AirPlay disconnects when displaying static content

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Level 1

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AirPlay disconnects when displaying static content

I've posted about this previously but think I have a cleared description of the issue this time.

I've got several iPad Air with iOS 8.1.3 and Apple TV's with 7.0.3 (6917). When displaying static pages, such as a Google doc or a page from a Kindle book the connection keeps dropping every few minutes. The problem seems worse when several iPads are active in a room at once. I've confirmed that the iPads can connect to the Apple TV peer-to-peer (by having the AppleTV "forget" the WiFi network) but iPads and Apple TVs are usually on the same VLAN with an access point in the same room and I can't ascertain whether they use peer-to-peer or the WiFi network when they're both connected to the WLAN.

The iPads and Apple TV's usually use channels in the 5 GHz band, and MetaGeek's inSSIDer doesn't indicate any co-channel or overlap problems for the 5 GHz channels the AP's are broadcasting. The 2.4 GHz band is pretty saturated in my location but the iPads and Apple TV's are usually not using it.

It looks to me like I've got things set up about as well as I can but I still have this issue with static content. There are nearly no problems with streaming media or apps that involve frequent user activity - only static content projected for more than a couple of minutes, and the issue seems to be noticeably worse with several iPads in a room at once.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

iPad Air, iOS 8.1

Posted on Feb 17, 2015 6:56 AM

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Answer 1

vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Feb 17, 2015 10:01 AM in response to stvkellogg

That content requires mirroring, which needs more resources from the network. If several devices are in use at once then that will be a lot for the network to handle and push out display mirroring in real time. Have you tried switching to 2.4GHz? Connecting Apple TV via ethernet?

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Answer 2

stvkellogg Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 17, 2015 10:34 AM in response to vazandrew

Thanks for your reply. I have a feeling that the network resources aren't the issue because we have roughly the same number of wireless devices on the network all the time, while the mirroring problem only seems to get bad when a a group of students with iPads are in a single room. When the teacher is there by himself he has no problems but as the room fills the problem starts. There's an Aerohive AP230 in the room that is rated to handle scores of connections, and the Aerohive monitoring tools don't indicate any problems with airtime usage, errors, excessive rebroadcasts or anything suggesting problems. Another reason I think it may not be an issue of network resources is that we don't experience any performance issues with other devices or services on the WLAN - just disruption of mirroring with static content when several iPads are in the room.

I have tried putting the Apple TV on the LAN without great results, but I wonder if that might stem from the fact that the LAN and WLAN are on separate subnets and I have no mechanism in place for routing Bonjour multicasts across the layer 3 boundary. That's another topic for me to bring up because Putting the Apple TV's on the gigabit LAN would be ideal. I can connect across subnets but the connection hasn't been all that stable (though i should perhaps try again).

I'll put an Aerohive client monitor on an Apple TV's and the teacher's iPad for a day and see if I can find anything at all that could be helpful.

Thanks again for your reply.

Steve

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Answer 3

Sep 1, 2015 11:37 AM in response to stvkellogg

A few things that I have found to be important although have not totally solved my issues.

1. Recommendation is to plug the ATV into the ethernet port if possible. The Apple TV ethernet speed is 10/100 so do not expect to see gigabit connections.

2. Mirroring from an iPad is more stable than from a MacBook because the number of pixels it is pushing to the AppleTV vary greatly. The iPad sends a smaller resolution than the Mac does.

3. Take a look at where your network gateway is. I found routing all of this traffic to the core switch as the gateway gave me better performance because it had a better performing CPU than my Firewall. I added a route to the firewall from the switch to handle any outgoing traffic, but keeping the internal traffic on the switch made a difference, so take a look at which device is more appropriate to use for the gateway.

4. Take a look at your wireless access points. Can they handle the additional CPU needed for what you are trying to do?

5. Only have the AppleTVs doing what you want them to do. I have removed a lot of the main menu items because those items are chattery on the network with background processes.

6. Look at your port counts on the switches. Make certain you aren't getting a lot or Tx or Rx retries; if you are, there is an issue there.

I have a network with over 800 wireless devices and 40 AppleTVs not to mention printers, so I am still fighting the good fight here, but if any of these tips help you in a smaller environment, fantastic. A strong solid infrastructure is more important than anything, most WiFi problems are not really wireless problems.

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Answer 4

stvkellogg Author

Level 1

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Sep 1, 2015 12:26 PM in response to roehlstation

Thanks - these suggestions are very helpful!

Steve

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