Home Sharing drop out with Apple TV2

RESOLVED...for me.

The updates (including 4.2.2) didn't work for me, but opening the ports did.

See my post above. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world if you don't know your way around advanced router settings, static IP addresses and firewall settings, but here's what I did:

- Gave my iTunes computer and ATV static IP addresses.

- On Windows firewall, opened TCP port 3689 and UDP port 5353...on the iTunes computer obviously.

- On my router, forwarded the same ports from the ATV to the iTunes computer

I know this isn't going to make a lot of sense to a lot of people, but it worked for me so maybe it's worth a shot.

Also, I'm not sure opening the ports in Windows firewall did anything. I just haven't disabled them to see if the problem came back.

I also think "enabling" UPnP on your router might do the trick. I think if that's enabled, the router might forward or open those ports automatically. But I'm sure there are a lot of people on this forum that know a lot more about that than me.

Frank L wrote:

RESOLVED...for me.

Nevermind. The problems are back. I give up.

I'm getting a Roku. In my opinion, the only only only reason you get a device as closed as an Apple product is because it's easy to use and it just works. If I want to tinker with something and spend hours getting it to work the way I want to, I'll get a more open system -- Linux, Windows, Squeezebox, Roku.

Check it out http://www.roku.com/

Hi, all - I will post this in both my discussions... I HAVE SOLVED MY ISSUE with Home Sharing dropping!!! I hope this helps someone else!

I said earlier i had two machines both Win7x64, both running iTunes x64 - only one worked without dropping the home sharing connection. I sat down and compared entries in both firewalls for both machines. It appears there were duplicate entries for Bonjour in the PC that WAS NOT working. Once I changed the firewall to match that of the other - IT WORKS.

Here are brief steps and my settings that are working for Win7x64. (I expect this could be a similar issue in Win7x86(32bit) and MacOS).

Click Start

In "Run" type: (no quotes) Firewall

Select Advanced Firewall

Select "Inbound Rules"

Select "Sort by Group" so there is no grouping (this will bring Bonjour and iTunes entry to the top, most likely

Match my settings which Ive included below so there are only 4 Bonjour entries and 1 iTunes.

Delete any duplicates for Bonjour (I had 4 set to Public and two set to Private) They should all be on your private network -

There should be only one each of a TCP and UDP entry for C:\Program Files (x86)\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe

AND

Only one each of a TCP and UDP entry for C:\Program Files\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe

That's exactly what I have for my firewall settings. I bet your problem comes back. I hope not, but my guess is that it will.

I'm thinking this,my firewall was the same & worked perfect for over a year...I updated & it stopped working,don't think it will work till a patch comes from apple...I can get it to work if I go in itunes & turn off home sharing & turns it back on,maybe enough time to watch a movie...Im thinking of buying a 1tb apple tv 1 & being done with this one.

Seriously hate that didn't work for you.

Yours does sound like a port issue, ESP with your partial success. What if u turn off your firewall. Disable it and see if that does it. Then you know if it's the pc firewall.

Next would b if u hv one of these routers with ability in firewall.

I'll kp thinking about your situatuon and let u know if mine fails. Hope not though!

Let me know about your pc firewall if it has an effect.

So I too have just begun having problems with my ATV not recognizing home sharing. My problems begun when I got a brand new macbook pro three weeks ago. The reason for my purchase was that my old PC was running so slow from the amount of content in my iTunes. The reason for all the content in my iTunes was we loved our ATV and kept down loading. Now the very reason I purchased the new computer is obsolete . I can stream anything off netflix fine and all my downloaded TV shows work without a hitch, but when playing music I get about 10 minutes and like everyone else it stops and tells me to turn on home sharing... and it is on! Once we got the ATV we loved listening to our itunes playlists that we added speakers to many rooms in our house....

I was truly hopeing that I would find a solution to my problem. Now I realize that I am not the only one and it will not be fixed unless a new update attempts to do so... which seems unlikely as this was first posted back in March...I am bull!!!

I reset the setting in my Airport Extreme Dual and the Airport Extreme which is used to extend the network.

Didn't touch my Mac Mini or the AppleTV.

Haven't had a drop out for a few weeks.

Did the latest updates to iTunes and to the ATV software and still seems stable.

One other change which may or may not be related is: I leave the wireless of iPhones and iPad off unless it is needed.

When the network was misbehaving there were times when 3 or 4 phones could have been connected. I didn't think of these when trying to troubleshoot.

I just posted about this in another thread. I'm seeing the drop out after updating the Apple TV2 to 4.4.2 - total bummer. The little box has never had an issue before and it's only the home sharing that seems to drop out back to the main menus.

I do have it wired - so does connecting it wirelessly really fix it? that seems really backwards.

You may need to restart your mac and your apple TV. THat seemed to fix finding the Computer for me - but I'm still having drop outs after the restarts.

The one thing that fixed it for me once and for all was, using a Netgear Router (N900 in my case) instead of my 2GB Time Capsule, now home sharing works all the time.

Same as me,worked fine & the update killed it...Im on pc not mac & firewall settings are ok...Really hope this gets resolved quick.

jaybrewer wrote:

so does connecting it wirelessly really fix it? that seems really backwards.

No it doesn't. I tried it both ways.

louislite wrote:

The one thing that fixed it for me once and for all was, using a Netgear Router (N900 in my case) instead of my 2GB Time Capsule, now home sharing works all the time.

I tried two routers and there was no improvement for me.

I have several responses from you that state it is a wifi/router issue when in fact that i personally have home sharing drop off but I switch it to Netflix and no drop off or any buffering of any kind. The problem is with the home sharing and not the wifi because everything works on the ATV2 when home sharing drops off. Apple needs an answer for this.