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Inconsistent Apple TV performance

New Apple TV purchased in March. For the most part, it has been working fine.


I have been seeing an occasional problem with some selections only giving me the "can't do that here" sound, but thought it might be a wonky connection with Netflix or another media provider.


This morning, I have seen frequent instances where iTunes (playing from a desktop computer running Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, SP 1) will stop working and drop me back to the main screen. I have been able to restart iTunes immediately in most cases, but not all. Sometimes I will get the "failure" sound when I select Computers or many other services.


My router is at the other end of the house from the Apple TV and the rest of the entertainment center components (TV, home theater, XBox, FiOS box). The components are on an open shelf above a tile floor and sit (for the most part) on a single layer. The destination desktop computer I use the most to feed iTunes is in a bedroom midway between the router and the Apple TV.


The router is fairly recent and more powerful than the original router (as evidenced by the much stronger signal I get on my MacBook Pro when I am using it on the lanai (porch) a little further from the Apple TV.


I figure there are a number of potential sources to the problem I am seeing:

  1. The Apple TV device is bad.
  2. The Apple TV is too far from the router.
  3. The desktop computer is too far from the router.
  4. The Apple TV is misconfigured.
  5. The router is misconfigured.
  6. There is some other source I have not considered.


I have been in IT a long time and have served in a number of technical, support and management roles. My troubleshooting skills are pretty good on those things where I have spent considerable time under the hood. That's just not the case with Apple devices. I use them and my technical skills are increasing, but I am less helpless in the Windows world.


I can and am willing to slog through lengthy technical scripts to get to the bottom of this, but I need some help to get started.


How do I troubleshooting this? I can't move the entertainment center components. Moving the router would require a service call by the Verizon FiOS tech and, while I am willing to go that far, I want to leave that to last.


I am first going to test with the MacBook Pro running Mavericks in the same room as the router.

AppleTV 2

Posted on Apr 12, 2014 7:20 AM

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Inconsistent Apple TV performance

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