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Ruffrider Author

Level 1

2 points

NBA League Pass Issues on Apple TV

I have posted in other discussions about this, but after being on the phone with Apple Support I figured I’d make a brand new discussion I could reference the next time I speak to them. Maybe we could get a collective of everyone reporting the same thing and they will fix the issue.

I got an AppleTV for Christmas, my wife specifically got it for me so I could use the NBA League Pass with it. It really sounded like a GREAT gift just for that purpose alone because I watch as much Basketball as I can.

I set up the unit, got the latest update, signed into the NBA League Pass on AppleTV and watched my first game. Well the experience started to be horrible from that point on.

About 60 seconds into the game, the stream started buffering. The buffering could last anywhere from 60 seconds to 5 minutes before anything happened.
Sometimes the connection would stop and AppleTV would tell me no video feed is available. I’d go back to the menu and click on the game again and the stream would start again, but not from where last saw. I’d have to rewind back to that point.
When rewinding back to the last part of the game I saw, the buffering would start again and take forever to display the part of the game I wanted to watch. Also, sometimes during rewinding it would just say now video feed was available.

Okay so at this point I am pretty frustrated. So I call support and explain the situation. They immediately job to the conclusion that it is my internet speed causing the issue. I have the fastest internet speed available in my area and average 38mbps DOWN/ 4mbps UP so that is definitely not the issue. I even offered to provide them In Network and Out of Network speedtest just to prove this.

- In Network Test

- In state - Out of Network

- Out of State - Out of Network

Secondly, they blame the fact that I am running wireless. Yes, wireless isn’t the best for streaming video but Wireless N provides more than enough bandwidth into account. And the speedtest I provided were from a wireless computer further away from the router then my AppleTV so I don’t think that’s the issue.

So Apple Support tells me to retore to factory defaults and then reset everything up. I do this and try to watch another game. Same issue. So I decide to hardwire the AppleTV to see if the problem is with my wireless. This did not change a thing. Same buffering issues. Same loss of feed issues.

Has everyone else been having these same problems with the NBA league pass? I am very frustrated at this point and ready to return this stupid thing.

AppleTV 2

Posted on Dec 30, 2011 1:40 PM

Top-ranking reply

Rod410

Level 1

10 points

Posted on Dec 30, 2011 3:57 PM

everyone is having the same issues. Its really nothing you can do to fix these problems. I finally gave up on trying to watch it. it starts and stops every 10 seconds. its not real HD. the blackout rules make no sense. Im in baltimore maryland and im blacked out from watching a game thats in memphis and california but im able to watch the washington wizards home games. you cant see what part of the game youre on when you are trying to rewind and fast foward. everything about the league pass on the apple tv is fu**ed up because it works fine on the computer. no lags. no start and stops and you can watch multiple games at once. I just want my money back for the league pass but nobody ever seems to be working when im trying to get someone on the live chat.

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84 replies

Ruffrider Author

Level 1

2 points

Jan 31, 2012 5:06 PM in response to Aloha21

I originally started this discussion. I have Brighthouse/Roadrunner Lightning.

Aloha21

Level 1

0 points

Jan 31, 2012 5:40 PM in response to Ruffrider

I just spoke with a supervisor at Apple who said he would esscilate this to the ATV software engineers. We'll see.

Feb 2, 2012 5:21 PM in response to Aloha21

Good work, Aloha21. 🙂

I'm in the same boat as the rest of you, was just doing some quick Googling on the topic before giving up and cancelling. Last season worked great, this season has been mostly terrible. I'd say about half of the games I've watched this season have been fine, with only a handful of buffering instances throughout the games. Until the last week, the rest were unwatchable at first and then fine later. Over the last week, everything has been unwatchable. I was already a bit frustrated (and tired of my wife asking how much I was paying for this service that doesn't work), but now I'm just done. I would consider springing for the regular LP package, but on my service it has only one HD channel and the SD channels hurt my eyes. 😉

All of this in on Apple TV, gen 2, iOS version 4.4.4 (3300). No issues streaming HD YouTube content to the same ATV2, over 802.11n wifi. I have Comcast "Blast!" service in Washington State. I usually measure about 35Mbps download, 4-5Mbps upload.

Seems to work fine on my PC direct-connected to the router or my laptop over wifi. A couple of times I went to my PC when the ATV2 was acting up and it had buffering issues as well in full-screen mode, but that's not usually the case.

Performance on the computer is a bit weird...sometimes it zooms way in for a fraction of a second, or gets kind of jumpy, or the whole window/screen goes green and then slowly recovers, but at least it rarely buffers. ATV2 is more consistent when it is working...but the quality is definitely not as good as other HD sources, like YouTube.

Sadly, I just got a new laptop, and it has a DisplayPort instead of HDMI output, so I can't even use the laptop and hook it up to my TV. 😝

Oh, and who likes the "Network Test" option on the ATV2, which takes forever to run and then just says it was "successful"?

kyam

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2012 2:23 PM in response to nathan p.

I was considering buying a new AppleTV for League Pass on my HDTV, but judging by this thread, I'd guess that you would all advise against. Did Apple or NBALP ever figure out the buffering problems?

