Q: Apple TV Drops from Home Sharing

I'll give you that, several scenarios and several proposed fixes. My ATV3 dropped home sharing first, then WiFi quit working altogether.

My solution; swapped it for a new unit and 5 days now, no issues. The one thing I noticed is they gave me a refurb unit that is still running 5.0 (4099) - shows an update is available but hesitant to do it. The only thing I am missing now is the Hulu app.

I'll add another reason why I think this is an iTunes network issue and not the Apple TV.  Mac to Mac iTunes sharing is now done with Home Sharing too - has been for a while.  When I have this issue of the Apple TV not seeing iTunes, I can't access that iTunes Libraray from another Mac either - nor from any of my Apple TVs.  If I go to the Mac containing the main iTunes Library in question, I can fix the issue temporaily by either quiting/relaunching iTunes or tuning the WiFi off and back on.  From what I think I've gathered, this is not an issue for iTunes that are on a Mac connected to the network via Ethernet though.

I'm having the same problem but I have pretty solid reason to believe it is an issue with AppleTV and not a networking issue.

I have two ATVs and one airport express I use to stream mostly music to (music/news around the house).  My home entertainment system (ATV1) is hooked up via ethernet, while my bedroom system (ATV2) and kitchen airport express are all running via wireless.   Strangely, the problem of losing home sharing only happens with ATV1 which is connected via ethernet.  I've run a number of tests (ongoing ping tests, etc) and I'm certain that everything connected to my home entertainment system is working fine.  I have and Oppo BD player that also streams media via UPnP and PS3 and no issues with either of them so I'm 99% sure it's not an network issue. I've also tried using wireless with ATV1 and still have the same issue.  

The one surefire way to correct the issue is to unplug the ATV and suddenly it works.   Both ATVs are Gen1 units and have the lastest firmware installed.    I'm convinced it is either a hardware issue, or there is an issue with the software update on one of the units for some odd reason (since they are identical units).  

I'm considering returning the unit and see if Apple will replace with a new or refurb unit, though the unit is over a year old so wondering if they are even willing to do so. 

Any other hints on what the issue may be and if not, what are the chances Apple would actually replace my old unit?

Thanks in advance for any answers!!!

Per other discussion on Apple Support communities, manually change DNS address to Google public DNS server (008.008.008.008) instead of the typical default DNS (your ISP).  This works well for me!  It has greatly reduced the loss of network connectivity.

Anyone using iTunes Match ever have the issue where iTunes Match doesn't work because of some error and you have to turn it off and turn it back on?  This happened a lot to me.  Somewhere here I read it seems to be linked to the Genius Playlist.  So I turned Genius off.  Knock on wood, but I haven't seen that problem since.  Well it just hit me that I also haven't been having problems with Home Sharing since either.  If any of you don't take advantage of Genius Playlists, turn it off and see if that improves your Apple TV connections.

Same here - got BT Home Hub in the UK running Infinity so 60MB download speed, bought ATV3 from Amazon, set up fine, music streaming appears to be ok (bit hit and miss sometimes), trailers ok but when I find movies from my mac, they play for 6 minutes and then the ATV drops back to the main menu again with onlly a couple of icons - computers and settings, it then finds the rest of the icons and I am able to go back into the movie again and play the whole movie without drop out.

This happens on every movie - plays for 5-6 minutes, drops and then plays again for the whole movie.

iTunes festival is the same but as this is streamed - it only plays for 5-6 minutes and then cuts out back to main menu - unable to play entire concert.

disabled IPv6 on the Mac, put the ATV3 into the BT DMZ and am now going to try the delete of the .plist and also try port forwarding but this problem is an annoyance that needs to be resolved.

My WiFi is fine as everything else connects to it and through checking iStumbler there is noone else within range on the same WiFi channel.

Any further help appreciated..!!!

Thanks

Until Apple gets off their butts to fix this, you can do this.  Create a workflow that 1. Closes iTunes, 2. Pauses 10 seconds, 3. Opens iTunes.  Then Save it as an Application.

Then...

Create an Apple Script by "recording yourself" launching your new workflow.  Save that Apple Script.

Finally..

Go into Mail, and create a Rule that when you receive an email with the subject as "Restart iTunes" it will run your Apple Script (wchich launches your workflow app).

Just send yourself an email from you chair!!!  :-)  Please reply if this works for you.  It works GREAT for me on Mountain Lion!

Enjoy!

Jason

Nice!

Hopefully this will only be a temporary solution while Apple fix the underlying problem.

Also, worth adding a third "Delete Message" action so your inbox isn't filled up with "Restart iTunes" messages.

Don.

As an update, you might want to change the drop-down "Contains" on the "Rules" page to "Begins With" or your iTunes will restart every time someone comments on this thread.  That was an unforseen laugh over here at my possessed computer!  :-)

I tried a number of things but uninstalling Bonjour from my laptop and haven't had a problem...touch wood!

The latest updates of OSX, iTunes and iOS seem to have fixed the problem. I haven't been dropped since installing the updates.

