Netflix Problems

I am having the same problem with Netflix. I bought my Apple TV on Black Friday. Everything worked perfectly until Monday. Now Netflix menus will load, but when I click "play," the wheel spins and I get the dreaded "Cannot connect to the Netflix server" message. I really hope this seemingly common issue is corrected soon.

Same problem last night and yes it seems to repeat itself.....It is an apple problem given netflix works fine on my ipad and my wii at the same time atv doesn't work....Very frustrating....When it is netflix they let you know it is their problem and even give free time...

This issue is very sporadic ... an hour after my previous post it all started working fine. Worked all evening without a hitch. Today, back to the same old grind. There's something funky going on for sure. I really really wish Apple would get with the program and get a mechanism for updating individual apps in place in iOS so that we don't have to wait for an entire OS rollout in order to get bug fixes for things like this 😟

OK, so last night I purchased an Ethernet cable to hardwire the ATV to the router. Cabled up, we turn on the ATV and try to download a Netflix episode of a TV program. It downloads fast and starts all in the same amount of time that we have seen when using our Wii to access Netflix. Watch the show, no problems. Download a second program and watch it with no problems. Third time, the download works, but the show stops after 2 minutes. Turn off ATV, try again nothing will download from Netflix. Switch over to watch some Podcast from iTunes, no issues. Use the Wii to watch Netflix, no problem. This device is just not worth the trouble. Nice idea, but as a customer/consumer, this has not been a satisfying experience and I doubt I'll be purchasing another ATV for the holidays.

And yet you refuse to acknowledge that all of us with issues can get any number of wireless devices (including numerous other apple devices) to work flawlessly except the ATV2.

So yes, it really makes no sense.

If it's bandwidth starvation or some router quirk, how come very other device works perfectly?

Logic - it's your friend.

The fact that the atv2 worked for 2 minutes on my friend's network and never again (these were quick tests on lunch breaks) does not make me a liar. I guess on a technicality it does get you off the hook for a steak dinner. I didn't bother documenting the extensive tests here - primarily because I am able to run the atv wired.

Your comments on this thread have been condescending, combative and pgoundly unhelpful. You troubleshooting tips are nothing most of us didn't already know and hadn't already tried.

davepaisley wrote:
And yet you refuse to acknowledge that all of us with issues can get any number of wireless devices (including numerous other apple devices) to work flawlessly except the ATV2.

So yes, it really makes no sense.

If it's bandwidth starvation or some router quirk, how come very other device works perfectly?

Logic - it's your friend.

Indeed. One thing to keep in mind is that all wireless communications are not equivalent. So some types of communication can be more robust in terms of compensating for interference than others

hey, i've actually had all of my devices on google's dns servers for sometime and set my apple tv up that way, it does not unfortunately fix the problem. it's unbearable to try to watch something and it freezes a few times every minute for 10-15seconds.

Just got the new atv and am having the exact same issue with the latest firmware. Netflix works perfectly over wifi on my ps3 and vieracast tv. Will give it a few more days for an official response or return it for a wifi bluray box.

Brian_Y wrote:
I've only been on this forum a short time, yet you definitely
come across as someone who refuses to see the problem here.

I am all ears. Define the problem exactly.

When many, such as myself, can connect to Neflix in our home via
other Apple products, and game consoles, then the issue is not in our home
routers/networks, its not with our Netflix accounts, and its not with bandwidth.

Then what is it? I know you have a deep, emotional need to say the AppleTV, but there are hundreds of thousands of AppleTVs out there now (including mine) which function perfectly in environments similar to yours.

I was just running down performance issues with a client who was having trouble with Netflix on an iPad. The iPhone worked perfectly. The AppleTV worked perfectly. So going by your logic I should have just told the client it was an iPad issue, then either called Apple/Netflix to complain or posted here about what a steaming, defective piece of crap the iPad is.

You, my friend, have just revolutionized the tech support industry. No actual knowledge, certifications, long hours of study, expensive testing or experience needed. Just jump from problem to solution without all that icky troubleshooting!

All devices except the ATV are working. It is therefore an Apple TV issue!!!!!

Hundreds of thousands of working AppleTVs disagree with you and disprove your emotional theory!!!!!

Please see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posthoc_ergo_propterhoc !!!!!

If the ATV requires some huge bandwidth pipe, then Apple needs to be upfront about that.

Why is Apple responsible for your education as to what toys will and will not work with your network? Are you not an adult responsible unto yourself? Or, put another way : do you seriously advocate Apple gathering data on every possible customer network and denying you the ability to purchase their products at the register?

Otherwise ATV was marketed as another Netflix connectible device with no restrictions.

Prove it. I want to see a link to the ad that makes this claim. What you infer is irrelevant. I want to see the cold, hard data in either paper or pixels, directly from the source material.

"All devices except the ATV are working. It is therefore an Apple TV issue!!!!!"

I think it is hilarious the logical fallacies people on this thread are making. As the above quote from Brian_Y shows it goes something like this:

--------
"My XBox 360, PS3, or (insert your own Netflix device here) works fine with Netflix and the Apple TV doesn't so there must be a problem with the Apple TV."
--------

Well guess what. I went over to the PS3 forum and there is a 29 page thread of people having problems with Netflix on the PS3. And guess what some people there are saying? "My XBox 360, Wii, and Apple TV2 have no problems with Netflix so it must be the PS3!!!"

Hilarious I tell ya! And I bet if you go to the support forum for the XBox 360 or any other Netflix capable device you will get the same kind of statements. I just thought I would bring that up because I found it funny and for those people making the logical fallacies, please don't make tech support your day job as it's not your strong suit. Carry on everyone. 🙂

tgibbs wrote:
On the other hand, if it is solely an Apple TV problem,
then why is it working so well for so many people?
Mine has worked better since the update...

Sorry, this is the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth AppleTV bashing thread. You are not allowed to post if your AppleTV is working, or you use logical troubleshooting methods to reach conclusions backed by evidence. 😉

I'm curious about that, too. Has anyone set up a site/shared spreadsheet where we can contribute individual titles which are proving problematic with our setups? It would be nice to be able to check out this data and see if there's a pattern or not.

I'd lie to add myself to the Netflix problem list.

I have pausing and streaming issues. Movies and tv shows will pause several times ranging from a second or two to 10 seconds or more. Very frustrating.

My apple tv is running the current firmware.
Apple airport extreme router newest version.
Dsl 12mbps

Netflix works well with no problems on my iPad, Mac mini, and Roku box.

Just to see if it is show-dependent, I tried the following shows which various people have mentioned
Friday Night Lights S1E9
Eureka S3.5E10
Dr. Who S2E3&4
Lost S6E1

I didn't play the full episodes but I verified that each of them starts within seconds and plays continuously for a few minutes.

So whatever the issue is, there is more to it than just bad episodes.
So far, I've yet to have any show fail to play. Since the system update, I am no longer occasionally seeing "Unable to contact Netflix" errors. I am still having problems in which some shows do not show thumbnails (or show very few of them) when fast forwarding or rewinding.