I'm moving to a small apartment and need to buy a new router for my cable connection.
Is there a recommendation for AirPlay performance from my MacBook to my AppleTv?
AppleTV 2, OS X Mavericks (10.9)
It's not so much a recommendation of router as much as having a solid network. The Airport Express or Extreme are decent choices though.
Thanks vazandrew. Makes sense - do you know if airport is plex compatible?
In what way? Apple TV doesn't work directly with plex. The router you use wouldn't have a bearing on whether you can airplay (that would come down to each developer)
Setting up Plex, I remember making some minor configurations such as enabling UPNP - I am not sure if this is possible as I don't have an apple router.
From what I have read I do believe the quality of the router does have a bearing on the stuttering and quality of AirPlay. This is one source - but I'd be keen to know if you disagree: http://isource.com/2012/03/31/a-few-tips-for-improving-airplay-mirroring/
Yes that should be possible on the airport. Of course using a really cheap router will have an impact, but the bigger issue will be interference. That will come down to how your network is setup.
Thanks Vazandrew - helpful.
If you can stomach the cost of the AirPort Extreme you will be very pleased with the positive impact it will have on your network. You will get signal in bathrooms that you couldn't before and never have to reboot your router again!
From what I have read I do believe the quality of the router does have a bearing on the stuttering and quality of AirPlay. This is one source - but I'd be keen to know if you disagree: http://isource.com/2012/03/31/a-few-tips-for-improving-airplay-mirroring/
A few reactions to the article:
1) I have both an ASUS RT-AC66U (as my router) and a Time Capsule (for Time Machine but also as an additional wireless access point). Both do well with AirPlay. Neither is cheap.
2) If at all possible, follow the suggestion about using a wired connection between the router and Apple TV. That gets rid of wireless interference issues and gives you 100Mbps, dedicated.
3) Configure the 5GHz network with a unique SSID and use that for your AirPlay devices. The closer your device is to the router, the higher the data rate you'll get.
4) If you AirPlay from a Mac, you have the same option as #2 to use a wired connection. There there is no "Air" but you still get the "Play" 🙂
Honestly, most people spend way more than they need to on routers. The $20 TP-Link N Router has more than enough power for most people. I have used it with Airplay on two different Apple TVs connected wirelessly and have not had any issues.
Best router for AirPlay
