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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

Best 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.

View in context

84 replies

MBeezy81

Level 1

8 points

Oct 31, 2013 6:55 AM in response to Ruffrider

I have NBA league pass premium on my ATV3 and tried watching a couple games last night but it buffered every few minutes. I have 40 Megs download speed,15 Megs upload and tried connecting to ethernet directly and still no luck. Anybody else experiencing problems?

Nov 18, 2016 4:51 PM in response to MBeezy81

I have the same problem. I have 30 mbit both ways. Anyone that knows a fix to this issue? I have tried changing router and network setup.
<Edited by Host>

Nov 1, 2013 9:20 PM in response to casperdj60

Same issue here. I'm watching from Australia, getting no issues with buffering at all on iPad or PC but the same games on Apple TV stop to buffer every few minutes (sometimes more frequently) and are virtually unwatchable. I can play the games via iPad and Air play to the TV but this ties up the iPad while I'm watching basketball which leaves my wife with no ipad and a preoccupied husband!

Baxwar

Level 1

4 points

Nov 2, 2013 5:16 AM in response to apeachaus

I'm unable to watch a game on the macbook. It's just keeps trying to load. Anyone else having the same issues? I have a feeling it's the NBA and not my stuff because everything else is working fine.

murray98

Level 1

14 points

Nov 6, 2013 11:09 AM in response to Baxwar

Exact same problem here. Can watch Youtube and Netflix on my ATV3 with no buffering problems but NBALP is so slow, the screensaver turns out while I'm waiting for it start playing a game! The NBA's broadband people need to get their act together. This is 2013, everyone is streaming media, and one of the most popular sports in the world can't figure out how to distribute their content.

HiRez

Level 1

9 points

Dec 29, 2013 6:20 PM in response to Ruffrider

Issues remaining for me are (Dec. 2013, ATV 2nd gen).

1. The Show/Hide Scores setting gets reset to Show every time I leave and re-enter the app (like if I switch over to Netflix to watch something). This is really annoying because you may see the score of the game you are about to watch, and have to go into the settings every time to reset it to Hide.

2. The progress bar will sometimes start flickering rapidly, with the marker jumping all over the place, when high-speed fast-forwarding or rewinding in live mode.

3. Slow buffering compared to running on the computer on the same net connection. I can jump around pretty quickly on my MacBook Air, but it's much, much slower on the ATV (iPad seems somewhere in-between).

4. Will usually abruptly cut off the feed immediately after the game ends. They show the pregame stuff, it would be nice to also watch all the post-game interviews and analysis.

Things I'd like improved:

1. Option to select a larger buffer size (both forward and backwards of the current time. If you like to skip over commercials (who doesn't?), skip over freethrows, or go back to see replays a lot, it becomes very tedious to watch on the ATV. And unlike on other platforms, there are no "quick skip" options.

2. Slow-motion mode to watch replays, like you could do on a DVR. Buffering should make this technically possible, but the problem is probably the limited number of buttons on the ATV remote.

3. Better marking for game time or events. MLB does this pretty well on ATV, they have a mode that marks every inning start, and a mode that marks all important game events (scoring, mostly). This is a little harder to do for basketball since there are only 4 quarters and the scoring is pretty much constant. But maybe something like break up the game into 12 4-minute chunks, with each quarter start 12-minute interval highlighted in some way (thicker line).

4. If you were watching the game live and the broadcast ends, you have to start over once the stream is encoded. It should remember where you were in the live mode and put you back there on the encoded mode (or pop up an option for it).

5. When paused, option to make a screen shot and place it in your Photo Stream (would automatically sync to your other devices). Apple TV already knows about Photo Stream and already has the option to keep you signed in, so there should be a way to do this that isn't terribly difficult.

Nov 18, 2016 4:47 PM in response to Ruffrider

Wow 5 years later and nothing has changed. I will probably be the recipient of another class action lawsuit.

Aospino

Level 1

4 points

Dec 1, 2016 5:54 PM in response to Ruffrider

I've had this issue ever since I bought Apple TV 2-3 years ago. Same issue this year. Incredibly frustrating. I use my basic Amazon fire stick even further away from my router than the Apple TV and it has no issues. This is definitely an Apple issue. It's the one reason why I would never buy another Apple TV.

Jan 26, 2017 5:49 AM in response to tjkraz

Exact same experience

NBA League Pass Issues on Apple TV