phoenix316

Q: AppleTV losing sync with home sharing

First my set up: I have an AppleTV 2nd gen and AppleTV 3rd gen (both up to date), Windows 10 computer, iTunes 12.3.2.35 (the latest version), Airport Express (also up to date) router hooked up to my cable company's modem (purchased Airport because the wifi on the cable modem was crap and I was having to restart the modem on a daily basis). I have set both the Windows Firewall and the Firewall on the cable modem to accept UDP Port 5353 for Bonjour (in fact Bonjour on the Windows Firewall is set up to accept any port).

 

The problem: For the first 8 months I've had the Airport Express it was great. I was finally able to reliably use the AppleTV without having to restart anything. A couple of weeks ago, I started having problems where I would turn on the AppleTV and it would tell me it couldn't access homesharing and that I should make sure the computer is on the same network, iTunes up to date and such. All of which is up to date and I only have one network that all the devices are signed into. Generally restarting iTunes resolves the problem, but that's not really an option when one of the AppleTVs is connected to and playing something from iTunes. At this point you can still stream from iTunes purchases, YouTube and the other apps, it just doesn't recognize the computer itunes library. Going under the General tab and restarting the AppleTV doesn't work, nor does disconnecting and reconnecting it to the network. On rare occasions I have had to just reboot everything (not sure if the router and modem require restart, but since I was waiting for the computer I figured it didn't hurt).

 

I'm just wondering if anyone can offer insight/advice as to why the AppleTV intermittently does not recognize the computer for homesharing, especially when the other AppleTV is happily streaming something from the iTunes library on my PC. I want to say that it was initially working fine on the last version (12.3.0.44), but it was definitely having the connection issue before 12.3.2.35 was released and it hasn't gotten better with the update. Googling around the internet, I have seen comments about turning off IPv6, but I'd rather not do that because that is likely to cause other problems down the road.

Apple TV (3rd generation)

Posted on Dec 22, 2015 8:30 AM

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Q: AppleTV losing sync with home sharing

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  • by jeffd55,

    jeffd55 jeffd55 Dec 29, 2015 8:11 AM in response to phoenix316
    Community Specialists
    Dec 29, 2015 8:11 AM in response to phoenix316

    Hello phoenix316,

     

     

     

    Thank yo for using Apple Support Communities.

     

     

     

    I see that you have been having issues with your AppleTV losing sync with Home Sharing. The following article provides some basic troubleshooting information for Home Sharing issues.

     

    Get help with Home Sharing

     

     

     

    Happy Holidays.

  • by phoenix316,

    phoenix316 phoenix316 Dec 28, 2015 5:44 PM in response to jeffd55
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Apple TV
    Dec 28, 2015 5:44 PM in response to jeffd55

    I've done pretty much all of that stuff. The only thing may be that the Windows Firewall in Windows 10 is overly convoluted about designating what ports are open. As I said, the bonjour ports were set to open for all UDP and TCP ports. As a test, I have disabled Windows Firewall and am using the one on my modem - which has the correct ports set. This is not the first time I've dealt with this. That's how I discovered about the ports in the first place. It's possible there was some sort of Windows update that broke the firewall recognizing various ports as having been set open. Generally Windows and my Apple products work well together, but I will go through periods where it can take me a week or more to figure out why they ceased playing nicely together.

     

    But thanks for the suggestions. Something tells me it's my Windows Firewall and it's esoteric method of making exceptions.

  • by MauroDiaz,

    MauroDiaz MauroDiaz Dec 28, 2015 6:14 PM in response to phoenix316
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 28, 2015 6:14 PM in response to phoenix316

    Same here.  I currently have 3 ATVs (2 ATV3s, 1 ATV4) connected to the local network.  I rarely had homesharing issues with ATV3s, but I often do with the ATV4.  This is off topic, but I also see performance issues with the ATV4 connection that I don't experience with the ATV3s... Anyway, also interested in comments from people also seeing issue mentioned by phoenix316.

