Netflix pausing/buffering issues

Apple TV *****! I got it for Christmas and was told to make sure to update it to prevent the pauses. I know that advice was wrong, since there was only one occasion in less than a month an update was available and it still pauses. This product is absolutely a waste of money. Having a movie pause every few minutes is unacceptable.

Same problem here - I've been using a pc connected to my tv streaming netflix for months. Using the silverlight based client when the connection gets slow the stream gets downsampled so it doesn't hang. To my suprise it appears the apple tv does not have this ability. Just got the apple tv yesterday and will be returning it tomorrow.

Keep in mind that Netflix on the Wii tops out at 480p, while on other devices it goes as high as 720p or or even 1080p (so far only on the PS3), so other devices may put a greater load on the network. Netflix software tries to maintain a buffer adequate for continuous play without pauses, but this may fail if network throughput varies unpredictably--for example, due to interference on a wireless network. I do think different devices may use different criteria to determine when to scale back resolution. I've seen my PS3 downgrade image quality while my AppleTV continued to produce a high-quality image, even though they are identically connected.

So far, I think I've only once had an interruption of Netflix streaming on AppleTV, although a couple of times I've had sound go out, and had to rewind a bit to restore it.

Same problem here with a 9 megabig connection, Airport Express Wifi connection (802.11n). NetFlix streaming on the ATV2 pauses/buffers every few minutes making movies almost unwatchable. However, NetFlix streaming works fine on my MacBook and iPad on the same wifi network. If the problem is related to the resolution of the NetFlix video on the ATV2 being too high for a 9 megabit connection, then maybe Apple needs to give us the option of streaming lower quality video.

Hi. Coming in late on this topic but I have noticed one strange fact. I also find trying to watch Netflix movies on Apple TV an exercise in complete frustration. Stop-start every 3 to 4 minutes and as many have said I bought Apple TV for this service. However it seems to stream the TV shows with no problems at all irrespective of whether they are HD or not. HD movies rented through iTunes also work flawlessley. Now could this be a technical problem or is there some sort of deal with Apple to have iTunes content stream better than Netflix; or conversely has it been set up to allow Netflix the access to the market through Apple TV as long as it does not pull Apple rental clients away completely?

Whatever the reason, Apple TV looked good when I purchased it in October 2010, but lately I'm not so sure it was really worth the money.

We also see lots of pausing and/or out of sync audio with our ATV2. We use Airport Extreme 5Ghz n. During these episodes, I can use my laptop to verify Internet performance is ok using speedtest. Also netflix on MBP and other devices works fine.

Using ATV2 for Itunes seems to work fine.

We gave up and quit using ATV for Internet stuff and now use our Samsung blu ray player for Netflix, blockbuster, Vudu, etc. over the same wireless home net. All work flawlessly including Vudu at HDX.

It's nice to stream Itunes music to the stereo, otherwise we would get rid of the ATV.

I have been commenting on and following this discussion since mid-Nov. when I bought my ATV2 and it had the problem with Netflix. I kept it and kept hoping for the right upgrade to occur. For me the thing started working after the upgrade on Dec 15 or 16th, a week after my new Roku arrived. Now I have movies upstairs and down. Comparing the two now, the Roku Neflix format has much larger print labeling the movies and is much easier for old eyes to read. It also has Hulu Plus which I use a lot. Maybe apple will add that.

I'm having lots of pausing with the apple tv and netflix! I cant tell if it is Cox cable internet or the apple tv having buffering problems.!

I am having similar issues to with pausing/buffering and agree with ggentry that it seems to only effect indexed TV shows. Netflix videos that do not have an episodic listing (or index) do not seem to have this issue.

Same problem here. Netflix streaming is pretty much unusable. I read an online post claiming that Netflix "throttles back" their feed to 50 or 60 kbits/sec during times of high demand.

I have a Mac mini connected to my A/V system that I use to watch Netflix and I've never had a problem with it buffering. It's been quite stable. There have been some reports recently regarding Comcast throttling Netflix because of the amount of traffic it generates on their network. It's possible other ISPs may be throttling Netflix as well.

I am using AT&T Uverse internet and while they might be throttling NetFlix, it does not affect my Mac, or iPad at all (no buffering issues).

I understand the data being streamed to my Mac/iPad might be lower resolution, but if that is the case, and if ISPs really do throttle NetFlix such that AppleTV users can't successfully watch a video on NetFlix, Apple really needs at least give us the option of lowering the streaming resolution kind of like the HD/SD setting for the iTunes movie rentals. Otherwise the AppleTV is only half as useful as expected.

I find myself watching NetFlix on my iPad now despite my $99 investment in Apple TV and big screen which is kind of sad .:( I do use the AppleTV to rent occasionally (and it works great with no buffering) but I find I'm watching Netflix streaming more often.

I understand the data being streamed to my Mac/iPad might be lower resolution, but if that is the case, and if ISPs really do throttle NetFlix such that AppleTV users can't successfully watch a video on NetFlix....

Netflix streams in 720p HD on my mini, but the Netflix player for the iPad streams SD only. If Netflix streams smoothly on your Mac but not on your ATV, it more likely indicates a problem with the ATV itself. If it isn't a network issue, it could mean that there is a problem with the embedded Netflix player in the ATV software that is in need of a bug fix update.

Agreed.

I am pretty sure it's an ATV issue not a network speed issue because I can stream other content in HD (such as iTunes rentals, YouTube videos, etc) no problem. I'm pretty confident that my internet connection is fast enough, so it must be an ATV bug. It's probably simple for Apple to fix, but the question is, when will Apple give us an update...?

It's probably simple for Apple to fix, but the question is, when will Apple give us an update...?

It's hard to say how simple it is to fix. Netflix uses the Silverlight plugin to play in Safari on a Mac, and the iPad app probably uses either HTML5 or QuickTime but it doesn't support HD streaming. The embedded player in the ATV supports HD playback, so it has its own issues apart from the browser plugin and the iPad app. It's anyone's guess as to how long it will take to identify the problem and integrate a bug fix for it into a software update.

Since the official NetFlix iPhone / iPad app is written in Cocoa, and since the Apple TV runs iOS, it seems like it would be pretty easy to do whatever works on the iPad for ATV. Maybe that means just making the video SD instead of HD (or giving us an option), but at least it would be watchable. Anyways, I still don't think it would be very hard.