Slow ethernet on apple tv 4

Apple TV 4 sadly comes with 10/100 Mbit Ethernet Port. It's a cheapskate, really coz its not a GIGABIT port, I mean, who manufactures 100Mb port these days? They did update the WiFI to 802.11ac (for those with 5GHz wifi). This means if you have a potential 1.3 Gbps connection, if your AppleTV sits next to your modem, the further the worse. Really apple? you multiply the cost of Apple TV 4 3x its predecessor and you dont even put a Gigabit Ethernet port? Lame and shame!

Hi. Apple TV 4 does have 10/100 ethernet, see link: Apple TV (4th generation) - Technical Specifications.

Since it only buffers ahead a certain distance, limited by 2 GB processor RAM, faster downloading won't improve the viewing experience.

Hi

I would just use WiFi i only get 21 mps but Atv 4 is stable no buffering .

Cheers

Brian ( UK )

I experience the same issue. I have 90Mbps service download at my house. When my ATV4 is wired to my router I get about 30Mbps download speed. I checked the router, port and wire for issues and they are working properly (my laptop achieves 90Mbps downloads via the same cable). When I switched the ATV4 to wireless (I use 802.11ac) I got the full 90Mbps download in the speedtest app with no problem.

I'm not sure if it's a hardware or software issue with the ethernet port on the ATV4 (or if it's even really an issue, I just assumed wired would be better than wireless), but I'm sticking with the wireless connection and everything runs great.

I had powerline ethernet cable working with the 3rd gen apple tv. When I connected the 4th gen apple tv, it says "network not detected". It works fine with wireless, but my basement gets poor reception. Has the protocol for the ethernet port changed for the 4th gen ? this is really frustrating.

Even thought I am really disappointed overall with the Apple TV 4, I am not seeing any issues with the network speeds. Using the SpeedTest app on it I got 110mps (which is my max speed to my access provider) using .ac wifi with my Airport Time Capsule. With regular ethernet (which is a 100mbps port) I was getting 94mbps, which is about right when you factor in for ethernet overhead.

I will use ethernet as 94mbps is plenty of speed for streaming and one less wifi device is a good thing ;-)

Perhaps there are some defective units (in terms of networking). Take them to an Apple store (if you can) and have them right a speed test with their store network (the Apple store near me has pretty decent speeds).

Same thing here.

I'm on Uverse Gigapower and normally getting 700MB download on a laptop connected via ethernet to my router.

When I connect my Apple TV 4 with ethernet I get 90MB-100MB download

When I connect it via Wifi I get 300MB

Why is the Ethernet connection slower??

I am having the same issues with my AppleTV gen4 hardwired to my managed switch.

With the Ookla app on the APTV Gen4 I am seeing less than 50 down. But on my PC with Ookla web I am getting over 300 down. BOTH are hardwired to the SAME managed switch.

What is odd is that my switch is set to AUTO for the port speed but only registering 100MB on the port the APTV is connected to. I can override the AUTO feature on the switch port and push to 1GB port speed, but then I lose connection to the APTV. Anyone know the speed on the NIC on the APTV Gen4?

Just ASSumed I would be better off hardwired....

So disappointed in the APTV gen 4... No 4k, removed the toslink, maid the remote way harder to use to enter text, and Siri can't even populate a YouTube app search box BUT my REMOTE app on my iPhone can? Lovin' my Amazon Fire TV!!!!

gph_from_SAN wrote:

Anyone know the speed on the NIC on the APTV Gen4?

The ATV4gen ethernet is 100Mbps just like the ATV3. I think the Wi-Fi uses two streams which gives a not-to-exceed rate of ~800Mbps on a 80MHz channel but I get about 300Mbps according to the AVHD speed test.

MarkBC78 wrote:

HI all, I am having the same issue. Get around 100 mbps on ethernet on the Mac but only about 70mbps on the Apple TV.

Has anyone got a solution contacted Apple?

Again, the ATV is a 100Mbit/sec device. Getting 70Mbit/sec is low but not a clear sign of a problem and unless you measure for a extended period of time it's hard to know if that's your typical speed. Now getting 100Mbit/sec on a Mac with a Gigabit interface on a gigabit network means your source is the limiting factor or your Mac is misconfigured.

Of course you've left out some important information so this is a bit speculative.

This is EXACTLY why Apple deserves all the hate they have been getting. Really? A 10/100 port on a $150-$200 device. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Hello its 2016 Apple not 1998. They must have gone dumpster diving at another computer company that threw away a bunch of these ethernet ports because it's competitors are more technologically aware of their consumer base. I didn't know 10/100 were still out there, and they shouldn't be.

I came on here looking for a reason why I wasn't getting over 93Mbps over ethernet on a 350Mbps connection, and now I know why. Hope saving 10 cents on not putting Gigabit ethernet was worth solidifying your reputation as a greedy money hungry company who is intent on not giving their customers technology available for the last 10 years or so. I feel the same way about them putting a USB 2.0 on my 128 GB 9.7" iPad (Semi-Pro). I am really getting SO disgusted at what apple has been doing lately.

All hatred is well deserved for a once excellent company. If profanity was allowed here I would use all of it. I'm THAT disgusted by this move on principle alone.

Hey Dagrn,

The slowness is caused by hardware. The new Apple TV comes with Ethernet port that only supports 10/100Mbps where as the wifi supports 1000Mbps. Most likely Apple did this is so the new Apple TV will still work with older hard ware. Hope this answers your question.

You can get the speed info off the back of the Apple TV 4 box.

"Most likely Apple did this is so the new Apple TV will still work with older hard ware."

Right, stick with 10/100 for compatibility when 10/100/1000 works with EVERYTHING!!!

Makes sense to me. I mean who would want a bullet proof, wired ethernet connection running at 1000 Mbps when you could have useless, outdated, older technology? Mine is wired and it bogs down constantly, now I realize why! No one in their right mind would expect a 10/100 port!!!

My wife stopped at Best Buy today and picked up an AppleTV gen 4... She thought she was doing something nice. However after reading the specs and realizing that the port is still 10/100 and the new 5th gen is due soon, I am returning the unopened ATV first thing in the morning. Not gonna get burned by Apple again. Not one more time if I can help it! Every time I buy a product it is super ceded a month later by a whole new deal! I'll wait until they finally release a decent version of this thing or I won't have a second one!!!!

I understand the occasional individual being unhappy about the 10/100 ethernet connection but think about it this way. 1080P with 7.1 (though most of my movies are 5.1 from iTunes) surround doesn't event utilize but a small fraction of my bottle necked 94Mbps down and it would still be a small amount of that if the gen 4 could stream at 4K. Yes it's a slower connection compared to my total 1.3Gbps down but it's plenty fast enough and doesn't warrant complaining about considering 20Mbps is actually more than fast enough to never cause any buffering issues. Yes it has a faster connection over my WiFi but since streaming doesn't utilize that there's little point in worrying about it. I've worked in IT and networking for over 20 years and I research everything before buying so that limitation shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Granted it is the only device I own that doesn't have a gigabit connection connected to my network and server and I'll admit it seems odd it doesn't incorporate 10/100/1000 compatibility, I don't see the reasoning behind all the complaining over such a trivial thing.