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My Apple TV has been nothing but problems, I cannot do anything on it even tho it sees my network

Apple TV sees my network but when i try to sign in to my account it says Apple TV can't sign in to the iTunes Store until the network time has been set. Please try later. Before this happened the past few months i Have been unable to use Netflix, or even do the update. Please help me!

AppleTV 2

Posted on Aug 31, 2013 1:06 PM

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Posted on Aug 31, 2013 1:14 PM

Welcome to the Apple Community.


Assuming this is not the first time you have used your Apple TV


  1. You might try restarting the Apple TV by removing ALL the cables for 30 seconds.
  2. Also try restarting the router.
  3. If the problem persists, try a restore, you may want to try the previous procedures several times before doing this.
  4. If restoring from the Apple TV doesn't help, try restoring from iTunes using a USB cable.


If this is a new Apple TV, in addition to trying the above, it may also be that your network router is not allowing access to the timeserver, check that your router allows access over port 123.

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Aug 31, 2013 1:14 PM in response to Patrickkane77

Welcome to the Apple Community.


Assuming this is not the first time you have used your Apple TV


  1. You might try restarting the Apple TV by removing ALL the cables for 30 seconds.
  2. Also try restarting the router.
  3. If the problem persists, try a restore, you may want to try the previous procedures several times before doing this.
  4. If restoring from the Apple TV doesn't help, try restoring from iTunes using a USB cable.


If this is a new Apple TV, in addition to trying the above, it may also be that your network router is not allowing access to the timeserver, check that your router allows access over port 123.

Aug 31, 2013 1:32 PM in response to Winston Churchill

Once upon a time it worked perfectly, it started with netflix not loading and Then it requested and update which it wouldnt do. now nothing works. I have done all the above several times and after many unsuccessful attempts I tried to restore and it won't even let me do that! My wifi shouldnt be the problem as it works on all my other devices, but Apple TV sees it, I just can't use it :S

Aug 31, 2013 1:39 PM in response to Winston Churchill

I should also mention that I found sometimes it just wouldn't work in general as it is not now. Last time I checked I believe I could at least see all the icons on the main menu where as now all I see is computers and settings. Maybe I should just take they're advice and try later, but honestly I have trouble finding time to take care of issues like this it's very inconvenient.. Either way I have had trouble even when I am able to see all icons

Aug 31, 2013 2:04 PM in response to Winston Churchill

Hard to say before today I just tried to access Netflix or do the update and now I have no icons at all.. My guess is no because I was able to see icons I think the server might be down. But if there is anything you'd suggest to try othe than what you've already mentioned for the time being in willing to give it a try. If nothing works maybe the icons will come back and then I can deal with my other issues..

Aug 31, 2013 2:22 PM in response to Patrickkane77

The time server has never been down for me and I use at least one of my Apple TV's quite regularly. I don't know whether all locations use the same server, so I'm not sure if that's really relevant to you or not.


If you have the opportunity, you might try the Apple TV at a neighbour or friends house, otherwise I'd wait a while and try again.

Sep 1, 2013 6:30 AM in response to Patrickkane77

You can get your ISP's DNS settings by calling them.


Personally I would not use Google or Open DNS servers, they may appear to resolve problems temporarily, but are not recommended by Apple and have been shown to cause problems in some cases. Apple only recomend using your ISP's DNS settings.


You should also use the same settings on all your devices on the network, generally speaking though you should only need to enter these in your router, which will then provide the details to devices that join the network.

Nov 9, 2013 9:50 PM in response to Patrickkane77

It took me 2 hours to find the solution. This post was the most helpful. Following Winston Churchill's advice, what I did was temporarily set my DNS to manual and used the Google DNS server 8.8.8.8 which allowed Apple TV to grab my location properly. Then, I went back into network settings and changed it again from manual to automatic. This way I keep the same settings on all devices and using the same ISP DNS.

My Apple TV has been nothing but problems, I cannot do anything on it even tho it sees my network

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