Apple TV 1st Gen can no longer connect to wireless networks

My Apple TV (1st Gen) has recently lost the ability to connect to either of our wireless networks at home. I rean the diagnostics at the reset screen and the Apple TV says it is performing normally. In the settings, whenever I attempt to connect to a wireless network, I am now only offered "Other..." as a choice. Proceeding to the next screen, I enter the name of the network closest to the Apple TV -- an Airport Extreme set up for 5 GHz that this Apple TV connected with daily up until 2 days ago. The Airport base station is perfoming normally, as my MacBook Pro can see it and establish a network connection without any difficulty. The issue is limited to the Apple TV. I did a Factory Restore, and now when I go to Wireless Network > "Other..." > Enter the name of the wireless network" the resuit is always the same, and error message stating: "There was a problem connecting to the network. Check your settings and try again. (-4)".

This message comes up almost immediately, without requesting a WiFi password -- suggesting to me that this Apple TV has lost the ability to connect to ANY wireless network due to a hardware failure.


Q: Has anyone else in the Support Community had a similar experience with their 1st Gen Apple TV, and if so, did you find a solution to it?


Note: When I first noticed the connction to this Apple TV had gone stale (greyed out in the iTunes Airplay Speakers list), and prior to doing the Factory Restore, I could play back iTunes content stored on the hard drive, but could not connect to the local wireless networks. I noticed that the Apple TV was running very hot -- it has alwasy run pretty hot to the touch.


If this Apple TV has died, I will get a 3rd Gen Apple TV, but wiill then have to work through the HDMI to Composite video + Audio issues, as this Apple TV is connected to our older (non-HDMI) TV.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4), MacBook Pro (OSX 10.8)

Posted on Jun 2, 2013 9:44 AM

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6 replies

Jun 3, 2013 9:41 AM in response to MacPCmb

Follow-up #2: as with thediscussion Rudegar sent me the link for earlier in this thread, I resolved this issue by running an ethernet cable to the ATV1 to bypass the now-faulty wireless chip on the Apple TV, configuring the network settings (TCP/IP) for DHCP, re-connecting to iTunes on my MacPro with a new sync code, which restored connectivity between iTunes on my Mac and this Apple TV. Thanks, Rudegar, for your help!

Jun 2, 2013 11:00 AM in response to MacPCmb

Follow-up: Able to connect with ethernet cable, downloaded software updates, connected to iTunes, and synchec content.

Next, disconnected the ethernet cable. ATV1 froze and was restarted using the Menu + ( - ) combo on the remote. Re-ran diagnostics yeilds: Apple TV is working fine.

Restarted, then went to configure the Wirelss settings. Apple TV once again does not show either of the two wireless networks. Selecting "Other..." and entering the SSID yields the same immediate response:

"There was a problem connecting to the network. Check your settings and try again. (-4)"

No change on the wireless front :-( Bummer.

Looks like an ethernet connection is the only option left to continue using this Apple TV 1st Gen.


Thanks for your help. -- Paul

Feb 17, 2016 5:26 PM in response to MacPCmb

Not sure if still an issue for people. But I just connected an APTV1 my dad handed down to me, I factory reset and all worked well. Saw all the wifi networks in my apt complex. After updating the software it couldn't see any wifi networks. Connecting to ethernet seemed to work fine, but defeats the purpose of mac syncing. I factory reset again and am attempting to just keep the old OS. Clearly something happened during the upgrade. I tried power-cycling, and checked the DHCP, no go.

Any tips on getting updated software to work would be appreciated.

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Apple TV 1st Gen can no longer connect to wireless networks

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