apple tv loses connection

I'm having the same problem. Everything was fine until I upgraded to the new software (iTunes 10.5.0.142). I tried upgrading the software on my Apple TV, but that hasn't helped.

Anyone have any ideas?

Apple TV 2, iOS 5, iTunes 10.5.0.142, SMC Router

Welcome to the "Apple TV don't work club"..... I'm on Windows 7 (cheap PC I bought strictly to stream content) and I've been fighting this for 2 weeks on both my Apple TV 2 and AppleTV classic. It ONLY occurs when I stream content from iTunes PERIOD. The stream fails after about a hour typically. Then I have to reconnect iTunes home sharing (which I believe is the problem) then reconnect my Apple TVs netwok connection. In a couple of instances I've had to cycle power on the Apple TV2.

If I connect to Netflix (on AppleTV2) no issues period, watching HD movie trailers on AppleTV, no issues. My DVD player has Netflix bult in and it has no issues so its not my internet connection.

I have turned off firewalls, turned off sleep modes, tried 2 different routers, dumbed down iTunes to 10.4.1(running iTunes 10.5.x currently) and same issues.

Now I have ran a hard ethernet cable to unit to test if its WiFi related. It that fails then I have a Mac laptop which I'll try as last resort. If that fails then Apple TVs are heading to Ebay. I'm done with it and don't have the time or patience anymore to deal with what is suppose to be a plug and play device (thats what I told my non technical wife anyway) .It stinks cause I love the interface (hate the limited remote) but its giving me tired head.....

All the symptoms on mine are the same, except that mine's losing connection after about 20 minutes now. It will still show me what's in my library (most of the time) but when I try to play anything I just get the spinning circle. 😟

a little hint for the cable connection, i have the same problems with WiFi but with cable it works with the following settings: Go to the system settings>energysave>suspend mode for computer and display=never and turn of the other options below, suspend mode for HDD etc. after these settings, it works by cable. But WiFi doesn't work. See my other thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3717259

This morning, no home sharing on my apple tv3....Again! Also no remote (iPad or iPhone) working. Went to my iMac, clicked on my external drive seagate on which my iTunes library is located in order to get the hard drive out of sleep mode. Shazam !!! Instantly remote is working on both iphone and iPad....However, even though Ican access my library and play anything on the iMac, I CANNOT play it on the apple TV3. That confirms I might have 2 problems the **** seagate drive going to sleep and preventing remote app to work and...the other problem beeing the one we are all unable to solve, including APPLE, as to the disfunctionnal homesharing.

Please apple and everyone else stop talking about routers, channels, wifi or other non firmware related issues. Our networks, are fine, the channels (especially odd channels like 5 or 8) will do nothing but increase interferences. My former apple tv was working perfectly fine as fine as all many other devices I use on my wifi.

THIS IS A FIRMWARE PROBLEM AND APPLE MUST SOLVE IT RIGHT AWAY AND STOP IGNORING THIS FORUM. DON'T YOU AGREE?

Apple does ignore this forum. They tell you in the Terms of Use you agreed to when you joined this forum. The forum is provided for users like you and I.

To prevent my external seagate drive from going to sleep. In System Preferences> Energy Saver> uncheck "Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible".

Sorry I can't contribute to the discussion on AppleTV 3. I have an AppleTV1 and and AppleTV2. I also have my iTunes on an external drive (seagate goflex usb). I setup my System Preferences> Energy Saver> "Computer Sleep=never" and "Display Sleep=20mins." I never have home sharing problems.

I have wrestled with this same problem for weeks and tried several suggestions to no avail. Recently I replaced the hard drive in my computer, upgraded from Vista to Windows 7, and reloaded everything. Now the music streams fine. I know this is not a fix, but perhaps this info will help someone get to the root of the problem. I always suspected that this is a software problem in the host computer and not the Apple tv. This proves that theory. (Having said that, the Apple tv did download and install an update when I turned it on.). Good luck.

I just read through ten pages of another thread that discusses this same issue. Throughout the thread some have found fixes that work for them. Here is a summary of those fixes:

Fixes that have worked for some others:

• -I should start by pointing you to this Apple Home Sharing Troubleshooting page:http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2972 This covers all basic things to doublecheck...same apple ID on all devices, etc. --If you have found this thread, you are smart enough to have things set up correctly. However, it does suggest adjusting firewall and network settings which have solved the problem for some (I will include those fixes below since they are actually helpful)
• -Set AppleTV to never go to sleep. This can be done from the settings.
• -Open ports in firewall settings for both computer and routers. Home Sharing uses TCP port 3689 and UDP port 5353 to communicate with shared iTunes libraries. Make sure they are open. A lot of people think this can't be the issue because they think the Apple TV wouldn't ever connect if it were a firewall issue. This is not necessarily the case, so don't overlook this suggestion.
• -Set the IP address on routers extending the network. If you are using an Airport express or Airport extreme to extend a network created by a time capsule or other router, setting the IP addresses to fixed instead of auto-assigned via DHCP has worked for some.
• -Make sure your Bojnour service is up to date on your computer. Here is more info on Bonjour Wake on demand

Scan the Support Community sites. Apple TV losing connection is prevalent. The many postings point out the problem occurs with Apple TV1,2and 3; with different brands of router including Airport Extreme; from current and past versions of iTunes; after varying periods of working well.....minutes, hours, days; losing connection with Home Sharing and loosing Airplay; whether the router and Apple TV are in same room or separated by distance; after trying innumerable posted 'fixes'; after exchanging for a new Apple TV.

Readers, please don't post a fix until you check it works for atleast a week.

http://9to5mac.com/2013/04/15/apple-says-small-number-of-apple-tvs-have-wifi-iss ues-opens-replacement-program/

Apple admitted some Apple TVs have wifi problem and started replacement program.

Hello World.

I say World because I have the same problem and after searching the web, I think that whole AppleTV World has the same problem. I wish I had checked the web before I bought the device.

Now. Since this is an Apple blog I am asking my self "does Apple not look at these posts and offer advice to resolve the problems". No. It seems not. Some of the posts I have seen are very old.

Why is Apple Support in the US $19.00 and £25.00 in the UK. This product is obviously faulty and sub-standard. If this is not an Apple Rip-off, publish the solution on your web site or charge the UK the same as you charge US clustomers for support.

I watched there "I'm so excited, look at our amazing new products, aren't we great" glossy marketing presentation the other day. Fix existing problems before introducing new ones.

Dont suppose anyone from Apple will read this anyway.