TWalkerPolk

Q: Apple TV HD Rental Streaming Problem

I wanted to create this topic to ask if others are running into the same issues I am with streaming rented HD movies. I go to play the rented HD movie and am transferred to a screen that says "Loading...." for about a minute or two. Then, that message is replaced with one that says "Ready to play in [xxx] minutes"...with horribly long times listed (my movie was rented last night, and as of this evening, it shows "Ready to play in 232 minutes").

This seems like a MAJOR flaw with the Apple TV. I have no problem viewing YouTube, HD Netflix movies, HD trailers, etc. I have even been able to watch an HD TV show rental within about 5 mins of selecting it. Seems like there may be a major flaw in the streaming process for HD Movie rentals over the Apple TV.

If you haven't tested this yet (or if you have no issues), please post what is happening with your HD movie rentals.

TWP

Note: I have rebooted everything, used my Airport Express with the ethernet cord directly into the Apple TV, over wiFi, adjusted the distance between my router and the Apple TV. Nothing has worked.

Dell Laptop m1330, Windows 7

Posted on Oct 8, 2010 9:05 PM

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Q: Apple TV HD Rental Streaming Problem

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  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Dec 2, 2010 12:55 PM in response to jpjd
    Level 6 (19,281 points)
    Apple TV
    Dec 2, 2010 12:55 PM in response to jpjd
    I'm all for that, and I think some of it comes down to them, but not all of it. The proximity plays a part i'm sure, as does how many people in that area are also using this or similiar device etc.

    You say your ISP is fine, but how do you know that they aren't throttling?

    I think more people bought into this idea than anticipated and everyone is trying to catch up.

    Message was edited by: vazandrew
  • by rmeaux,

    rmeaux rmeaux Dec 2, 2010 1:15 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2010 1:15 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I think the problem is solely the way the movies are sent to us, from where they are sent, from who they are sent, and how the ATV2 handles and stores them.

    If you read this whole post there are people with 20+mb DS and are having a problem. I don't think it is a throttling issue at all. Netflix is sent different, but it does work. If I turn off HD on my ATV2, it should IMO work just as good as Netflix.

    As far as peak times that is not the case either. People on here have tried movies at all times of day. I work 4pm to midnight, so I am gone at peak times. Still have the same problem. I don't see why anyone with 5mb + should have to wait more than 10 minutes to get a buffer and start a HD movie.

    Strictly my opinion. I am an Apple fan and junkie. I have a device from every lineup. They will fix it and the solution will hopefully surpass our expectations. They do stuff and they do it well. For now I am happy with Netflix and Airplay. As soon as they fix the rental part, I will rent again and enjoy newer movies.

    It can only get better.
  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Dec 2, 2010 1:21 PM in response to rmeaux
    Level 6 (19,281 points)
    Apple TV
    Dec 2, 2010 1:21 PM in response to rmeaux
    They don't view netflix as a threat.

    It's hard to know everyones situation but yes I guess we will just have to see what happens.
  • by Ptrotsky,

    Ptrotsky Ptrotsky Dec 2, 2010 2:42 PM in response to rmeaux
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2010 2:42 PM in response to rmeaux
    It works great for me in Milwaukee WI. It is now a headline on AppleInsider. I hope you guys keep pestering Apple. I did ha e the same problem with download time but no longer. Good Luck!
  • by Richard Totaro,

    Richard Totaro Richard Totaro Dec 2, 2010 4:25 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Dec 2, 2010 4:25 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    In Australia
    ATV2
    HD movies over 6hours to download
    HD to iPad 3hours
    SD to ATV2 almost immediate viewing
    SD to iPad also almost immediate.

    No other network activity
    ADSL2+

    Saddened to see so many others with this problem...
  • by alondono,

    alondono alondono Dec 2, 2010 9:24 PM in response to vazandrew
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2010 9:24 PM in response to vazandrew
    If the complaint is about your HD movies not streaming immediately, yes I do agree with you, but many people in this thread are not complaining only about that. There seems to be a problem with the way the cached movies are handled by the ATV2.

    I have a slow connection, so I know by experience that downloading a whole HD movie takes about 5 hours. Knowing that I leave the movie downloading the night before, when I look in the morning, or the next day (24 hours later) I get a "Your movie is ready, press Play to watch now or press Menu to watch later". I cannot press Menu to watch later because when I want to watch it it starts downloading it again. Why?

    And even if I press Play to watch immediately, if you pause the movie, or try to "rewind" to re-watch a scene, there is a high chance that ATV2 will throw away the whole movie that was downloaded already and start all over again. Why?