-Rob

Here's what I've noticed so far:

1) Streaming an M4V video from iTunes running on my Windows 7 64 bits, ethernet-wired, desktop PC to my also wired Apple TV 3 works only for a few minutes and then stops. When I click the down arrow on Apple TV's remote control while the video's still working, I can see that the buffering stops at some point, and that's the point where the video will stop. After the problem occurs, I cannot access anything from this PC's library, unless I restart iTunes or Home Sharing;

2) Streaming the exact same M4V file from iTunes on my Windows 7 32 bits, wireless, laptop PC to the same Apple TV 3 works flawlessly. When I click the down arrow on Apple TV's remote control, I can see the buffering going on until it reaches the end of the movie;

So, my problem doesn't seem to be related to the Apple TV or to the fact it's wired to the router. The iTunes on my desktop was up-to-date, and on my laptop it wasn't. So I thought the culprit was iTunes' version. I then uninstalled iTunes and all Apple software from my desktop PC and installed version 10.6.3.25, the exact same version I had on my laptop (except for the 32 vs. 64 bits platform difference). But it didn't work. I then updated iTunes on my laptop to the latest version, and it still worked.

So, I thought the problem was in my wired ethernet network between the desktop PC and the router or in the desktop PC's harware (i.e. network interface card). For testing purposes, I installed Snow Leopard Mac OSX in my desktop PC (yes, the so called "hackintosh") and, after updating everything (OS and iTunes):

3) Streaming the exact same M4V file from iTunes on my Snow Leopard 64 bits, ethernet-wired, desktop PC to the same Apple TV 3 works flawlessly.

So, the problem doesn't seem to be related to my network (i.e. NIC, router, cables, wired vs. wireless, etc.). It seems to be related to Windows 7 64 bits, iTunes 64 bits, or some (mis)configuration in my Windows 7 64 bits.

I cannot use my laptop, and neither a hackintosh, for streaming purposes. As my desktop PC is always on, it must be my media server. So, I will investigate a little bit further, and inform you of any findings.

Richard

Hi all,

finally fixed my problem - purchased a powerline connector - t-link, plugged one into the router/hub and into the power socket. Plugged the other into a power socket near the ATV - connected ethernet into power socket and then to ATV and voila - works like a dream - nothing has dropped for over 2 weeks since install.

Powerline adaptors cost £34.00 in the UK - think that my wifi issue was due to interference from Wifi on Home Cinema, TV, PS3 and SKY box all in the same area.

Suggest the powerline adaptors - uses home power wiring to transport the ethernet network signal - works flawlessly for me.

Well, i found a fix for my solution. Well it didn't fix it but lets my watch one movie at the time.

On Windows 7 PC, goto Network and sharing center. Change adapter settings. Disable Wifi connection. Now enable the wifi connection again.

Connected my Apple TV 3 with Cable to router. Now in itunes. Disable sharing. Now enable sharing again.

Goto aTV3, In general menu: Disable sharing on aTV. Goto homescreen. Start browsing computers. It will want you to enable sharing. As soon as you enable sharing it will pop up your PC libarary. Select what movie you want to watch. BEAWARE: Never go back from that movie again, cos you cant select another movie without doing the whole thing again. After selecting your movie, you can pause, seek and whatever you want, but as soon as you go back in the library menu, you wont be able to start another movie, or resume the same movie.

As far as i know, and read around the internet, i should be iTunes problem at this point. So When do we have an update on that? It's worse that waiting an update for Microsoft product. At least Microsoft knows they have problems and releases fixes every day. Apple just say: No problems. But still we have tons of topics where 2000+ users complain aTV 3 Home sharing problems.

Coming from a PC using a dlink DSM-330 connected to my TV. I have been streaming my avi movies and music for years. So I have some experience of streaming issues. Most early problems was to do with wifi as the wife didn't want cables everywhere. Had loads of freezing in the early days eventually fixed by changing from a 2.5ghz wifi to a 5 ghz stream. By splitting the media and web/email use the problems went away as the web/email would interfere with the media streaming. Dlink know this and this is the way the DIR-825 router was sold to me.  For years this has served me really well.

Fast forward to now and my pc has given up and most of the peripherals are started to become so dated and dlink no longer support there divx connected DSM-330 so was time for a major upgrade.  Bought the new mini mac ( mountain lion ), airport express 2nd generation and Apple TV 2nd generation plus an iPad and iPhone ( yep I've been poisoned by the apple bug, lol )

At first I had just the Apple TV and the mini mac, linked up using home sharing over wifi via my trusty dlink router DIR-825 (which has the dual frequency 2.5/5ghz) but just on the 2.5 freq.  Started using Apple TV, found my content on iTunes, great but approx 5 mins in and the movies would drop out. Grrrrr. So after reading up I found it seems to be a common problem. Read somewhere it was because my mini mac would go into sleep and shut iTunes down. So read up and an airport express, extreme or time capsule was needed as these use 'wake on demand', which wakes up the minimac to steam the content.  Went for the express as the other 2 really just had hardrive connect which i didnt need. I went one stage further and put my mini mac and AirPort Express on the 5ghz freq. started up Apple TV and so far it's been faultless now a week on. What's good is the airport express has a USB port which I have connected to my printer and now I can print direct to it from my ipad and iphone from the other side of the house via fingerprint. Great:)  So now when my mini mac goes into sleep mode it still streams perfectly with no problems, the screen stays off saving power, the mini mac light shows in sleep mode but the connect keeps streaming. Even printing is faultless in sleep mode thanks to the airport express that the printer is plugged into.

To recap, my setup :

DSL modem - Dlink DIR-825 on 5ghz wifi stream - airport express 2nd gen - mini mac via Ethernet cable - Apple TV 2nd gen via wifi 5ghz stream

Energy saver setting - wake on network access enabled

Hope this helps :)