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airplay drops airport

Devices: iPhone 5S (T-mobile) , iPad Air (T-mobile) , MacBook Pro A1278 (mid-2010) , Airport Express (2x, both 2011)

OS versions: iOS 8.1.1 , Yosemite 10.10.1 , 7.6.4 firmware - software/firmware is always as up to date as possible

WOW! internet service, Arris TG862 (wireless disabled), 1 AX hard wired to cable modem in Bridge mode, 2nd AX set to "Join existing network" (through AX-1)


Happy Holidays Everyone!


I have been having Airplay issues with my Airports. When listening to iTunes on the Macbook, the music will randomly stop and the Airplay icon will turn orange. It will drop itself after 1-30 minutes of airplay, just depending on it's mood and the day. When listening through the iPhone/iPad, I have to bring up the settings menu (flick up from bottom) and select the airplay device every time it cuts out - every 1-30min as with the Macbook. I have some friends who are suffering these same issues, but with different devices and a brand new Airport Express. I use Airplay religiously for hours a day, so this is a BIG problem for me. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.


What I have tried:

The disconnect seems to happen more frequently when I am communicating, so I disabled Facetime relay for calls. It still happens even when my communications are idle.

Reset/unplugged everything

Defaulted and set up everything again

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Dec 1, 2014 5:35 PM

Reply
26 replies

Dec 18, 2014 9:56 AM in response to fredfromworthington

please check this article and look for Tesserax solution that works.


An unknown error (-15006) occurred while connecting to the AirPlay device AirPort Express”. How do I solve this?


basically I optimised the wireless connection by choosing another channel on the router and bringing both the airplay device and router in the „same room”. Another solution besides optimising the wireless connection is to connect the airplay device (apple TV) via ethernet.


hope this helps.

Dec 26, 2014 4:01 PM in response to bhamguyspecv

I am having the same problem, and I doubt very much it has anything to do with wireless signal strength or a need to hard wire Apple TV to the router. For me AirPlay was solid and completely reliable in iOS 7. After updates to iOS 8.1 and Apple TV update around the same time this problem started happening. Occurs when listening to audio, but I also experience the same problem when AirPlaying video content.


Interestingly enough I have found a way to somewhat control the problem. Turn Bluetooth off on the device AirPlaying the content. Even with Apple TV and iPad or iPhone both on 5GHz channel connected to AirPort Extreme 6th generation I found turning off Bluetooth will allow the devices to go much longer without interruption (so not a matter of overlapping radio spectrum). My hunch is the new feature Apple added that allows AirPlay to Apple TV without the need for all devices to be on the same network is causing the iPad or iPhone to discover other Apple TVs using Bluetooth which is interrupting the current media that is streaming to the Apple TV over the network. My iPhone and iPads are discovering my neighbours Apple TVs, I have seen them in the Apple TVs available on both devices from a few different rooms in my house. It is in the same rooms that I have problems with AirPlay connections dropping. I don't think this is a coincidence.

Dec 26, 2014 4:36 PM in response to bhamguyspecv

Quick follow up to my other post. Since I don't find disabling Bluetooth on the iPhone or iPad AirPlaying content stops the problem completely I am left with a more troubling thought. It is possible that my neighbour's iDevices are discovering my Apple TVs due to the same feature and that is what is causing my AirPlay drops. This is more troubling because I can't control this scenario, there is no way to disable Bluetooth on an Apple TV... Really hoping Apple fixes this problem soon, for me at least iOS 8 has been a disaster of a release because of my family's dependence on AirPlay.

Jan 26, 2015 6:31 AM in response to eh-jay

I am having the same problem. We have many iOS and OS X devices using AirPlay to 3 devices. An Apple TV and (2) airport express units (the older style). I was hoping that the problem was isolated to the older, slower airport express units but the Apple TV drops out as well. Here are the problems I'm having:


1) Airplay drops airport express about every 10 minutes or so. When this happens, the little AirPlay logo in iTunes changes from blue to orange and an exclamation logo replaces the disconnected device. To fix: I change the output device to 'Computer' and then back to the airport express. It works for another ten minutes. Rinse, repeat.


User uploaded file


2) AirPlay stutters or disconnects from Apple TV when starting to use another device. For instance: I'll be streaming music from my iPhone 6 (latest software) to my Apple TV (latest firmware/software) and my wife will open her Macbook Pro (Latest retina model w/ Yosemite and all updates) causing the music to stutter and/or stop. And, no, her audio output was not set to AirPlay. I checked.


I would rather the device playing 'latch' onto the AirPlay device until the streaming is stopped than whatever is happening now. I am getting awfully tired of the erratic behavior from multiple devices in the same house. Maybe I should have invested in a nice SONOS setup instead.


Please fix, Apple.

Jan 26, 2015 11:23 AM in response to bhamguyspecv

I'm having a similar problem.


Since my upgrade to Yosemite connecting to Airplay audio is much harder, have to try up to four times on occasion (error message: cannot connect to Airplay). It also disconnects in between songs on Itunes and in between videos on Youtube or different files elsewhere. Strangely when I get it working, it does not often drop out in the middle of a file.


I know I have quite some interference at my place of other routers (I bought the AP for this reasons), but I did not have this problem at all with Mavericks (I hesitantly upgraded less than a month ago). My Iphone also doesn't have any problems. As my WiFi in general also seems less stable, I definitely think this is related to the dreaded Yosemite WiFi issue. Glad to hear any suggestions, otherwise I hope 10.10.2 will fix this?


Gear:

Macbook Pro Mid 2012 // i7 2.9ghz // 8GB

Mar 17, 2015 6:52 AM in response to bhamguyspecv

My AE is wired to an Airport Extreme via ethernet cable and Devolo homeplugs. I was experiencing music cutting out after 30 minutes or so.

I have now solved this by going System Preferences/Network/Advanced/TCP_IP and changing the Configure IPv6 setting from Automatically to Link-local only.

I can now play albums all through without them cutting out.

Strange but true!

Mar 22, 2015 6:33 PM in response to bhamguyspecv

I'm sorry, I just don't buy it that I can stream a movie in HD to my device or to the ATV, but I can't use Airplay for 10 minutes without it dropping at least once. I seldom use Airplay anymore because of it. Bluetooth never drops and I bought a receiver that has integrated Pandora. I still try it at least once a week and give up after 30 minutes with multiple drops.

Apr 17, 2015 8:36 AM in response to bhamguyspecv

I wish I could find a solution to this issue. I think I've narrowed the cause down to Yosemite.


I have a 1st Gen Airport Express. Had no trouble with Airplay from my iMac prior to Yosemite upgrade. Running 10.3.3, the connection drops after 10-30 minutes of airplay time from iTunes or by setting the Sound Output to the AE.


However, I can play successfully without drops from my iPhone running iOS 8.3.


On the Mac, I've noticed that after the drop, the AE shows up as offline in Airport Utility. The AE's green light is on and it shows up on my phone. After a short time, Airport Utility shows it back online but it does not show up as an Airplay device on the Mac until either the Mac or the AE is restarted.


Very frustrating.

airplay drops airport

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