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Level 2

312 points

Apple TV movie downloads ridiculously slow

I have a very fast internet connection and my AppleTV is connected via ethernet. I stream Netflix and Amazon movies just fine. I went to rent a movie, and the download time initially said 3 hrs, went to 4, and then slowly came down. I gave up; the next morning, it had downloaded. I've had previous experience renting movies, and you waited a few minutes for it to start the download, and then you could watch it. A few minutes vs many hours.

Is there a trick to getting this to work? Is it Apple's servers or something else?

Posted on Jul 29, 2015 7:29 AM

32 replies

Nov 22, 2015 6:12 PM in response to vazandrew

I have the same problem - and have tried everything listed above - both the old and new Apple TV have ridiculously slow movie download speeds - we set the units to Standard Definition - we've given up watching movies on Apple- like others, Netflix works fine - as does our Amazon Fire TV... our internet speed is just fine.... we have a new Apple Airport Extreme....

vazandrew

Level 8

40,378 points

Nov 22, 2015 7:00 PM in response to laurenfrompenngrove

As has already been stated, Netflix adapts to the connection. iTunes is fixed rate, higher quality, and needs to load a portion before playback begins. Speed is only one factor. Another device working doesn't rule out a network issue. What exactly did you try? What were the results of the diagnostic report?

RADumas Author

Level 2

312 points

Nov 22, 2015 7:04 PM in response to laurenfrompenngrove

I was the original poster on this thread. I discovered the problem to be network. Having a fast internet connection isn't enough. All the hops between the internet and the ATV have to be reliable and fast. You'll find one of those hops to be sketchy. I'm sure of it. Be systematic in testing it by removing as many connections as possible. Connect the ATV directly to your router and work from there.

Nov 23, 2015 5:48 AM in response to RADumas

I am unable to connect my router directly to the unit. Also, I don't even understand how to execute any of the suggestions on the string. I think this is ridiculous and something that Apple should adjust on their end if they want to enable users to access their pay for services. If you're selling something you want the customer base to have ready access to get it. You don't want to make it harder for the buyer. If Netflix could make it easy than Apple should also make it easy. If there were an easier fix I would be up for it. I'm just going to get rid of the Apple TV box and go to Roku and just not use Apple TV.

Nov 23, 2015 5:54 AM in response to BullDaddy64

Incidentally, I should mention that I have a second home with the lowest possible connection speed and there I am having no problem with Apple TV.

RADumas Author

Level 2

312 points

Nov 23, 2015 8:53 AM in response to BullDaddy64

iTunes movies are uncompressed. They are much larger and higher quality files than you get from other streaming services. iTunes will figure out how fast it can push to you, and then use that speed to push the whole movie. It's not dynamic. You can figure out what the problem is in one particular setup, but need some patience and diligence.

What is between your router and the ATV? how does the ATV get that signal? Ethernet? Wifi? be specific. Describe everything.

RADumas Author

Level 2

312 points

Nov 23, 2015 8:54 AM in response to BullDaddy64

this is evidence that it's the local setup. Your two situations are different. Look for what the differences are.

drochman

Level 1

0 points

Nov 23, 2015 2:15 PM in response to RADumas

I tried connecting directly to my router and getting slow speeds over ethernet while in Wifi I get 3 times faster

I have Uverse Gigapower. On ATV4 getting 90MB over Ethernet connected directly to router and on Wifi getting 300MB

On my Macbook connected to same router spot / same cable I'm getting 700MB download so the only difference is the ATV4 Ethernet port...

Anyone else having similar problems? I would rather use ethernet since I'm next to router, but I can't if I'm getting such slower speed....

RADumas Author

Level 2

312 points

Nov 23, 2015 2:22 PM in response to drochman

well, you've just demonstrated that your ethernet isn't so good. I had a similar problem, and the bottleneck was an ethernet switch. Even when I replaced the switch, wifi was still faster.

drochman

Level 1

0 points

Nov 23, 2015 2:26 PM in response to RADumas

Same cable / same switch through laptop gives me 700MB so how's the ethernet switch the problem?

RADumas Author

Level 2

312 points

Nov 23, 2015 2:30 PM in response to drochman

no, I said in my case, the switch was the choke point.

I'm speculating - ATV-iTunes looks for slowest speed that is constant. If your connection has some hiccups, even small ones, it will choke the throughput. Other applications take what they can get and don't throttle to the slowest reliable speed. Why don't you just use wifi?

drochman

Level 1

0 points

Nov 23, 2015 2:32 PM in response to RADumas

Got it...

For now I'll use Wifi, but this just doesn't make any sense to me. I rather use Ethernet direct to the router as I would expect this to be more reliable and I know that it should give me double the speed I'm getting on Wifi (since I'm getting that on the laptop...)

I'm assuming bug with ATV4 or bad ethernet port...

don't know what else to think...

thanks for your help!

RADumas Author

Level 2

312 points

Nov 23, 2015 2:35 PM in response to drochman

For Hulu, Netflix, etc.. ethernet is just fine, but for some reason, for iTunes content, wifi is faster. I don't think it's a defect, but the side effect of something else they optimized. Go figure.

I have no problems using wifi for movies. HD movies buffer for a minute or so, and after that, no problems.

Elnop15

Level 1

0 points

Mar 2, 2016 1:27 PM in response to RADumas

What do you mean, an Ethernet "hub"? I am having same issues, have spent $$ and many hours trying to get it sorted out. I have Super Fast Ethernet (speeds of 15-20 present even when downloading from iTunes terribly slow). Apple TV "expert" at Apple support told me to switch to 780 dpi, which did not help. (and even if it did, that's pretty annoying not to be able to fully use my beautiful HD plasma TV). I'd love to know details on your situation. thanks

Elnop15

Level 1

0 points

Mar 2, 2016 1:29 PM in response to laurenfrompenngrove

I am in exact same boat and not too happy about it. Just bought new Apple TV, new airport express, installed Ethernet line (very fast, working fine). Apple told me to try 780dpi but that doesnt help either. I am pretty peeved b/c I had already bought Season Passes to several favorite shows on iTunes. Incredible to me that they don't want my $$ for more pruchases!

Apple TV movie downloads ridiculously slow