Apple TV with airplay not working

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Level 1

10 points

Apple TV with airplay not working

My Apple TV (model MC572LL/A) is intermittent when using Airplay with my apple devices. I have an iPad mini, a second gen iPad, and iPhone 4s, a 2009 iMac and just recently got a Macbook Pro retina display. Sometimes the airplay works when I enable it, but most times it does not. The common symptom is that my TV screen goes dark, or does not change at all. On my device it says it is connected to airplay but nothing is happening. And, if I wait a while, the initial screen from my device appears on the TV but locks with that display- even though I have turned airplay off on my device. Or- when trying to turn airplay off, it locks up and does not change state.

My Apple TV has a good internet wifi connection, working well with Netflix or for watching movie trailers or streaming a video or music from my iMac upstairs or from my MBP.

I have tried reseting the Apple TV, reseting the router, I have tried firewall on or off (and set per troubleshooting procedure) and I even moved the router so it was about 10 feet away from my Apple TV. I know when I initially got the Apple TV that it worked fine with our iPhone and with the regular iPad. I had some intermittencies with my iPad mini but ended up resetting the internet connection and that seemed to clear it up. I have also noted that when I activate airplay from my iMac (it is upstairs with the router and connected via ethernet) that I can usually get the airplay to work with the apple TV (which is downstairs and using wifi for its connection). It is not very convenient to run upstairs- activate the airplay- then run downstairs to watch 🙂. I have read and tried the airplay troubleshooting techniques- still having the issue. I have also turned off ALL bluetooth devices- still does not work. On the rare occassion it does work, it usually does not work the next time I try.

Any suggestions for things I could try? Thank you.

Mark

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), Also iPad2, MBP (10.9.1), iPhone 4

Posted on Feb 14, 2014 12:42 PM

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Answer 1

lexvo

Level 1

120 points

Feb 14, 2014 2:18 PM in response to Markcw98a

Try downgrading the firmware on the Apple TV to 5.3. This helped me and some others to get airplay working reliable.

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Answer 2

Markcw98a Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 14, 2014 7:39 PM in response to lexvo

Thanks, Lexvo, for the suggestion. How do you downgrade to 5.3? It is worth a try.

Mark

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Answer 3

vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Feb 14, 2014 8:01 PM in response to Markcw98a

Downgrading is not supported. Have you checked for network interference, use istumbler.net to verify

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Answer 4

Markcw98a Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 17, 2014 7:34 AM in response to vazandrew

Thanks for suggesting istumbler. I am getting familiar with the app. Since my router works on 2 frequencies and is capable of multiple wifi standards (A, B, G, N) I am wondering if that may be part of the issue. It would be helpful if I could calibrate my readings so I understand when they may be an issue. I am thinking the signal (47% and 68%) and noise (13%) are acceptable- but appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,

Mark

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Answer 5

vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Feb 17, 2014 7:53 AM in response to Markcw98a

The signal at 47% would indicate an issue, and if it's fluctuating. Have you trid changing frequencies and channels, refer to your manual for guidance

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Answer 6

Markcw98a Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 17, 2014 11:30 AM in response to Markcw98a

Screen shot, for what it is worth. My network is "MCW_home." Note, that I physically moved the router to within around 15 feet of the apple TV- still did not help. I was noticing that one of the channels dropped to almost nothing at certain points in time. I will try changing freqs- do you suggested freqs to avoid or to try? Does it make sense that perhaps the apple TV is having an issue with type N wifi (ch 149)? I was going to try disabling N to see if it works better with G. Thanks again.

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Answer 7

Markcw98a Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 17, 2014 12:16 PM in response to vazandrew

I changed my channel to 7, since it looked like 6 was very popular. I was then able to get apple TV to work with all of my devices- the way it had worked in the past. I will monitor the situation for a while but I think your advice has cured my issue. And- the app allowed me to see what channels were being used around me. I will marked this solved if it continues to work.

Vasandrew- thank you very much.

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Answer 8

Markcw98a Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 20, 2014 4:18 AM in response to vazandrew

Just giving an update. Apple TV remains elusive 🙂 I do think it is router related, have tried different frequencies, but I still cannot use it all the time. Apple TV seems to work after I reset the router- but does not continue to work. My router is a Linksys E2500, firmware version 1.0.03- if that is any help. I am curious if anyone else has had issues with that router or if there are some other suggestions I can try. Thank you.

Mark

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Answer 9

vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Feb 20, 2014 6:21 AM in response to Markcw98a

Is that the latest firmware?

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Answer 10

henululz

Level 1

0 points

Feb 20, 2014 6:37 AM in response to Markcw98a

I think im having the same problem. My setup is: Airport Express Extreme, 5x Ipad, 5x ATV (all bough 3 weeks ago).

Im mirroring my ipads to ATV and ipads keeps disconnectiong from ATV. Time between the disconnects are random, sometimes 20 minutes and sometimes they work around the clock. And the problem doesn't occur simultaneously on all devices.

Hope someone can help us 🙂

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Answer 11

vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Feb 20, 2014 7:27 AM in response to henululz

Have you checked for interference?

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Answer 12

lexvo

Level 1

120 points

Feb 20, 2014 10:13 AM in response to Markcw98a

Temporary connect your Apple TV with an ethernet cable. This way you can make sure if it is a wireless issue or not.

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Answer 13

Markcw98a Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 20, 2014 11:59 AM in response to henululz

I checked and found that the router did not have the latest firmware. It does now. The issue is still there. I did a little research and found that the model number of my Apple TV (MC572LL/A) shows that it is a 2G version which uses the A4 chip. The latest version uses the A5 chip and is 1080 capable. Both are supposed to be capable of using type "N" routers. I don't think that should be an issue but I wonder if later updates may have introduced some issues in the 2G version.

I am going to try changing the "N" channel also- just to see if that makes any difference. The istumbler app does not show any "N" networks in my area so it is defaulting to 149. I will note that even 1 foot away from the router I only get 75-85% for signal. I would expect it to be 100% since it is so close. I am also seeing noise go up from typically 13% to 21% when it is on channel 3 and that close. I will play change locations and channels and see if there is any improvement.

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