Apple TV 4.4.4 Home Sharing no longer working over ethernet

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11 points

Apple TV 4.4.4 Home Sharing no longer working over ethernet

My ATV home network setup has gone from working well to not at all over the last few days and I am trying to troubleshoot it, looking for folks with similar experiences. This appeared to start on or around the time I did the 4.4.4 update, though it could be unrelated, because at that time I also switched my main home sharing server from an old Windows laptop to an old Mac Mini I just aquired for that purpose (which is a sweet little machine for $250 btw).

Situation is, with the ATV connected via ethernet, it no longer sees any home sharing servers, that are on ethernet or wifi. It is also not available for airplay for any devices on wifi. This was working fine with the PC iTunes server on ethernet a few days ago.

If I connect both the ATV and Mac Mini iTunes server via wireless, it all works fine (but performace can suffer). Something has changed, as the ATV on ethernet was also fine to access my macbook on the wireless network a few days ago, but again it doesn't unless the ATV is on wireless too. Finally, the remote app on my iPhone will also only see the ATV if it is on wifi. To me it is like Bonjour is not working over the ethernet connection. I have done a little port prodding, and this appears to be the case, but it is not conclusive.

I have reset, restored to factory and re-updated the ATV, turned home sharing on and off a 100 times, cylcled the servers, reinstalled iTunes, all sorts of stuff.

Honestly, I would more likely put the blame on something weird with the wired vs wifi network routing on my XFinity router/modem, if not for the fact that I haven't touched it for months (save a few power cycles) and I just updated the ATV when this went south. I tried to ask Comcast about this issue, but that was like trying to explain quantum physics to the cat...

I've seen at least one other thread on this forum similar, was wondering if anyone else has had this sort of trouble since the 4.4.4 update?

Thanks

AppleTV 2, iOS 5.0.1, Actually v 4.4.4. for ATV2

Posted on Dec 22, 2011 11:09 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 22, 2011 12:46 PM in response to DrewInTheUK

I made just the same experience.

I can connect to iTunes on my computer via WiFi, but not when connected via ethernet. And I believe it worked before v4.4.4.

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Answer 2

DrewInTheUK Author

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11 points

Dec 22, 2011 12:49 PM in response to Lord Bane

Hey, thanks for your reply. Can you tell me, is your iTunes server a Mac or PC? I am trying to narrow this down to see if the OS is a factor. I believe the Bonjour implementation under Windows could behave differently to the Mac one. Also, are you able to airplay to the ATV when it's on ethernet?

Thanks
Drew

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Answer 3

Dec 22, 2011 1:21 PM in response to DrewInTheUK

I'm sorry, but switching the network interfaces has apparently cured the problem for now 😕. As I tested the ethernet connection again, it suddenly worked too, even over restarts of iTunes and the ATV. But I'm sure there is a lot of room for improvements here for Apple, as this is not the first time I had connection problems with the ATV (but the first time they vanished while chaning the network interface).

I hope you will eventually find a solution for your problem too, even when I cannot provide more help.

(Connected to a Mac (Lion) with iTunes 10.5.2; I did not test AirPlay when it didn't work.)

Ralf

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Answer 4

DrewInTheUK Author

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11 points

Dec 27, 2011 8:16 AM in response to Lord Bane

Thanks for the followup Ralf. I tried your network interface switch, but it didn't work for me, must be something different.

For others that may see this, the current situation, after lots of A-B testing is that my ATV2 will only do home sharing if both it and the iTunes servers are on wifi, not ethernet. Airplay is similarly affected. On ethernet, the ATV2 can see the internet, watch trailers etc no problems, but no home sharing or airplay.

Although this only seemed to start after the 4.4.4 update, it's possible this may be related to my router, so I need to do some more testing with an alternate. Also some port testing. The evidence points to Bonjour being blocked...

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Answer 5

Dec 29, 2011 8:41 AM in response to DrewInTheUK

Any news or updates in your Home Sharing problem? I am experiencing similar issues as well. I have turned on Home Sharing in two of my PCs, and my Apple TV 2 cannot see both of my PCs. I have the Remote application installed on my iPad 1, and it suddenly stopped working as well. The Remote application cannot see both of my PCs and Apple TV 2 anymore. I have also noticed that AirPlay does not work anymore as the AirPlay icon does not appear when I am watching videos on my iPad 1.

Home Sharing and AirPlay used to work the day before I have updated my Apple TV 2 to version 4.4.4. I have tried restarting, resetting the settings and restoring the Apple TV 2, and it did not resolve my issue. I have also tried disabling/enabling the Home Sharing in both of my PCs, and it also did not resolve my issue. I am leading to believe that the Apple TV 2 update to version 4.4.4 had something to do with my issue.