Aloha21

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2012 2:45 PM in response to kyam

I have otherwise been happy with my Apple TV. This problem related to NBA League Pass persists on my end. Buffering for no apparent reason. As I have posted I employed a direct CAT 5 connection and it did not fix it so I conclude it is not a WiFi issue. If you already have League Pass I have found it runs well via a HDMI connection from PC to an HD TV.

tjkraz

Level 1

4 points

Mar 7, 2012 3:07 PM in response to kyam

My problems pretty much cleared up 4-6 weeks ago. Every once in a while it will pause for a few seconds but it typically starts back up quickly. And those pauses only occur once or twice per game.

Picture quality isn't 1080p by any stretch of the imagination but it isn't bad either. Much clearer than non-HD broadcast over cable.

I'm connected wirelessly (5GHz) over Apple Airport. ISP bandwidth is listed at 15 MBPS.

Mar 7, 2012 3:11 PM in response to Aloha21

I still have this problem. It seems to me like a bandwidth constraint on the NBALP end, possibly specific to AppleTV-encoded content. I find it is unwatchable any evening (rarely plays more than 10 consecutive seconds without buffering), but fine on the few mornings I've tried it. I can easily watch a game straight through with no buffering on Saturday morning that was unwatcheable the night before. I'm just guessing this is related to fewer people streaming games in the morning. It even re-syncs much faster any time I FF or RWD.

I have 20Mbps Comcast cable broadband, and I don't have any issues streaming HD content from any other site.

It does seem to behave better on my PC, but I have still seen intermittent buffering issues on the occasions that I've tried it. Still much better than the ATV...buffers less frequently and recovers faster. But no HDMI on my laptop, so I can't connect it to my TV.

Surprisingly, I actually had my best NBALP-Broadband experience so far a few weeks ago while streaming to my laptop via a motel's wi-fi in the middle of South Dakota. No buffering at all and none of the intermittent artifacts I usually see when streaming to my laptop or PC at home (Washington State).

kyam

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2012 3:16 PM in response to nathan p.

Thanks everyone for the quick responses. Apple is using NBALP as a selling point for its latest Apple TV, but there's not much explanation about the quality of the stream. Will be interesting to see what the quality is going forward.

ronnisha

Level 1

8 points

Mar 7, 2012 3:54 PM in response to Ruffrider

Well since APPLE has announced their a NEW APPLE TV today, hopefully they have fixed the NBA league Pass issue(and have come out with a new update or patch for the older ATVs) I use NBA League Pass overseas(Japan, use JCOM cable) on my Macbook Pro and never experienced any buffering issues, in the games that I have watched, but maybe because I've mainly watched them after the game has already expired. (JAPAN/USA time difference...14 hours ahead of the eastcoast). I'm looking at getting the new APPLE TV to see if it has been updated.

Mar 11, 2012 7:57 PM in response to Ruffrider

I upgrade my ATV Gen 2 to its new firmware. I think it kinda fix the issue of the buffering. I watch Cleveland vs Houston game on sunday March 11 2012. I never seen it buffer even once. I switch to Magic vs Pacers no buffer too. Tried Mil vs Toronto no buffering issue too. What is your experience so far? did I just got lucky on a Sunday?

Mockstew

Level 1

0 points

Mar 11, 2012 8:05 PM in response to Ruffrider

Since I originally posted my complaints at the beginning of the season I have seen an improvement in buffering issues and the majority of all games are watchable. However, there are still occassional games that endlessly buffer.

My biggest complaint with LP Broadband is it is nothing more than a complimentary package to NBA TV and cable. The majority (i.e. something like 38 out of 66 of the Celtics games are blacked out this season, and I live in L.A.) of games for marque teams are blacked out and are not available to view later in the evening.

Aloha21

Level 1

0 points

Mar 11, 2012 8:07 PM in response to mykelreyes

I saw the upgrade and ran it. Very Large Icons on the front end menu. Weird. Still buffered a ton during my Celtic Pacers game on Friday.

Ruffrider Author

Level 1

2 points

Mar 12, 2012 7:37 AM in response to mykelreyes

I haven't really seen any improvement since the upgrade, but I haven't really been using my AppleTV for the NBA League Pass anymore. I just gave up and ordered the full thing so I could watch it on cable. I wish someone from Apple would actually acknowledge all the problems people are having with this service they use as a selling point.

dshafe

Level 1

4 points

Mar 30, 2012 8:14 AM in response to Ruffrider

The problem isn't with Apple's technology, it's with the lower bandwidth feed the NBA provides for League Pass Mobile vs League Pass Broadband.

What you all need to do is put your negative comments on the Apple Store page/iTunes for this app. I looked into downloading the LP Mobile app and the link on the NBA's page takes me to the online App Store page (which will take me to View in iTunes). There is ONE COMMENT on the current version of the app on this page and on the Tunes page:

"Greatest app know to man" and it gives the app 5 stars!

Go to these pages and add your negative comments where people will see them!!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nba-game-time-2010-2011/id335744614?mt=8

EmSurfer

Level 1

19 points

Apr 8, 2012 8:40 PM in response to Ruffrider

I bought the new Gen 3 Apple TV specifically to watch reruns of NBA games on NBA League Pass and it works great. Wanted to know if the people on this thread are still having issues.

NBA League Pass Issues on Apple TV