Apple TV 2 Waiting for network services, unable to sign in to iTunes store

I had the same issue. Like other folks have noticed, my ATV2 was getting hung up on an NTP query to time.apple.com, even though I had no trouble doing NTP queries to time.apple.com from other machines on the same local network. I have a Linksys WRT320 router, with latest firmware. I tried flashing it with DD-WRT firmware, to get rid of the linksys firmware - with the same results.

The DD-WRT firmware included a DNSMasq server, so I pointed time.apple.com to a different (known good) NTP server, with the same results. I then pointed it to a local NTP server that I set up, with the same results. Having it not work w/ the local NTP server told me that my ISP wasn't doing anything funky with NTP requests.

In the end, in my case, I think it was actually something odd in router hardware (it makes no sense, and I have no idea what could be wrong), since replacing the linksys (which, remember, was tried w/ two different firmwares, likely eliminating router firmware as an issue) with an Apple Airport has made the ATV2 work flawlessly for 2 days now.

So my $99 ATV2 actually cost $289 after all is said and done...

A cheaper test for those who have this issue would be to take it to an Apple Store, and see if you have the same issue on their network. That's what Apple tech support suggested when I called them. They said if I didn't, then it was my network, and it was unlikely that they'd be able to help more.

I am having the same issues as well. I have a WRT160N router. I have tried resetting the router, reseting the ATV, waiting at the "waiting for network services" screen and all to no avail. I am going to make a trip to the apple store this week to see if they can get this sorted out.

I managed to get mine working and it was not the router, NTP or any problem like that. The problem was that I had created an apple id via my web browser. I added in my credit information, all required fields, etc. While the ID was valid and I could log in via the web to the account, my AppleTV would of course tell me that the apple ID was invalid.

Solution was to log into the account from an iTunes application, not the web browser. After a successful login from iTunes, AppleTV would then login.

Did you also have the "waiting for network services" issue? This happens before you even put in your Apple ID.

No. I never had that problem.

Same problem. My ATV has worked flawlessly for the past week but I woke up this AM and it asked for and rejected my iTunes login and then said "waiting for network services".

This has to be an issue on Apple's end.

I had the same issue. I discovered that NTP was answering back on UDP port 50738, so I opened that port and all is well. One thing to note is that Netflix was down most of Oct 21 2010. I do not see the wisdom in hard coding the NTP servers. It should follow the DHCP standards and if an NTP server is being offered up via DHCP then that is the one to be use.

Same thing happened to mine. Restored the firmware and still the same. Not able to connect to the iTunes store, saying either my name or password is incorrect, stuck on 'Waiting for network services' message.

I reset the apple tv to factory defaults via the menu, and then this fixed everything. Back to normal now. No changes to any routers needed.

I have a good friend who just bought one at the same time as me. Mine worked flawlessly out of the box. Hers is having the problem described here. I spent about two hours trying all the possible fixes here in the forum to no avail. She is on the Telus network with a Telus provided modem/router. I am on Shaw with a Linksys RV082 router. I took her AppleTV2 home with me, plugged it in and it worked instantly. I set it up with her information and brought it back to her house. Plugged it in and back to the same problem. I'm going to swap out her Telus supplied modem/router this week with a spare Telus ADSL modem I have and I will get back to everyone with the results.

I had this problem when I first got the ATV2 - the message was "Waiting for Network Services". I think the new 4.2.1 has changed this message to say Network Time as it is trying to connect to Apple's time server. I let it stay that way overnight and in the morning everything worked just fine. Threads about this error back then indicated it was a time server issue and opening those ports on routers, etc. fixed the problem. My ports were always open. It just took a LONG time for the time server to sync with my ATV.

Yesterday I had problems with HDCP errors so I reset my ATV2. It stalled again with the error "Waiting for Network TIme..." I let it sit again - after about 2 hours it was ok and allowed me to input my id and connect to all services. So far my HDCP errors seem to be gone.

