jega_jega
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: AppleTV and Airport Express disconnects/drops

Hi,

 

Since I time back my AppleTV and my Airport Express have been working really poor. My two friends have exactly the same problem. Everything was working well until a couple of  weeks ago. Now the ATV drops the connection 5-10 times when watching a movie from the iPad or iPhone and the Aiport Express is playing music very unreliable. Usually it plays for a while, but then  becomes stuttering and finally drops the connection. When I try to reconnect the devices are usually not in the menu anymore but appear after a couple of seconds.

 

I have tried with a different router, changes all the router settings to the prefered, tried both devices with wired connection etc. And as said before, my two friends experience exactly the same thing  on their configurations (different routers).

 

Anyone else experiencing this?

AppleTV 2, iOS 8

Posted on Oct 16, 2014 11:28 PM

Close
jega_jega

Q: AppleTV and Airport Express disconnects/drops

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Oct 17, 2014 9:44 AM in response to jega_jega
    Level 10 (104,526 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 17, 2014 9:44 AM in response to jega_jega

    Welcome to the Apple Community.

     

    Intermittent problems are often a result of interference. Interference can be caused by other networks in the neighbourhood or from household electrical items.

     

    You can download and install iStumbler (NetStumbler for windows users) to help you see which channels are used by neighbouring networks so that you can avoid them, but iStumbler will not see household items.

     

    Refer to your router manual for instructions on changing your wifi channel or adjusting your multicast rate.

     

    There are other types of problems that can affect networks, but this is by far the most common, hence worth mentioning first. Networks that have inherent issues can be seen to work differently with different versions of the same software. You might also try moving the Apple TV away from other electrical equipment.

     

    The following article(s) may help you.

     

    Troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks and connections

    Recommended Wi-Fi settings

    Sources of Interference

    Wifi Diagnostic Software (for Mac users)

     

    You may also find some help on this page, where I’ve collected some of the more unusual solutions to network issues.

  • by jac7,

    jac7 jac7 Oct 17, 2014 3:08 PM in response to jega_jega
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2014 3:08 PM in response to jega_jega

    jega_jega

     

    You are correct.   Apple pushed an update a couple weeks ago and now I have four AppleTVs that have the same problem you and your friends are.

    If I pause a show, it will reboot.  If I play music, it will reboot maybe 1 or 2 songs in.  Luckily it only reboots during a movie sometimes.

     

    The problem only occurs with my AppleTVs and none of my other devices.  Two of the AppleTVs are ethernet and not wireless so WC's assertion that it is wireless network problem is balderdash, at least in my case.

     

    FYI:

    All non Apple devices are working just fine.

    All four went bad right after Apple pushed the last update a few weeks ago.

    Two of AppleTVs are also connected to high end UPS with pure sine output and brown out protection, so no chance it was a power surge or brown out.

    Just to be thorough I swapped out with another router, then swapped a cable modem for good measure- no effect.

     

    This is clearly a bug with the Apple software but Apple is always super slow to address issues when they goof something up.

     

    I read in another thread from about a year ago, other users were having similar problems after an update, at the time the only person who had any luck was someone who brought his (also ethernet connected)  AppleTV to his local Apple store.  Fortunately for him, the technician tested and was able to swap it for him since it was a "known issue" with some batches of the AppleTV.  He was fine after swap out.  Not sure if you have easy access to Apple store or if they'll even recognize the issue now.

     

    Best of luck.  Maybe if enough of us post, Apple will make update to fix (unlikely) or someone smarter than us can find a work-around.