    That is really my issue, and some other people posting here have the same issue.
  • by jpjd,

    jpjd jpjd Dec 2, 2010 9:34 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2010 9:34 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I'm also suffering from the Apple TV taking forever to find my computers movie section. I select the movie selection and I get the spinning wheel....for a loooong time. Actually everything I select under the movie heading takes forever to load in. Music streams fine. I've rebooted my Apple TV and I've also rebooted my Mac but still the problem persists!
  • by Richard Totaro,

    Richard Totaro Richard Totaro Dec 2, 2010 10:10 PM in response to alondono
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Dec 2, 2010 10:10 PM in response to alondono
    And yes, I am seeing the disappearing rented movie problem too
  • by viciousvex,

    viciousvex viciousvex Dec 3, 2010 2:46 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Dec 3, 2010 2:46 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I have the same problem. I rented a HD movie just to try it out. ATV told me it would be ready to start in 87 minutes. So I left the box alone and came back the next day to watch the movie. Turned on the box and it told me a download error had occurred. After hitting start on the film again it told me one more time
    It would be ready in over 80 minutes. Waited until the next day. "Download error" again. After hitting start several times again and playing around a bit it told me the movie would be ready in 37 minutes. Some time later, maybe a minute or so, it started playing. Except for some mostly not very noticeable hiccups in the video stream the movie was watchable. I think every few seconds the video skipped a frame or two. But after two days the movie played. Finally.

    I have a 2 mbit connection and get around 1,8 mbit continuous download rate.

    I will not rent a movie again on apple tv and use the box just for iTunes media streaming in photos.

    Worst apple product I ever bought.

    regards
    Alex
  • by viciousvex,

    viciousvex viciousvex Dec 3, 2010 3:07 AM in response to viciousvex
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Dec 3, 2010 3:07 AM in response to viciousvex
    By the way, I really hoped that the Apple TV would be an intelligent system with and intelligent and adaptive way of streaming media. But it seems it's just a dumb box that downloads a very big file from somewhere in USA and plays it, if it's halfway through downloading it..

    They say Quicktime is so nice and adaptive and uses the bandwidth it can get and stuff - but it's all BS and there seems to be no way of instantly start streaming a movie over a 1 or 2 mbit connection. The quality is perfect, though... If it starts playing at any point in time...
  • by Jakems,

    Jakems Jakems Dec 3, 2010 11:40 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 3, 2010 11:40 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    I too have been experiencing these issues.

    I have a steady 6Mb internet connection with no problems, my Apple TV 2nd Generation is connected via Ethernet to my network.

    I rented a HD film, took several minutes just to tell me that I had 29 days left to view it, hit play and was greeted by a "Loading..." message for at least 10 minutes before it changed to say "Ready to watch in 10 hours, 42 minutes" and to my surprise this estimated time is actually going up not down!

    I don't call this "instant film rentals" as is printed on the box, in the instruction manual and on the product page of Apple's website.

    Hope this problem gets resolved soon or I will be taking this thing back to the Apple Store for a refund!
  • by berrycbb,

    berrycbb berrycbb Dec 4, 2010 12:16 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 4, 2010 12:16 AM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Having the same problem (14 hours and 28 minutes). What is the process for requesting rental refunds from apple.
  • by Merged Content 1,

    Merged Content 1 Dec 5, 2010 7:41 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 6 (11,040 points)
    Dec 5, 2010 7:41 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    This is just unacceptable. I have a movie ready to start in 23 hours 18 minutes thought I have 10 MB/s download speed. What is going on? My family is giving up on ATV Apple. This just won't work. Is this the experience everyone is having?
  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Dec 5, 2010 7:52 PM in response to Merged Content 1
    Level 6 (19,281 points)
    Apple TV
    Dec 5, 2010 7:52 PM in response to Merged Content 1
    @ Andrew. No, not everyone. More ISP's are also starting to throttle connection and wifi isn't as stable for everyone.

    @alondono. I have not experienced that at all. Now, I watch my movies right away but I do pause from time to time and have no issues.

    Message was edited by: vazandrew
  • by jpjd,

    jpjd jpjd Dec 5, 2010 7:54 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 5, 2010 7:54 PM in response to TWalkerPolk
    So many people have been asking me if they should buy the Apple TV for Christmas presents, I've been saying NO WAY! Avoid it until they figure out a better streaming system. I never had one issue with the original Apple TV. What a step backward!
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