Netflix Problems

Tonight Netflix standard definition programs are rebuffering every 30 second, and high definition programs won't play at all. Last night standard definition played ok, but high definition got the spinning wheel every 30 seconds. After months of no fixes and no answers, I've decided the Apple TV is a piece of junk. I'll continue watching Netflix on my cheap blu ray player in the bedroom, since it always works, and get a Roku player to replace the Apple TV. Shame on Apple for selling beta quality devices to loyal customers who trust them. If your Apple TV works fine, I congratulate you, but I don't need to hear from you. Mind doesn't. I've fiddled with every setting on every device in the house except the toilet and the garage door opener, and am now happy to consign the ATV to the scrap heap rather than fiddle any more.

From Comcast, I have an Arris Touchstone TM402P modem. Connected to the modem is a DIR-824 D-Link router. The Apple TV has a wired connection to the router.

I'm not running the beta--since I'm not having any problems, I didn't want to rock the boat.

Jason -
Thanks for the suggestion. I have had a look at my log and found the following.

The Signal Noise and Rate for my iMac which is connected at 5.0 GHZ (Type: 802.11a/n) are -41, -96, 216-300.
The Signal Noise and Rate for my ATV which is connected at 2.4 GHZ (Type: 802.11b/g/n) are -56, -87, 65...sometimes lower.

I believe this means, when looking at the Signal to Noise ratio that the iMac Signal is very strong and the ATV signal is reasonably strong. Right.

Help me understand why the rate so low?

Jason -
Thanks for your response.

Actually, as a rule, I see relatively little deterioration in the ATV signal or its noise. Most of the time, its Transfer Rate remains fixed at 65 even when the video freezes, although there are times when it has fallen below 15. Shouldn't the Transfer Rate be higher than 65?

I'm lucky to live in a reasonably remote neighborhood, and my 2 neighbors are away. Istumbler did not pick up anything. I also use my iMac's System Profiler to view the networks my iMac detects. All I have now are our 2.4 GHZ network (on Channel 1) and our 5.0 GHZ network (on Channel 48). Our Macs are attached to the latter. When I attempt to shift our ATV over to it as well, the Transfer Rate degrades and the video freezes.

The one consistent variable we encounter is the video itself. When we watch a documentary or a relatively old movie, even though feature length (2 hours+), we have very few interruptions. On the other hand, when we watch a TV program like "Lie to Me", we will experience multiple interruptions during a given 45 minute episode. I suspect that differences in the demand for given Netflix videos and its ability to handle high demand is part of the problem.

The other has to be the unit itself.

Any thoughts?

I have tried everything that has been mentioned. I have seen some improvement, but I have just come to accept the reality that there will be a number of stalls during any given viewing session. Clearly this is not a great product. The very fact that people have to resort to as much technical machination as has been outlined in this discussion just to get results that almost work defines ATV as not a particularly consumer friendly product, but more of a technical novelty or curiosity. My guess is that it will be dropped from the product line unless they can figure out how to improve it. Surely Apple cannot afford to have loyal users like those in this forum be this dissatisfied.

A forum like this tends to attract people who are having difficulties. But Apple sold over a million before Christmas, and Netflix reports that Apple TV has already passed iPad as a client. It may even be that some of the problems have arisen from Netflix not being adequately prepared for the demand for content from AppleTVs. So the problems are probably more the exception than the rule. I suspect that my experience is more typical: I plugged it in, and it "just worked." Both Netflix and Apple content is ready to stream in seconds, and streams smoothly, without interruption.

Yes, I imagine that a lot of the problems are the consequence of buggy routers that simply were not designed or tested to meet the demands upon router reliability and throughput that are now routinely imposed upon them by streaming of HD video.

We have been able to access Netflix, but only for certain titles. I can get Caillou to play for my 2 year old (eeeekkk!!) with no problem, but when we try to watch LOST, it stops after a couple of seconds or minutes. Then it freezes and we can't get it to play again. We can watch anything through our Wii with no problem all the time. What would cause some titles to work, and others to freeze?

Everyone -
What has been your experience since the 4.2 upgrade? Last night the TV series "Lie to ME" that we watch via Netflix ran perfectly, with what seems to be an improvement in audio quality.

We continue to experience a lot of streaming delays, when watching the movie "The Odessa File", which has become the poster child for the difficulties we experience.

While the DNS may be a solution for some folks, I personally find that an unacceptable way to deal with the problem. Your typical "joe plumber" user isn't going to know what a DNS is or even want to try to fix it like that.

Given that this forum topic has almost 500 postings and 120K+ views, there should be some serious efforts by Apple/Netflix to resolve the issue.

I tried this. Didn't work. Netflix works great on everything. MacBook, iMac, iPhone, iPad, WII, but is now really bad on ATV2. Up until yesterday ATV was streaming well. As of last night it's horrible. I hope Apple fixes this quickly.

I, too, am having this issue. When the issue is occurring, I am getting a very solid 12-18 Mbps download speed on AT&T U-verse fiber service. I can confirm that the AppleTV has the newest updates applied, though I just bought it and didn't use it prior to applying the updates.

Also, at the same time that the issue is occurring, I can stream content on my Blu-ray player without any issue.

If there's any additional detail I can offer to help resolve this issue, I'll be glad to help.

Cheers!

Message was edited by: andrewbecks

I wish I had time to read through this entire thread, but it is too long. I came to the forum today to research any Netflix issues. I purchased the ATV2 (replaced ATV1) mainly for the Netflix capability.

I have been getting a "An error occurred while loading" message and Netflix will not play the selection. This seems to occur after my box has been in sleep mode for several hours.

I was ready to return my box this morning, but thought I'd check the forum first. Looks like I may return the box and wait for ATV3. lol

I have a fiber optic line into the house and use a new Apple router for a wireless network. I have no problems with Netflix on Xbox 360s, Wii, iPod Touch, or iPhones.

No good here. Going back to ROKU player that worked perfectly. ATV2 is crap. I'm sure this is somewhat intentional so that you just switch over to itunes and rent/buy a movie. Never understood why Apple would add a cheaper service like Netflix in the first place.

Keep getting the same Netflix error when trying to login after the latest system update. Nothing on the Netflix site gives any information. Been like this for almost a week now. Wiped the system a few times. Everything else works.