Apple TV 3rd Gen Freezing/Buffering constantly

Having problems here as we'll and only on one of our AppleTVs. The problem here is a bit different than described here and has only started happening since the latest software update.

In our case the audio continues to play while the picture freezes or stutters. Then the video either jumps forward to get back into sync or winds forward quickly until it returns to sync.

It seems to happen predominantly with higher bitrate streams, but bitrate is still well below the max bandwidth for the connection to the home server.

Very frustrating - especially to my little daughter who doesn't understand why her movie keeps acting up.

FWIW, I was having this problem and recently updated the firmware on my router and the problem seems to have gone away.

I solved my "old" ATV3 problem by selling it on Craigslist after it would not stream rentals 12 hours for HD and 10hrs for SD quality) while Netflix through ATV was streaming Netflix in HD immediately. The buyer said he knew how to jailbreak it to fix it so good riddance.

Bought a new one and it works fine (had Apple Store do the software update). The troubling part is Apple Support kept insisting it was my T3 connection being the problem when it wasn't. Try an hard Ethernet connection instead of wifi to see if its not a wifi interference problem, then software update. Or dump it and try a new one like I did.

I too have a feeling that this problem has to do with the 6.x firmware update. In 5.3 everything was fine.

But there could be more caused for the same problem of course, like interference or certain ATV models.

Got the ATV for the family at Christmas. No real problems until a week ago after an update. ATV loads and buffers until I get fed up and turn it off. We have not been able to watch anything on it for about a week. All other devices (iPad, Macbook pro, bluray) all stream fine so it's not my internet connection. I've tried resetting etc. nothing seems to work I guess the next step is to return it. Seems ridiculous to have a device that it's main purpose is to stream and it under performs devices that do more than just stream. Get it together apple.

We are having the same problems. Can't even get through a show without it stopping several times and sometimes knocks it off altogether and will not come back on. We've had AppleTv for over a year and have never had this much problem.

We're considering ditching it and going Roku if it doesn't clear up soon. I see that Amazon even has a new one out called FireTV.

I have the same problem when trying to watch FilmOn TV. Works fine on both my iPad and iPhone, but as soon as I link to my TV using ATV it starts to hang. OK with Netflix, though. Apple do so little to help users when they have problems. I need a new laptop now and am trying to decide whether to stick with Windows or move to Apple and then be consistent with my phone and iPad. It's just Apple's support that makes me reluctant.

All those icons on the screen are individual apps. It's possible to have a version mismatch between the app and iOS. If Netflix is the problem, for example, log out of Netflix and log back in. That forces an update to the Netflix app and it may fix the problem.

Going into my router and setting the MTU from auto to 1500 for my internet settings solved my problem!

I've been having all same problems

I have ATV 1 2 and 3rd gen and only the last few months I began experiencing serious buffering problems to the point that I can't play trailers, rent movies or watch tv shows I've purchased

I have been talking to my ISP for weeks, we tried playing with different DNS configurations and nothing

I finally managed to "fix" it by switching from HD (1080p or 720p) to SD in the iTunes option of the ATV setting

Streaming now works fine but to me this is a workaround as it should work in HD without any issues - my ISP speed is always above 30 mbps down and up

Just about over Apple TV. It has been hit or miss before today and now i get nothing but buffering. Even when i use Airplay watching a movie on my Macbook air. This is a movie i have saved so the Apple server shouldn't even matter correct? The ATV is also hooked directly up to the router. Frustrated is an understatement

All those icons on the screen are individual apps. Some time ago, I had severe problems with Netflix taking long naps to buffer. I called Netflix. After I gave their support representative the information she needed and my permission, she was able to detect that I had a version mismatch between the Netflix app and iOS. The solution was to log out of Netflix and log back in. That forced an update to the Netflix app and it fixed the problem. Since Apple TV's iOS was recently updated, It's worth a try. Months later, I had a buffering problem and solved it by logging out of apps and back in.

Problem is with the latest update I believe (the September one) that gave it a better screen layout.

Streaming was perfect up until then, the new facelift messed with the video capabilities.

There's nothing wrong with our internet connections, they just have to fix the bug - and soon.