo.llnwd.net" in the Terminal command line and hit enter. (I am assuming you have a Mac. For Windows it's a different command.) You'll get a list of servers. The names should tell you where they're located at. When I had major problems, I found out that my signal was routed through Chicago, even though I am in L.A. (my ISP's DNS server was responsible for that...)

This may not solve your problem, but it's just one more thing to check. Who knows....

I solved my Netflix streaming problems today.

I had been having similar problems with Netflix streaming since the ATV2 update. Netflix streamed perfectly in HD prior to the update. After the update in late November, Netflix movies would begin streaming in HD, and at precisely 15 seconds, the image would freeze, rebuffer, and then resume play in very sub-standard definition quality (blurry).

I have a fast 24 Mb/s network, measuring a consistent 16 Mb/s at the location of the ATV2 so bandwidth was not an issue.

I experimented with several settings on my Airport Extreme and through trial and error discovered that if I changed the wireless protocol from Automatic to 802.11a - 802.11 g/b, my streaming problems completely resolved. Movies now load quickly and play in HD without stuttering. Essentially, I turned off the n protocol on the router. (Simply separating the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz networks and connecting only the 2.4 GHz network didn't help, I actually had to turn off the n protocol.) I'm no techie, so I have no idea why this worked, but it did.