Slow download on apple tv

I was out of my mind also, maybe the post above about calling your ISP is a good idea

I did and I got a box in my family room to boost the signal, not that I needed it but they offered and I grabbed it,

I would keep on them. I am checking mine everday to make sure its still performing correctly

Ok, so let's recap... Apple TV 2... great when it works. For me, everything (Netflix, YouTube, Homeshare, Airplay, etc.) works except content from the iTunes Store (TV Shows and Trailers). Poor speeds (only experienced with iTunes Store content) make the unit useless... i.e. 52 minute wait to start a 20 minute show.

1. Apple TV2, connected to internet via Ethernet cable, receiving full 25mbps down stream.

2. Taken my ATV2 to Genius Bar, received a new unit. No improvement.

3. Spoken to AppleCare. They have no clue what could be wrong, suggested I talk to Comcast (my ISP) and also get in touch with Apple Tech support (online only).

4. I've hit this discussion board and tried some things that seemed to work for some of you, like tweaking my Firewall, port forwarding/virtual servers, etc. No improvement.

5. I've spoken to Comcast who've verified that I'm getting a VERY strong internet signal, full speeds, and even then, I have been recalibrated for optimum performance. No improvement.

6. At Comcast's suggestion, I connected my cable modem directly to Apple TV and also my Desktop, verified slow speeds, so Router is ruled out as a problem altogether.

7. Finally... My original Apple Tech Support guy (named Rommel), who couldn't help me at all, threw me to another person unannounced, to which I was brushed off and dismissed with the following response:

Dear Paul,

Barbara here from iTunes Store Support. As I understand it, you have some concerns about the download and connection speeds of the iTunes Store. As an avid iTunes customer myself, I regret to hear about this inconvenience. I know this has been less than ideal for you and I will be glad to assist you with this concern for you today.

I can see that this issue has caused some inconvenience. Here at Apple,we like to take the suggestions from our customers when we make changes that make our products/services better. As an iTunes customer myself, I encourage you to go to Apple's feedback link. You can use this link to make suggestions that you think would make our products/services better. What you want matters. Please follow the link below. It will lead you directly to the Apple's feedback site. I have personally voiced my concern on Apple's feedback page, as well as directing my customers to the feedback page to ensure this is heard loud and clear. For your convenience, I've provided a link below to the feedback page:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention, and please know that your business is greatly appreciated to the iTunes Store. In addition, I want to inform you that this feedback page has contributed to the enhancement of various products and software offered through Apple. It has been more than a pleasure assisting you Paul. Please take care, and thank you for being the best part of the iTunes Store!

Sincerely,

Barbara

iTunes Store/Mac App Store Customer Support

... I'm annoyed. Does anyone else think this is a server-end problem and Apple just refused to admit it? I just wanted a clear answer. If they would just tell me that there IS a problem and it's being addressed, I can be patient and wait 'til service is restored to what it is supposed to be. But if there's something I need to do to fix my problem, I don't wanna just sit on my hands and wait for a solution that'll never come, simply TOLERATING the ****-poor service the whole time.

ARGH! ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

I don't believe it's server related as I've said the majority aren't experiencing this. Not sure what else to add except for having someone out to see your network/setup

Well, I've connected the cable modem directly to apple TV, bypassing the router and still got crappy speeds. =P No network issues.

Sometimes a technician can offer new suggestions as they specialize in this. Other than that, not sure.

Ok, so after days of trying to figure it out, I spoke to my brother who just suggested I get a new router. Apparently, while the router can function for the most part, sometimes it'll just crap out for no reason and with random things. Seeing as Fry's Electronics has a great return policy, I figured why not.

Problem solved. =P

I still don't understand why hooking ATV2 straight up to my cable modem was still giving slow speeds... I'm guessing it was when Comcast recalibrated my already strong signal, or maybe it was power cycling my modem? Either way, that and replacing my router solved everything.

Of course, now I'm having problems with Home Sharing, but that's tolerable (AirPlay works perfectly fine and my iPhone mirrors iTunes in almost every way) and a problem I'll figure out as I figure out the new router (D-Link to Netgear... a little bit of a learning curve).

Thanks for all your help, guys. I guess I just had to try every possible solution. =P

Glad you got it sorted

Im so glad you got that worked out, wow I would have never thought of that.

im seeing my old problem again .... ugh

I'm having this issue. Currently watching Game of Thrones via ATV2, so I want to watch episode after episode. 🙂 I can get through one episode a night (most of the time), but then the download speed grinds to a halt. I can view YouTube and Netflix vids through ATV2 just fine after this point, but every time I go back to any of my iTunes content, it gives me an incredibly long "ready to play in..." time.

I've gone to my computer and run tests -- the network connection is fine, and downloads from other sites zip along. When I open iTunes on my computer and try to download content, it is as slow as it is on the ATV2. (7 hours to download a 1.82 GB episode of Game of Thrones, for instance). And yet, in the time it has taken me to type this message, I'm over 300MB into a 1GB test download. I've got an "up to 50Mbps" cable internet package (I typically get around 25Mbps), so the connection itself doesn't seem to be a problem.

After about a week of experiencing this (did it have something to do with the latest update?), I can only conclude that either Apple is throttling me or that my ISP is throttling Apple (which I doubt). Thoughts?

If there is throttling it would be by your ISP and not Apple (which can be common). The update itself would not cause issues with streaming iTunes content. Also check www.istumbler.net (netstumbler for windows) for interference and make sure you're on your ISPs DNS

YouTube content is highly compressed and usually short. Netflix adapts to your connection in order to stream instantly, whereas iTunes is fixed and you have to wait before enough has buffered before playback begins.

You said, "If there is throttling it would be by your ISP and not Apple."

How do you know this?

Apple does not throttle, ISPs have been widely known to do this and there are many cases of it. Just look it up.

I have definitely heard of ISPs throttling speeds, but I haven't heard of them throttling data coming from a particular server. My ISP throttles once my downloaded data exceeds 10GB in a 4 hour period. It also constantly throttles P2P downloads by 75% of the subscriber's max package speed. Nowhere in the ISP's policy does it say it throttles speed based on a certain amount of data coming from a single server. Furthermore, I have downloaded the 1GB file from here: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/download.html three times tonight (from my computer, which is *not* wired into the router). Each took about 12-13 minutes, and the aggregate (3GB) coming from the same server totaled more than the one episode of Game of Thrones I streamed on the ATV2. (The second episode started loading with a wait time of 42 minutes.) So unless my ISP is *specifically targeting* data coming from Apple servers, the problem must be on Apple's end.

There's another thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2608444?start=690&tstart=0 with what seems like a fair number of people having the same issue (I see you've also posted there).

My ATV2 is wired to my router.

Yes, some ISPs have throttled data going through the ATV and/or iTunes.

I have obviously seen that thread, but most issues come down to the network and the majority are having a flawless experience. If it was on Apple's end it would be quite the opposite. I have helped a lot of users over the years isolate issues on their network and resolve the problem.