Q: Apple TV 2nd Generation slow streaming for Movies from my iTunes

If you really want to watch the movies on your TV from iTunes and are having problems getting them through the Apple TV, you could rent them on your computer and they will be available to the Apple TV.

I have the same problem. But I also have a (temporary) solution.

To recap, if I try browsing and playing any movies (even 150MB file sized ones) on my Apple TV (2nd gen) by going to Computers -> TV Shows it just seems to take forever to buffer.

The "solution" I have involves using another iOS device (iPad, iPhone, etc):
- start the Remote app on the iPhone
- select the iTunes library (on the computer)
- start playing the same TV show
- select output to be Apple TV
- streams just fine, buffers straight away...

It is just a hack but does the job until Apple sorts it out.

In my case the problem occurred after I updated my iTunes to 10.1.1, the firmware on my Time Capsule to 7.5.2 and Apple TV to 4.1.1

Cheers...

Had same problem with the new Apple TV, i.e. extremely slow when loading videos from iTunes library. At first the problem was intermittent, but when I bought and installed a second unit of ATV-2 for a second TV, loading times on both units ground to a halt, and remained that way for the original unit even after I subsequently turned off the new one.

Tried rebooting iMac, restarting iTunes, resetting ATVs to factory setting, restarting Airport Extreme — all to no avail. Then I unplugged the Airport Express which I'd installed as a Wi-Fi signal extender in a far corner of the house and voila — problem solved, itunes loading speed on both ATVs went back to normal!

I plugged the Airport Express back in and sure enough, the problem returned.

So now I have to unplug the Express when using Apple TV. Not an ideal fix, trading one appliance for another.

I'm curious, which version of the Airport Express do you have? Is it the older G model or the newer N model? I noticed that the recent Airport Utility to update to improve Airplay performance for the Airport Express only applied to the N models.

I had the EXACT same issue, and "solved" it in a most peculiar way, one that I frankly do not understand.

Content stored on Mac Pro, GB LAN, all Enet cable. ATV2 would just grind and grind before playing, and FF'ing was just excruciating. What made it start working was this: I enabled home sharing on my iPad. As soon as I did that,everything started working as you would expect - directly from the ATV2, or controlled via iPad. I've tested every which way, and all works great - streaming starts right up (literally w/in a second), can fast forward or reverse with no issue.

I have no ideas why this worked...

newagemac, mine's the N model Airport Express, less than 3 months old.

Airport Utility is current: 5.5.2 (552.11).

iTunes is also up-to-date, version 10.1.1.

At face value, it seems the Airport Express is relaying signal at much lower speed than the base Airport Extreme.

I'd really like to be able to use both Express (as network extender) and Apple TV at the same time, so I'm not happy with this workaround at all.

cthomps6, I overlooked your post when I posted mine about unplugging Airport Express. What have you done with your own Express?

Pogoxenia wrote:
cthomps6, I overlooked your post when I posted mine about unplugging Airport Express. What have you done with your own Express?

Folks, its not your Airport thats the problem here. Its happening with any wireless setup. There is something strange going on with what the Apple TV is expecting/waiting for.

I can reproduce this every time:

If my MBP is connected to my Time Capsule via the Ethernet cable browsing my iTunes library and streaming from it on my Apple TV is very very slow
If my MBP is connected via WiFi to my Time Capsule both browsing and streaming my iTunes library from the Apple TV is quick.

It makes little sense to me... any ideas?

If you have found this forum topic you may be currently pulling your hair out and ready to give up on your Apple TV. I was there and tried everything, anyone has ever, ever, ever suggested to deal with the incredible slowness of my 2nd gen Apple TV. Before you skip the box across the living room table you might want to consider the fix that I believe to be the root cause of my woes. If you have Direct TV and have the on-demand service you may noticed a small box called a broadband adapter connected to your router. It allows the DirectTV service to reach the net. I disconnected it and restarted my router and my AppleTV is now working like a charm. Has anyone experienced a similar problem and used this fix?

Just wanted to chime in and say that I'm having similar problems, and they all started after the iOS 4.1 software update. Before that, I had no problems streaming Netflix or my computer -- since then, the quality has been poor and streams often stall.

Though there's a chance that I'm getting new, magical interference from some strange place, given the timing and problems others are experiencing seems to indicate that the problem is with the software update

If you have found this forum topic you may be currently pulling your hair out and ready to give up on your Apple TV. I was there and tried everything, anyone has ever, ever, ever suggested to deal with the incredible slowness of my 2nd gen Apple TV. Before you skip the box across the living room table you might want to consider the fix that I believe to be the root cause of my woes. If you have Direct TV and have the on-demand service you may noticed a small box called a broadband adapter connected to your router. It allows the DirectTV service to reach the net. I disconnected it and restarted my router and my AppleTV is now working like a charm. Has anyone experienced a similar problem and used this fix?

Same here....Apple refunded my rental price after I reported the problem. Everyone should do this.

+1: slow loading renting through ATV2, very slow streaming content already on Mac via wireless. TV is internet connected as is a PS3 that was added recently. no solution as of yet . . .

If anyone reading this lives in the UK and happens to own a 'BT Vison' box then simply put it into standby mode and the problem will go away.

It has been driving me nuts for weeks and its so nice to be able to stream a film or tv show withing seconds without having to wait nearly an hour for it.