  • by phoenix316,

    phoenix316 phoenix316 Dec 28, 2015 7:14 PM in response to MauroDiaz
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Apple TV
    Dec 28, 2015 7:14 PM in response to MauroDiaz

    For me the worst part has been the inconsistency. It isn't just the 2 or 3 constantly having connection problems, but it seems to take turns. Sometimes they both work at the same time. Sometimes the 3 is in use and I go upstairs to watch the 2 and it won't connect. Or the 3 had been used previously in the day and 2 which had worked the previous evening no longer works. Some days it's the 2 that works fine and the 3 won't connect. It's all related to homesharing since we can still watch YouTube (on the 3 since that's not available on the 2 anymore) and can still stream purchased media, but not everything I want to watch is in my purchased library, or perhaps I want to watch from a playlist so I don't have to select each movie or episode individually.

     

    Prior to this round of dropping sync, the advice posted above by jeffd55 work. One thing I didn't notice was checking how crowded your local wifi is. When my closest neighbors were trying to use the same channel, it caused trouble with keeping the AppleTVs working. I'm pretty sure the Airport Express checks channels and hops as needed, but my router/modem from the cable company didn't and I would have to manually change the channel. There are utilities out there that let you see what nearby traffic you have on channels. Sadly when I got my new computer, I forgot to make sure the wifi radio was dual band (which had fixed things with my old computer, but for about a year I had no problem staying connected). Worst case, I'll replace the wifi radio with a dual band one again. Pretty cheap to do that.

  • by jeffd55,

    jeffd55 jeffd55 Dec 29, 2015 8:18 AM in response to phoenix316
    Community Specialists
    Dec 29, 2015 8:18 AM in response to phoenix316

    Hi phoenix316,

     

    It is sounding like this issue might be more involved than what can be efficiently handled here. I would suggest that you take a look at some of the other Apple Support options available: https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

     

    Happy New Year

  • by phoenix316,

    phoenix316 phoenix316 Jan 17, 2016 9:24 AM in response to phoenix316
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 17, 2016 9:24 AM in response to phoenix316

    Just to update, turning off the Windows 10 Firewall brought minor improvement, but I still have problems with one or both AppleTVs failing to detect homesharing. I could understand if they both had problems with it, but it's annoying when one is connected and the other can't.

     

    On a semi-related note, I was trying to access my shared library on my iPad (something I do rarely because it takes close to 5 minutes for it to link up to my computer) a couple of days ago and got the same error. Clearly this is something on the Windows/PC end and likely has to do with how the computer handles the Bonjour process. At one point I used to be able to stop and then restart that process and it would clear up the problem, but lately I have had to just exit and restart iTunes.

     

    Honestly, I don't have a lot of faith in Apple Support to provide me with any sort of help since I use a Windows PC (I'm sure their suggestion would be to buy a Mac - which this is a relatively new computer and for what I do with a computer I could not justify spending $1200 or more for a Mac when I got a comparable PC for $400 as I would rather save that money for replacing my iPad 2 with whatever comes next). Not to mention I would have to find a workaround to access my external drive that is my media library. Especially since the 'support' for folks who have had their iPad 2's with iOS 9 rendered essentially useless as they constantly crash has mostly consisted of advice to buy an iPad Air 2 because the iPad 2 is a dinosaur (honestly Apple never should have allowed them to be upgraded to iOS 9 - I tried it, had crashing and downgraded before the window closed on that, which all Apple would have to do is start signing iOS 8.4.1 for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S and they could fix the problem many folks with older hardware are having, but they don't want that, their business plan involves folks upgrading every year or two, which mostly has worked for phones, but has failed on tablets)

  • by FourWiggle,

    FourWiggle FourWiggle Feb 15, 2016 11:06 AM in response to phoenix316
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 15, 2016 11:06 AM in response to phoenix316

    Phoenix316, have you found an acceptable solution to your issue?  Because I'm having the EXACT same issue.

     

    I speculate that the Windows 10 "upgrade" is the problem (at least for me).  I upgraded from Windows 7 about 6 months ago instead of doing a "fresh install" and I suspect that things are just garbled in the network.  But it has also been exceedingly apparent with the latest version of iTunes (12.3.35, I think).  Intermittent connections from 3 different ATVs, no "iTunes sharing computer" found and slow playback are the main issues I'm having.  At first, disabling IPV6 helped things greatly but now that is waning.  If I close iTunes on the Windows 10 PC and relaunch it will work for a while then suddenly stop working.  It just doesn't make sense.  I disabled Windows Firewall, made sure bonjour is running, signed out and back into "home sharing" and have basically tried everything I've found on the web to solve the problem with little or no success.

