Hamilton540
Level 1 (4 points)
Apple Music

Q: Home Sharing vs Remote App Communications Failures

Home Sharing vs Remote App Communications Failures - 01

 

I have a problem with my Apple Mac Mini Home Sharing program in iTunes:  It regularly loses contact with the Remote app on my iPad and my iPhone 5S.

 

I use the iPad and iPhone to play and control the 400+ music CDs that I have saved into the Mac Mini. The iPad and iPhone communicate with the Mac Mini over the 5GHz Apple Airport Extreme.  The iPad, the Mac Mini and the Airport Extreme are all less than 2 feet from each other.  So it is a source of acute frustration when they lose contact, which happens anywhere from monthly to hourly.  When that happens, a message comes up on the screen saying that Home Sharing has to be turned on.  Sometimes re-logging into Home Sharing on the iPad or iPhone reestablishes contact and Remote opens up and functions properly.  If not, I have to drag out the wireless keyboard, switch the TV over to being the monitor for the Mac Mini and log into the Mac Mini.  I then open iTunes and find the menu with the command to turn off Home Sharing.  I then turn Home Sharing on again.  I then go back to the iPad and iPhone and relog on to Home Sharing with these devices, sometimes taking several tries to establish contact. 

 

Only then can I play music. If communications fail while music is playing, then it’s the whole reboot and relog on procedure again in order to turn off the music.  And haven’t the 10-15 minutes to spare to reboot and relog on, I have to push the power button on the Mac Mini to just shut it down.  All of this is a royal pain in the neck.

 

Am I doing something wrong?  I would really like to understand how to keep these devices reliably communicating with each other.  Any help will be much appreciated.

Mac mini (Late 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), Apple Remote App

Posted on Dec 6, 2015 10:37 PM

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Hamilton540

Q: Home Sharing vs Remote App Communications Failures

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  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Dec 8, 2015 4:14 AM in response to Hamilton540
    Level 10 (104,526 points)
    Apple TV
    Dec 8, 2015 4:14 AM in response to Hamilton540

    Welcome to the Apple Community.

     

    Intermittent problems are often a result of interference. Interference can be caused by other networks in the neighbourhood or from household electrical items.

     

    You can download and install iStumbler (NetStumbler for windows users) to help you see which channels are used by neighbouring networks so that you can avoid them, but iStumbler will not see household items.

     

    Refer to your router manual for instructions on changing your wifi channel or adjusting your multicast rate.

     

    There are other types of problems that can affect networks, but this is by far the most common, hence worth mentioning first. Networks that have inherent issues can be seen to work differently with different versions of the same software. You might also try moving the Apple TV away from other electrical equipment.

     

    The following article(s) may help you.

     

    Troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks and connections

    Recommended Wi-Fi settings

    Sources of Interference

    Wifi Diagnostic Software (for Mac users)

     

    You may also find some help on this page, where I’ve collected some of the more unusual solutions to network issues.