I had the same problems when I set up my Apple TV today. It just sat on loading network services. All I did was log ito my router and place the ip for the Apple TV in the DMZ, rebooted the Apple TV and it went straight through and now works like a charm. I then took it out of the DMZ and it still works great. Perhaps putting it in the DMZ gave it the necessary access to the time.apple.com to help it configure itself? No idea, but it worked for me...by the way, I am using a DLink DI-624 router and a DI-300 switch and connect Apple TV wirelessly.

It's not Apple. I thought it was my router/dsl modem so I replaced it but it still didn't work. Placed the Apple TV in the DMZ on the router and still nothing. restored, reset, etc. Turned out my ISP blocks ports 1023 and down for inbound access. I also could not sync time on my XP laptop and desktop before. My ISP opened up the ports and I did one more reset on the Apple TV and it worked fine. I can also sync the time on my computers again too.

I have the same problem, annot connect to iTunes. HOWEVER, this is all since I upgraded my DSL router to a Cisco SRP527W. ATV2 worked fine when it was on the previous NetGear I had, however, the new Cisco router appears not to work with this configuration.

I have opened up ports 123, 5353 & 3689 on the new Cisco router (none of this needed doing with the NetGear).

So it appears from many people on this thread that that it might be down to a Cisco / Linksys problem. Whatever the problem is, its embarresing thay Apple have shrugged shoulders and blame the network guys.... Someone forgot to test ATV2 with Cisco/Linksys products before release ??

I'm in Japan, and I have the exactly same problem.

In detail:

1. apple tv 2 stucks at "waiting for network time"
2. if skipping 'waiting for network time', I can neither see youtube contents nor sign in with apple id and I cannot setup home sharing with my macbook too.
the error msg is the same: apple id or password is incorrect.

what is working is I can airplay music and video from iphone to apple tv, and airplay music from macbook to apple tv.

I don't think I have problems with my router. Here is the reasons:

1. My router is connect directly to Lan cable in a school, not a isp
2. I believe 'to open ports on router' is to open them for incoming request, not for outgoing request, which is the case for apple tv
3. Even I open the necessary ports described at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2463, still not working
4. I can use macbook and iphone to see youtube and sign in with apple id in the same wireless network environment.

I ask the apple support by phone, after one hour for no actual solution, they promise to replace a new apple tv for me 'cause I just bought it.

But I do not hope that will solve the problem, 'cause I think the problem is in software rather than hardware.
Anyway, I will try again after the new one arrived.

I have been very frustrated with my Apple TV purchase. A little background: My ISP is Comcast and I have a Motorola SBG900 router. When I set up Apple TV, I could not do much with Apple TV because of the same message in the subject heading. I tried opening the requisite ports as discussed previously, but to no avail. Then I found a good deal on an Airport Extreme Base Station and bought it because on some forum somewhere I had seen that Apple products played nice with each other. I played around a little more with port 123, first without making the AEBS operational, and still no luck. Finally, when I created a new network with the Airport Extreme as a modem and punched the 123 port hole into it (and still using the Motorola as the router, mind you), I actually succeeded. Netflix worked. Mobileme worked. Home sharing worked.

Then last night I tried watching a Netflix movie, and bam, that service did not work. Not long after, I was notified of the 4.1.1 update to Apple TV, so I updated. Much to my chagrin, and despite all the fooling around that made Apple TV work the first time, I am once again receiving the "Waiting for network services" message ad nauseum. I have a hunch that due to my basic impatience with the intricacies of networking, I am my own worst enemy when it comes to solving this problem, and yet, there are many forums or other support web sites that have lots of different ideas about the solution, but very few that explain the requisite fundamentals of wifi networking in a coherent manner.

My wife is frustrated with Apple TV for an altogether different reason: no Hulu TV. I am an Apple loyalist, but I'm thinking on this issue, it's Mac OS version 7.5.5 all over again.