AppleTV 3 floods DHCP when ethernet connected

As an FYI - I have an ATV3 and it is having the constant DHCP request issue. here is a short section of the log.

[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.31] to MAC address 98:d6:bb:20:62:bc, Sunday, July 30, 2017 05:53:16

[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.31] to MAC address 98:d6:bb:20:62:bc, Sunday, July 30, 2017 05:43:05

[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.31] to MAC address 98:d6:bb:20:62:bc, Sunday, July 30, 2017 05:43:03

[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.31] to MAC address 98:d6:bb:20:62:bc, Sunday, July 30, 2017 05:33:02

[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.31] to MAC address 98:d6:bb:20:62:bc, Sunday, July 30, 2017 05:23:02

[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.31] to MAC address 98:d6:bb:20:62:bc, Sunday, July 30, 2017 05:13:02

[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.31] to MAC address 98:d6:bb:20:62:bc, Sunday, July 30, 2017 05:03:04

[DHCP IP: 192.168.1.31] to MAC address 98:d6:bb:20:62:bc, Sunday, July 30, 2017 05:03:03

It has been going on for many months now and I cannot find a solution except the suggestion for a static IP - which the netgear nighthawk does not to easily support. Apple is supposed to be plug and play for the computer illiterate and should prioritize bugs like this for stability reasons. Lastly - just reset everything and it reloaded new software from Apple and the problem as you se above still exists.

I am an old network guy as well and find allowing this to exist for years is silly.

Thank you.

Hi AlphaFire. Are you able to change the DHCP lease duration on your router? I've experienced this with Apple TV 4 and a Netgear 6400 router. It seemed to be due to the router using a lease duration of zero, which is supposed to be interpreted as 24 hours. The Apple TV ethernet implementation seems to treat it as a random, relatively small, value.

(ATV3 ethernet connection here)

Interesting, I was having slow internet recently, wondering if ATV3 was doing something like this in background...I unplugged it, but reset everything else too, so not sure if it was the culprit. (We might have too many devices for our 10M DSL.)

I have a different router, but, I know how to go into it and change settings, do they all have an option to log and send this info.?

I've also wondered about my iPhone with WiFi calling, if it's doing something similar, or iCloud...with my Mac or iCloud in general (with all my devices).

Thank you so much! You are absolutely correct. I was having a problem using Airplay from my Mac Mini (late 2012) to my ATV3 while both were connected by ethernet. I could get sound but only a grey screen on my TV. I tried everything I could think of to correct it, but nothing worked. I checked all the forums, but yours is the first solution I have seen. I changed the ATV3 to wifi and now everything is back the way it was.

My iPad and iPhone continued to have access to Airplay, only the Mini had problems.

What is the easiest way to open a case with Apple?

Don't they check their updates before they release them?

I Have a dedicated IP address on the LAN for my AppleTV 2. Have you tried that?

I have looked all through my router, can't find a way for it to send me those logs. Not sure I even see those logs, I see what devices have DHCP leases and what IP add they have, but, it's just a list of what's connected (IP/MAC add/expires), and there is a system log, but, it's not in order by date, and I can't find options to have them sent to me.

I'm using a (T-mobile) ASUS TM-AC1900 router. If you can help me find these specific logs, or how to have them sent to me daily, I will do my best to set that up.

If I were you I would go into the router settings and give the IP of the AppleTV and give it a DHCP Reservation, this might help.

"BTW, most people won't see/notice this because they don't have router logs. Also, I have an HP switch that allows port mirroring so I can monitor all network traffic to/from the ATV 3 using Wireshark (I used Linux but it works on Mac)."

Mario MG Help:

I have several logs, not sure if any will show this. One is called System Log - Active Connections, the last column is "State" - Enabled/Assured/Unreplied/Time Wait/Close. Apple TV is in this list most, but, not sure what this is showing me?

The General Log is a bit scattered. The System Log - DHCP Leases which shows current connections and expirations, just lists each device, doesn't show when lease was activated.

This router has a lot to it, but, not sure if any of these are showing me how often DHCP leases are asked for, any clues?

DHCP requests from devices are sent to the broadcast address on that network range. Any device on the same wired network should see these packets. I don't think you need to setup port mirroring or router logs to see a device flooding requests for a DHCP lease. I may be wrong - I have a router that may be acting as dumb hub.

Terminal on a Mac on the same wired network…

ifconfig

…to see your interfaces list - work out which one is the ethernet on your Mac (it should be UP & have an IP address - compare it to your network settings if you are unsure).

Mine is 'en0' so in an admin account…

sudo  tcpdump -plenXX -i en0 -s 1500 port bootps or port bootpc

To confirm this is working, power off the ATV, unplug another device that is on ethernet & reconnect it - you should see the request for a lease.

Power up the ATV - now you should see a lot of traffic for the ATV if it it is flooding for leases.

If you see nothing at all - I may be an idiot, let me know 🙂

NOTES

You will not see the reply sent to devices from router - you need promiscuous mode for that.

You won't see requests for wifi connected devices either this is for ethernet testing.

@Mario MG, consider removing the port mirroring connection as a test - it may be part of your issue.

Thank you so much! You are absolutely correct. I was having a problem using Airplay from my Mac Mini (late 2012) to my AT3 while both were connected by ethernet. I could get sound but only a grey screen on my TV. I tried everything I could think of to correct it, but nothing worked. I checked all the forums, but yours is the first solution I have seen. I changed the AT3 to wifi and now everything is back the way it was.

My iPad and iPhone continued to have access to Airplay, only the Mini had problems.

What is the easiest way to open a case with Apple?

Don't they check their updates before they release them?

"I was having a problem using Airplay from my Mac Mini (late 2012) to my AT3 while both were connected by ethernet. ... I changed the AT3 to wifi...."

This is not a solution, just a workaround.

I have my (mid 2010) MacBook Pro and ATV3 connected via ethernet to my router, iOS devices over wifi and they can all airplay to the apple tv, also home sharing iTunes works fine. You should be able to airplay from your Mac Mini to the apple tv using ethernet connection with apple tv & mac. You should also be able to access your computer's iTunes library from the ATV3 if you have home sharing enabled.

The first thing I would try is unplugging the ATV (power). The ATV only goes to sleep unless you either manually restart it or unplug it. I would also try, on your Mac, sign out of iCloud, sign back in...this can solve some connectivity issues with Macs. The problem is somewhere between the mac & the apple tv. In fact, now that it works over wifi, if your ethernet cables are still hooked up, try turning wifi off on the mac and use wired connection for the atv, it might work, electronics are strange this way.

Sorry about my double post - I got interrupted.

You are right, it was only a workaround, in fact the connection over wifi no longer works (worked yesterday, not today!). All my iOS devices can use airplay, my Mini is connected by ethernet to the ATV 3, and iTunes works with home sharing from the Mini. I see a fixed screen or a grey screen depending on whether I use ethernet or wifi from the Mini to the ATV 3 whenever I use airplay. The really annoying thing is that this all used to work so well, and I have done nothing except keep all my software up-to-date.

I will do as you suggest and let you know what happens. Many thanks for the help.

Yea Drew you are using outdated Mac Terminal commands. Learn the OS X command networksetup. So just man networksetup to find some heavy commands.