Apple TV taking up too much bandwidth?

I'm having the same problem. Actually, it isn't "kicking off" other devices. They (laptops, iPads, iPhone, etc) show that they have a full signal from the router, but no web pages will load. It's like the AppleTV4 is hogging all of the bandwidth. It works and nothing else does. When I put it in sleep mode, the internet speed on other devices improves a bit. I have a 50 MBPS connection. When AppleTV is fully on, speedtest.net shows speeds of 1-2MBPS on other devices but everthing is streeming perfectly on AppleTV. When I put AppleTV in sleep mode, speedtest shows the internet speed on other devices improving to around 9 MBPS. When I unplug AppleTV, the internet speed on other devices returns to normal (50MBPS). It all hinges on what is happening with the AppleTV. Is there a way to fix this so I can use other devices on the internet while watching TV? This issue is really annoying.

If the ATV is in sleep mode it does not take up any bandwidth.

Sounds more like the ATV is not actually going into sleep mode and something strange is occurring. Have you tried power cycling the device?

It's taking up so much bandwidth that it's knocking off other devices at times. Seems extreme for just a shared library? Any suggestions?

Not likely. Even if it was running a full HD video stream it would not consume enough bandwidth to overload your local home network. And even if it some how did that it could not kick other devices off the network. It could only slow down their connections. There is some other network issue going on.

^^Nope, I'm having the same problem. Just installed a new ATV (thanks Santa!) and noticed that just trying to load Facebook or Instagram on my iPhone would time out. I stopped what was streaming and menu'd out to the main menu. No change. Then i put ATV to sleep, turned the phone wifi setting off, then on again and the phone came back to normal. So its def hogging bandwidth when ATV is on. Maybe there are config choices that make it this way?

I know I've come to the table a little late but here's the skinny on my experience. Beginning in January of this year I suddenly began to exceed the data cap from my ISP. I spent several hours on the phone with them and they had no solution other than perhaps someone may be piggybacking on my local wifi network. I changed the password on my network to no avail. I currently have a generous cap of 150G but last month I ended up using over 350G, which costs an additional $10.00 per 50G. Needless to say I was baffled. I stumbled onto this thread along with another and put both of my apple TV's to sleep. My daughter had been watching a Netflix movie via Appletv and my usage meter was showing 782KB/s usage, once they were both asleep I had her finish streaming her Netflix movie online via the computer to finish the movie and my usage meter is now showing between .3 and .7KB/s. Talk about MASSSIVE USAGE! I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to this problem except, shut them AppleTV's off!

HD streaming will comsume a lot of bandwidth. There may be other things occuring on the network that you need to look into. As suggested try rebooting all components. Make sure ATV and router are up to date.

We must have the same ISP, CouldBeAProblem...I just got that message from my ISP too. I was like, "wha?!?!?!??!" My upstairs neighbor, who I share Internet with, does these coupon things where she has to watch videos, and she has some way to automate them, so I was ready to blame her. Then it occurred to me that the Apple TV is something else that's new...so now I am afraid to use it. I did put it in sleep mode tonight, but it's just odd to me. If there is/was a setting that could be turned off, besides just putting it to sleep, I'd love to hear about it.

It would be best to monitor your connection, and also see what you are using the ATV for. Video streaming consumes a lot of bandwidth, if you have now added ATV into the equation and are watching content on top of what your neighbor is using then that is going to cause you to hit the limit that much faster.

I've been having a lot of issues with my apple tv overusing my data allotment. I had to recently switch up to 300GB and just got a message today that I was over again. I have over a week left in my cycle. I tried unplugging the thing when its not being used and that doesnt seem to be working. Its just using more and more and I'm not using it any more than when I started. I dont know if I just have a buggy unit or if this thing is just not meant for the cable companies' data cap policies. Either way I'm going back to using my Xbox to watch netflix. The Xbox uses only maybe half of the data allotment per month the apple tv does. I'll use the apple tv to watch only channels that arent available from xbox live. Really sticks because I thought this would be a better way of watching shows.

Thats the crazy part. There's really not anything else. This unit is just a bandwidth vampire and unfortunately I cant do anyting else that I want to while I have the apple tv hooked up. Even on days where I dont watch anything it still eats an enormous rediculous amount of gigs as long as its plugged in to power. I really wish there were settings that could be used to control this. I havent found anything that even looks like it may be a setting to control this other than the sleep timer function which really does nothing to fix the problem.

phantasmastic wrote:

I've been having a lot of issues with my apple tv overusing my data allotment. I had to recently switch up to 300GB and just got a message today that I was over again. I have over a week left in my cycle. I tried unplugging the thing when its not being used and that doesnt seem to be working....

Maybe I am reading this wrong, but if it is unplugged and is still using the same bandwith I would suggest the problem might be elsewhere

I'm having the same problem with 2 separate devices; when in sleep mode, they are consuming massive bandwidth.

This is affecting all other devices on the network. I'm not capped by the ISP, it was noticed due to the other devices not being able to stream/download/whatever. When the ATV's are unplugged, everything is normal, when the ATVs are plugged in, the whole network slows to a crawl, downloads fail and life ***.

Yes, they have been power cycled, they have been logged out/logged in, etc. Basic troubleshooting steps have been completed.

Some help here is appreciated!

That would be an issue with the local network, as opposed to internet bandwidth issues posted above.

What troubleshooting have you done? Are you connected via ethernet or wifi? Did you get a report of the network, if so what were the figures for signal and noise?

Thanks very much for replying; here is the deal:

When the ATV is left plugged in and while in sleep mode (nothing downloading at all, just sleep mode) it consumes so much bandwidth that other devices on the network fail in their normal online activities. Examples of this are downloading large work files (500Mb+) failing constantly while ATV is plugged in. Unplug ATV, files download fine and MUCH faster. Other online apps are also affected, primarily the ones that upload/download larger data (Citrix, FB, YouTube, etc.).

Finally figured out the only new thing on the network was the ATV. Unplugged ATV from power, problem disappears. Plug it back in, problem is back within 24 hours.

ATV appears to be working normally, no problems with content, subscription, etc. Can watch/listen on demand, acceptable download speeds and content availability.

Tried power cycling, logging out/back in, etc. No effect on the problem.

We have two ATVs; ATV at home is hard-wired into the network via Ethernet cable directly to router. ATV at office is via wireless (not sure what protocol). BOTH devices exhibit the same issue on BOTH networks. Both networks are completely independent; different carriers, different equipment, etc. The ATV took down the entire wireless network at work due to its bandwidth consumption - that was pretty entertaining and not exactly fun to figure out. It is sitting on my desk, unplugged.

Sorry but I have absolutely no idea how to get a network report; but can probably be walked through it.

Again, any help at all is appreciated!

netstumbler (PC) and istumbler (mac) are the most common programs to get a network report. The site should walk you through it, essentially you are looking for signal strength and any noise detected.

How old is the router? Are ATV and router up to date? Have you tried a reset and restore on ATV?