Apple Tv 3rd Gen Slow!

I was having this issue recently and managed to solve it for me. Factory resetting the Apple TV brought me back to my original video speeds. Yes, it's annoying to have to re-login to all of your services, but for me it was completely worth it to have a functioning device back.

Hope this helps!

I have an 80 Mbps internet download connection and it took 5 hours to download a movie with standard definition from itunes with my apple tv. It took 3 minutes when I used netflix on my ps3. Where is apple supports response to these issues?....there are thousands of posts of people with the same problems! Speedtest.net confirms my download speed is 80 Mbps! I have reset and restarted my apple tv and download speeds of movies are still unacceptably slow! What is the point of these discussions when Apple techs don't even read or respond to our posts?

I fixed this problem by resetting the "Regional Format" although it was alteady set to "United States" it was obviously not working on that setting. I simply reselected "United States", the system auto rebooted, problem solved worked like a charm on all my appletvs Go to settings>general>regional format.

YES, YES, YES! Thanks steppytoe!! Resetting Regional Format, eventhough it already read United States, worked! I am technically savvy, and tried everything. I have an ATV2 and ATV3 at my home, and decided to get my mom an ATV3 or hers. I got really discouraged reading all the previous posts and thought I'd just have to return it or get her a faster internet connection. For those of you who have questions about internet speed, right now we are getting by with a whopping 3.2 Mbps. So, anything faster should be fine. Try resetting Regional Format!

got my 3rd gen appletv right out of the box and immediately noticed that it took forever to download movies (rental and purchased). also got the "...try using a lower video resolution..." message. i read that someone solved their problem by resetting their time zone so i was about to do that but then under settings i first stumbled upon country region. it was already on "united states" but i selected "united states" anyways. the appletv seemed to reset itself. the apple logo flashed on the top of the screen. i immediately tried my movie again because i thought hey it looks like something reset. voila. movies loaded as quickly as if i was on itunes on my mac. i was watching the moving within 30 seconds.

i have NO IDEA WHY this works or why the appletv can't just work out of the box, but my problem is solved and now the appletv works as i expected it to work. i'm sure i just got lucky, but if you have the same problem, try resetting your region or time zone. for some reason it works.

I have been experiencing the slow ATV download since purchasing the new ATV 3rd Gen and I too have 20mbs download speed verified by Speedtest.net. I have tried to reset the Regional Format and it does not seem to work but I am going to restore the unit and try again. Hoping for the best because this has been frustrating.

I followed Steppytoe's suggestion and fixed this problem by resetting the "Regional Format" although it was alteady set to "United States".

I simply reselected "United States", the system auto rebooted, problem solved worked like a charm on all my appletvs Go to settings>general>regional format.

I have since reset the device and changed the regional format again and it seems to be working now. Thanks.

Steppytoe's solution worked for me. Resetting Regional Settings did the trick!

Thank you!

I’ve had this problem occur sporadically. Most recently it occurred after a reset necessitated by the Apple TV ignoring all remotes except the mobile app. I was streaming a file from the Home Videos library on my computer and it seemed to be loading at dialup speeds. Another reset fixed it. For now. The Apple TV has been buggy since v6 of the software came out.

I was having REALLY slow download instead of fairly instant streaming playback. This is a ATV2 and it used to work just fine. So, as this thread suggests, I checked the Time Zone (it was set to Cupertino [default]) and so I changed it to my time zone. Also, I went to Region Format and reselected "United States". Then did a reboot. My movie that I just rented started the playback option almost immediately. FIxed...but why?

Well, on another thread there was a lot of mention regarding the "Apple [content] Servers". I agree with this and the time zone and region support this. If you are sitting in Memphis, TN but your timezone is PST, as opposed to CST, then that is the servers located in another part of the country/world are trying to steam content. Make sense that it would be slow. Also, if for what ever reason there is a disconnect with the the Region Format, then this will also cause the content servers to send a device content from servers outside of the region or zone. The default time zone thing is understood. The re-choosing US as the Region Format smells of bug if that is the total or partial culprit.

This did it. I spent hours messing with routers and process of elimination. This is clearly a bug.

First Gen downstairs works perfect… Updstairs (new Gen), trying all and then some in this post did nothing for me 😟

Losing hope on this… with 60 speed is still showing 2.5 hrs for a rental movie… not even the trailers… iTunes movie trailers take a whole 15 to 20 mins to watch 2.5 minutes...

Sorry to say but it seems that new gen apple has a horrible bug that our friends have not figure out yet… (by the way… user of iPhone, IMac, Desktop, and Apple router)… loyal fan but this new ten appletv kinda *****...

Steppytoe's solution worked. Do that. Problem solved.