Apple TV is Downloading movie rentals very slowly

Having the same problem. Slow slow slow. My internet is very fast. 20MB fast. And it is fast at the same time the Apple TV is slow. This is either a glitch in the Apple TV software or a problem with the Apple servers.

Note to Apple: I have already jumped ship away from my Macbook Pro...I am typing this from an Ubuntu laptop, and I like it. You have made me angry too many times. You are becoming a slothful monopoly. Your slow servers just ruined a movie for me. I have to go to bed and leave the movie half watched. I am on the verge of ceasing use of my Apple TV to use other options that actually work. I have been an evangelist for Apple in the past and am probably responsible for causing 20+ Apple computer purchases (I am not exaggerating) . No more. I am not the type of customer you want to lose.

Speed is only one factor, there are other things within a network that can cause issues. This is a user forum, Apple won't be reading this.

I just recently started having problems with my AppleTV after almost 2 years of no problems. Starting movies that used to be almost instantaneous now tell me to wait an hour or more. Rebooting helps but doesn't solve the problem.

Then after reading this thread and seeing the pattern of people claiming shutting it down for extended periods fixes the problem made me I remember what had changed. I had recently set my AppleTV's sleep time to a much longer period. Because it sits on top of my Airport Express, which is a pretty warm spot, this means it's likely much warmer than it used to be, and it seems like the problem only occurs after long days of use.

So I took the ATV off of the Airport Express and put it in a much cooler spot, and immediatly my Game Of Thrones episode went from stopping every 10 minutes to catch up with it's download, to working perfectly.

I would suggest if you have this problem that you first try keeping your AppleTV cooled better, by shortening the sleep time and/or finding a cooler location for it.

Thanks for such an informative thread. I have connected my new iTv and am having all the same issues. To the one evangelist who keeps advocating that it is user/network error...have a reread of the posts...you come across as unhelpful...why do you bang on about all these people having errors as though they don't?

Anyway, thank you to all the helpful people. I am confused about the ports though. How do I unblock them or check them? I spent 10 hours downloading 007, and it came up saying "watch now or watch later". I clicked watch later. When I went to watch it, it said I had to download...hmmmmm, pretty pointless really!

If I download to my computer and share, not a worry. If I purchase, not a worry.

I have asked for a refund for all the rentals on the iTv and will just rent on the computer to save myself future bother. But truly, if I am having all these issues on day 1, in April 2013 and this has been going on for months...dear o dear!

And to Mr I love Apple...I love Apple too...and I know they don't read these forums...but it is not network, not user error...it is the device. Sheez, I am not an IT person but am not stupid and can work out a stack of stuff. But this one has me shaking my head...

Ah well, rant over. Just wanting to know about the ports and how to maybe open them?

Thanks!!

I am quire aware of the posts. I never said people aren't having issues, but rather it is something related to the setup/network. All people want to do here is rant so there is no reason to delve and of course it will be seen as being unhelpful.

There is a post above about the ports if you do wish to look into it.

I installed Apple TV in March 2013 and it worked flawlessly until approximately 2-3 weeks ago. I consulted Time Warner and Apple support who also sent the article on ports that Apple TV. In addition I upgraded my Internet speed to 20Mbps which did nothing. Long story short...ports were all open but TW changed my Internet signal as too many people were using it in my neighborhood and I was on the wrong one...not sure what they meant by that but Apple TV works perfect now..

I'm watching on a Samsung Smart TV.

I have two generation 1 Apple TV's. One is dormant right now, not in use, the other is my primary unit for streaming to the main TV from movies and music stored on a MacPro. I also use this ATV to weekly almost rent a movie.

It has been great. Start rent, 32 seconds later, ready to watch.

One night my switch feeding the network to the entertainment system lost power. It took me a while to find it and in the process reseated a number of network cables. Finally it came on line. I use the network for device control with iRule.

Almost at the same time our Tivo in our bedroom started having network problems. This time in my reseating of the network cables this one got left out.

I also had replaced my sonicwall firewall with a wireless version. Lots of changes. But even before some of these changes and problems one night I went to rent "Cloud Atlas" and told my wife we could watch after dinner. So a few hours go by we sit down and I was shocked to see it saying it needed another 17 hours to download.

So we did something else. Ever since even though I've rebooted, reset networking, I've restarted the ATV many times downloads are just **** slow. I've tested my download speed over the LAN in general at 35mb down, 12mb up reliably. The only thing I need to try is to connect my laptop via wired connection to the small switch right where the apple TV is and try the download speed there. I don't expect it to be slow.

So what is causing the slow down? My ATV has a fan blowing on it keeping it cool while it runs. To save power I shut it down each time the system is shutdown so it is not running for long periods of time. But still even just now movies are taking forever to download.

None of the solutions in this thread have worked for me.

I'm in Perth, Western Australia, with an ATV 3 and I'm having the problem described by most people above - not all the time, but often enough to make the service unreliable. I also bought an ATV 3 for my parents and their experience is even worse.

@vazandrew - this problem is huge, and it's going on for way too long. The service is plain flakey. For every person with a problem how many find their way to this forum? And then how many bother to post? If it's a problem related to so many people's setup as you suggest (with no evidence), then Apple needs to provide a solution that works with those setups.

Doesn't translate into a problem affecting the majority of users. You are free to contact Apple directly if you want a response.

Same issue in Singapore on a 60 mb link, Apple sort this rubbish out as its getting worse

Same issue here man... 20Mbits/s in Canada. Perfect stream from anywhere in my house. AT2 worked great for two years, then a month ago my streaming ability went completely awol.

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Ssame problem. Last week I rented Purge and it would not play, this week it was Pacific Rim. Got charged for both but didn't get to watch. I have signed out of iTunes and back in, restarted ATV as well as reset it with no success. Internet connection is fine for Netflix, Hulu, etc....

Had the same issues disucssed above. Shutting down my Airport Express, then un- and re-plugging AT3 afterwards solved them fully. Not a great solution and Apple should fix this, but at least I can watch my movies when I want to.

Hey Zuger,

Thanks for the reply.

Interestingly enough, I had tried unplugging my ATV2 and router twice before and got the same result. Then, a few days ago, I tried again, and I saw a bit improvement. I was able to watch a new release, but I did still have to wait for 20 mins.

How bizarre.