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Answer 6

DrewInTheUK Author

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11 points

Dec 29, 2011 11:04 AM in response to FrustratedAppleUser888

Hey, thanks for adding your comments and progressing this discussion, I was starting to think I was the only one.

Tell me, does your problem only occur when the ATV is connected with ethernet, but works on WIFI? That is my situation. Actually, to be a bit more specific, all devices involved must be on wifi, both the ATV and servers.

Also, what router are you using? I am a bit suspicious of my Comast XFINITY router at this time...

Thanks
Drew

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Answer 7

Dec 29, 2011 2:47 PM in response to DrewInTheUK

I have read other discussions that a lot of people who have purchased or received the Apple TV 2 this holiday are experiencing similar problems as well.

I have not yet tried connecting my Apple TV 2 on the ethernet. My problem occurs when my Apple TV 2 and PCs are connected on Wi-Fi.

I am using Actiontec Wireless N VDSL Modem Router (Model #: V1000H), which is provided by Telus.

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Answer 8

Dec 30, 2011 10:43 PM in response to FrustratedAppleUser888

I cannot imagine that the fix to my issue is as easy as rebooting my modem. It may be a coincidence that my issues happened the same time when I updated my Apple TV 2 to version 4.4.4.

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Answer 9

yexter

Level 1

3 points

Jan 2, 2012 6:06 PM in response to DrewInTheUK

Same problem here, everything works fine over wifi, but when connected to ethernet I lose all conections to my home network. No airplay, no remote app access, no mirroring, no access to computer libraries. I do still have internet, ie. netflix, youtube.

I have reset/rebooted everything, modem, apple tv, iphones, ipad, itunes, imac.

Everything is up-to-date. osx lion 10.7.2, itunes 10.5.2, apple tv 4.4.4, ios 5.0.1.

My modem is Cisco DPC3825 DOCSIS 3.0 Gateway if it helps anyone.

I think it just means waiting for 4.4.5, hopefully this fix will be in the next update.

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Answer 10

Jan 2, 2012 6:25 PM in response to DrewInTheUK

Having the same issue when I went to 4.4.4 and I get nothing. (by way of ITunes) YouTube, Netflix fine. Using a Cisco router. Also cannot force it by way of iTunes. I open a movie and try to make it play on ATV and playback stops. Tired of messing with it, can I just go back to the previous version?

Message was edited by: D_Chestnut

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Answer 11

DrewInTheUK Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 3, 2012 8:00 AM in response to yexter

Hey Yexter,

It's kind of nice to find someone else seeing the exact same behaviour. I am a little surprised this issue doesn't have a higher profile on the support boards, which makes me think not everyone is suffering from this with the 4.4.4 upgrade.

I wish my ATV2 was still under support, so I could hit up Apple Support about it, as I'd just like to see the issue acknowledged.

For now I've pulled the (ethernet) plug on the ATV2 and am putting up with the slightly reduced performance of WIFI. Still my favourite little device though...

Cheers
Drew

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Answer 12

Jan 5, 2012 8:14 PM in response to DrewInTheUK

I don't have that problem, but my only issue is netflix. When I watch south park specifically, I get "netflix is unavailable" or "internal server error 500" but going back to software 4.4.2 fixes it for me.

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Answer 13

Jan 12, 2012 8:14 AM in response to DrewInTheUK

I have the same issue with 4.4.4 With the wired connection and wireless both enabled, if you recycle power the wired connection works fine until you put the Apple TV2 to sleep. When you do a normal wakeup, the normal location on the screen where my home sharing is says, it needs to be enabled. If you unplug the wired connection the wireless will auto-attach and sharing is fine. The only way to recover the wired connection is to power cycle the unit after the cable is plugged back in. It then goes back into the same loop once put to sleep with power attached. I never had this issue with 4.4.2. Something is broken in that subsystem.

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Answer 14

DrewInTheUK Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 12, 2012 9:42 AM in response to Stan From Riverside

FYI, to my knowledge, it is not possible to have both the wired and wireless connection enabled on the ATV2 at the same time. If the ethernet cable is plugged in, it will take over from the WIFI connection. You can check that in the settings. So I have to physically unplug the ethernet to switch back to WIFI and see my home sharing...

I am hopeful the upcoming iOS release might address this issue.

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Answer 15

yexter

Level 1

3 points

Jan 14, 2012 2:28 PM in response to DrewInTheUK

Hey Drew, I hadn't thought about it but my ATV was still under support and I called to explain my problem. They weren't able to help any but gave me advice to explain my problem in the feedback section. apple.com/feedback I have done that and forwarded the link to this thread. It might help if they had feedback from other users as well. If you haven't already I would suggest you do. There's obviously a problem that needs addressing. Hopefully they'll be able to work it out.

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