Netflix Problems

trip1ex wrote:
WEll it would be informative to hear what your latest bit rates are according to Netflix. You could make the call while replying to these posts and it wouldn't take up any more of your time. 🙂


Not sure how it can be an ISP/network issue when many of the people with problems are not having problems with any other Netflix device or aren't even having problems with the ATV and iTunes. IT's just Netflix on the ATV.

In my case I find it odd I'm getting 1.4 mbps bit rates but never had any stuttering problems. Picture is decent, but probably could be better. Still am I just above the thing going into the toilet? STrange to me. Especially when they say the Wii is getting 3.5mbps-4mbps. I didn't ask about my 360 or Tivo.

Maybe it's a case of Netflix treating the ATV like its a portable iOS device aka IPad, iPhone or iPOD Touch. ATV is an iOS device after all.

From a previous post (1 or 2 ago): 1.16 mbps playing Gosford Park 720p HD and 5.1 DD with no defects. The Netflix "snapshot" number is worthless as far as I'm concerned because a previous rep told me I needed 5 mbps to do 5.1 DD. Huh?

Yeah it's odd. Maybe they are just measuring the speed wrong.

But I'm not sure HD and 5.1 really have a meaning in the Netflix world like they do say with a dvd or BR player and receiver.

It's all about bit rate. Netflix can scale the bit rate to whatever number it wants too. Don't know where the HD line begins or ends. 5.1 sound? They can lower the bit rate on that as well I bet.

trip1ex wrote:
Yeah it's odd. Maybe they are just measuring the speed wrong.

But I'm not sure HD and 5.1 really have a meaning in the Netflix world like they do say with a dvd or BR player and receiver.

It's all about bit rate. Netflix can scale the bit rate to whatever number it wants too. Don't know where the HD line begins or ends. 5.1 sound? They can lower the bit rate on that as well I bet.

My receiver and TV have Info buttons that display the resolution, bit rate etc. I don't think they can change the bit rate, or do, because that would cause the TV and/or retrain from the original. The stream speed may vary, but that is what buffering is for inside the ATV2. It has 8 GB of memory and it can draw from the buffer it creates. Personally I think that all of the providers, ISPs, and Apple are peddling as fast as they can to keep up with the expectations created by the commercials and press releases for the ATV2. My brothers ATV2 worked perfectly playing HD DD 5.1 on a Frontier Communications 3 mb DSL..... until we started downloading Windoze updates at the same time....

craigmag143 wrote:
The senior support adviser just got back with me. He said engineering said that if iTunes is working great, then the issue is with Netflix. Ug. I guess all we can do is keep testing and keep calling.

Maybe it's the type of information send to the Apple TV vs other devices?

One thing is for sure. No one wants to own this issue.

I think the issue is with the Netflix app on AppleTV. (Not the AppleTV itself, or Netflix's servers).

The question is, who owns the App? I think Apple wrote it - I remember Steve Jobs bragging about the great job they did on the interface.

Regardless of who owns it, though, I would think both parties would be interested in solving the problems.

Well, it is not my ISP, have a strong connection of 10mbps. I have reset and reconfigured my AEBS it was extending a network, turned that off. Then turned on ATV2 it was awesome for about 15 minutes, then it just went downhill from there. I switched to the Wii, no issues. I can stream to multiple devices both PC & Mac, iPhones and iPads, all work with out issue on the same wireless or wired network.

So in conclusion, after hardware resets, multiple tests and configurations, calls to Netflix and my ISP, I have to conclude that the ATV2 is a piece of crap, and it is solely to blame.

I was having lots problems with Netflix movies stuttering/stopping, and rented iTunes movies doing the same thing, or wanting 20 hours to download.

Then I edited my Airport Extreme in manual mode (instead of using the wizard). There are additional settings that appear in the manual mode of editing the router. The key one, for me, was to give the 5G network a different name. Once I did that, and reconfigured ATV to use that wi-fi network, all of my problems went away.

My understanding is that by default the 2.5mhz and the 5mhz, when using the same network name, will switch back and forth between frequencies depending upon the capabilities of the clients attached. Once one client attaches that can't communicate using the 5mhz frequency (iphone 4, *** apple??, the ipad can talk 5mhz but the newer iphone 4 can't) then all wifi traffic is dropped to the 2.5mhz frequency. This opens the network up to lots of interference (microwaves, neighbors wifi on channels that are close, etc).

By giving the 5mhz network a different name and explicitly connecting to it there should be no more switching.

The other thing is that the airport extreme will auto select clear channels when it restarts, so if you're having issues simply restart the router and let it pick clear channels.

Prior to this netflix was stuttering on ATV2, my ipad, my iphone, and my laptop.

After making this change the video is clear, sharp, and stutter free.

I agree with detroitsongbird's findings. About 10-14 days ago, I worked with Apple Care tech support to make the very same changes on my Airport Extreme. Ever since I have had no problems whatsoever viewing Netflix SD and HD movies.

This came on the heals of some very hard work with Comcast, which included removing noise they found in our cabling (TV, Internet, Phone) as well as replacing our cable modem.

Note: I have not upgraded to the latest the ATV firmware. I'm still at 4.2.

That said, I'm still not ready to breath freely.

Like many of you, I don't understand why we are not hearing directly from Apple.

tadcrawfordmv wrote:
I agree with detroitsongbird's findings. About 10-14 days ago, I worked with Apple Care tech support to make the very same changes on my Airport Extreme. Ever since I have had no problems whatsoever viewing Netflix SD and HD movies.

This came on the heals of some very hard work with Comcast, which included removing noise they found in our cabling (TV, Internet, Phone) as well as replacing our cable modem.

Note: I have not upgraded to the latest the ATV firmware. I'm still at 4.2.

That said, I'm still not ready to breath freely.

Like many of you, I don't understand why we are not hearing directly from Apple.

There may 2 different kinds of problems here.

detroitsongbird was having issues with all his devices not just Netflix on the ATV.

That points to a wireless network issue in his house.

Others are having problem just with Netflix on the ATV. Netflix on other devices works fine. Even other services on the ATV work fine.

What camp were you in?

I wouldn't expect Apple to fix in-home wireless issues. That's what detroitsongbird was having. His issue is actually obvious problem with wireless N or wireless N dual network routers. Devices that connect to your network that aren't 5 ghz N or are wireless G will knock your network back down to 2.4ghz N or wireless G respectively. That may just be enough to prevent previously working devices from working.

I would expect them to fix a bug in the Netflix app on the ATV which seems to affect a large minority. Many of those have tried the ATV with it plugged directly into the router with the same result.

Let me add Netflix on the my ATV works fine, but when I call up Netflix they say I'm getting less than their recommended bit rate. I'm getting 1.4 mbps max. My picture is decent, but doesn't seem HD. Hard to tell. Is Netflix measuring my bit rate wrong on my ATV? Or am I just a half-step above those having problems? Meanwhile my Wii gets 3-4 mbps according to Netflix.

If you want to help others out now that your setup is working then call up Netflix and ask for your recent bit rates. Be interesting to hear if anyone is actually getting 5mbps rates from Netflix on their ATVs.

detroitsongbird wrote:
I was having lots problems with Netflix movies stuttering/stopping, and *rented iTunes movies doing the same thing*, or wanting 20 hours to download.....netflix was stuttering on ATV2, my ipad, my iphone, and my laptop.

Glad you solved your problem!

Note that this is a *very different* problem than most people on this thread.

People posting their Netflix woes here ONLY have problems with Netflix on the ATV. Other apps like iTunes movies and TV rentals work fine. They are also reporting that Netflix works OK on other devices.

Cheers!

My problems have been limited to Netflix on our ATV2, but that's because I haven't attempted any iTunes services other than to test a pre-Winter Olympics video which was a free download. That was a good 6 weeks ago. There too I experienced stuttering, but never long downloads...probably because the download speeds we experience from Comcast exceed 20 Mbps.

Note: While we do not have iPhones or iPads, we have tested Netflix on our iMac and our MacBook Pro. It performed flawlessly.

Just want to chime in that I have also been experiencing problems streaming Netflix. As a way of playing back local media, or iTunes rentals, the Apple TV has been flawless, but I have always had some amount of trouble with Netflix streaming. I'm not on the fastest connection, but I can stream on my iPad, iPhone, and MacBook Pro without issue.

Sometimes it plays back just fine, but most of the time I experience long loading periods and frequent pauses. It's disappointing because the Apple TV has otherwise been a great purchase.

I've changed DNS setting, tried both wired and wireless connections, and performed dark arts rituals to get it to work. No luck.

Same problem here. ATV2 works fine for renting movies from iTunes, but Netflix on ATV2 stutters and freezes every 2-5 minutes. I can run Netflix flawlessly on the same network with my xbox360. I am definitely experiencing a problem that is specific to the Netflix app on ATV2.

Same problems here. Everything is NetFlix and Apple TV specific.
No network problems of any kind on the Apple TV with every other feature.
Netflix works fine on every other device we have: iMac, MacBook, 2 1st gen iPads, 2 iPhone 3gs, and a couple different ipod touches... as well as the Wii.

Obviously this is not an issue with my wired or wireless network, or with the Netflix service, (which has issues of it's own lately), So who's to blame, and why won't they say when they will fix it????

I'm having issues with streaming more and more lately. Right now when I go to play something on Netflix on my Apple TV it gives me the little loading wheel and then boots me right back to the video info screen where you select it to play.

I've done everything I can think of. Netflix online support says there are no problems on their end. I logged out of my Apple TV and my Netflix account. I'm wired in to the network, I can stream on my iPhone and MacBook Pro.

Is anyone else having this same issue?

I was having the same problem. I just downloaded the software update and every time I try to watch the wheel goes and then goes right back to the menu screen. I fixed the problem by doing a hard reset of the Apple TV. Hold the menu and down button on your remote until the little white light on the unit flashes rapidly then let go. It should reset, or unplug the Apple TV from the power source for 30 seconds. It should fix the problem. I forgot that you need to do this anytime you update your software. Let me know if this works for you.