     

    I'm using an Apple Airport Extreme and have ZERO network problems otherwise.  So the problem is Windows and iTunes.  And my suspicion is Windows 10 upgrade.  If anyone has any suggestions I will be happy to listen...

  • by hrdyboy,

    hrdyboy hrdyboy Feb 17, 2016 12:09 AM in response to FourWiggle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 17, 2016 12:09 AM in response to FourWiggle

    This is problem is not isolated to windows 10. I am running a MAC Mini and have the same issue. Constant loss of sync with home sharing get annoying. The ATV3 also is constantly resetting itself. What is really going on here. I deactivated sleep mood and energy saver but I still had the same problem. this really saddens me due to my heavily invested purchases of apple products.

  • by MrJimFromOstersund,

    MrJimFromOstersund MrJimFromOstersund Mar 11, 2016 9:36 AM in response to phoenix316
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2016 9:36 AM in response to phoenix316

    I have pretty much the same problem... My setup is AppleTv 2, Windows 10 with the latest version of iTunes.

    I´ve had this problem before  but it was solved when i connected my  AppleTv with a cable into the router.

    The problem re-occured when i replaced my Zyxxel router for a Asus RT-AC66U Dual Band router.

    The speed on the network is good... 90 mbit on my PC, and 100 mbit on my apple tv and about 50-60 on my wifi.

    I have also tried pretty much the same things mentioned by phoenix316 and also some settings on my Asus router without any success so far.

     

    The strange thing is that when the AppleTv lost contact with iTunes, i can still airplay songs from my iTune library but

    not the other way around. When the Apple TV looses contact with iTunes the "Remote Control" installed on my Iphone and Ipad also looses contact

    with the iTunes library. Everything starts working again when i restart the Bonjour service on my PC.

    When i´ve restarted the Bonjour service i can normally play songs on the AppleTv for about 5 to 30 minutes.... so it seems to be totally random

    when the connection is lost.

     

    Anyone have any new ideas?

  • by FourWiggle,

    FourWiggle FourWiggle Mar 11, 2016 9:59 AM in response to MrJimFromOstersund
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2016 9:59 AM in response to MrJimFromOstersund

    MrJimFromOstersund

     

    I was FINALLY able to resolve my connection issue(s).

     

    Turns out that uninstalling the current wireless network card driver software, physically removing the wireless adapter and subsequently re-installing the correct and updated Windows 10 (certified?) wireless network card driver software and physically replacing the adapter has alleviated my home sharing connection issues.  It seems that the "generic" driver that Windows 10 uses for wireless network cards either causes intermittent connection issues or dropped packet loss.

     

    My advice to you and others experiencing poor performance or connection issues is to begin with the wireless network adapter itself.

     

    Cheers...

  • by phoenix316,

    phoenix316 phoenix316 Mar 11, 2016 2:47 PM in response to FourWiggle
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Apple TV
    Mar 11, 2016 2:47 PM in response to FourWiggle

    I'll have to give this a try. At least uninstalling the driver. As I have a laptop, I'm not sure how accessible the wifi card is. I know on my old Dell it was pretty easy to get to, but this is a newer HP and I've never done a wifi card on one of those. Perhaps just doing the driver will be enough to get it to stabilize. Probably won't get to it until Monday as I prefer to do things like this when the kids are at school.

  • by FourWiggle,

    FourWiggle FourWiggle Mar 11, 2016 3:14 PM in response to phoenix316
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2016 3:14 PM in response to phoenix316

    phoenix316

     

    If your wireless network card is integrated then DO NOT worry with removing the card.  Just uninstall the driver, restart and DO NOT let Windows 10 install the generic or pre-installed wifi driver.  Most of the software for wireless network cards come with a setup program of some sort.  Run setup and choose the appropriate driver for your hardware (preferably a Windows 10 certified one).

     

    You "may" also need to disable IPV6 once your wireless software is installed.  I didn't but that still seems to be a fairly common fix depending on your network, your router and even your ISP.

  • by MrJimFromOstersund,

    MrJimFromOstersund MrJimFromOstersund Mar 16, 2016 10:39 AM in response to FourWiggle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 16, 2016 10:39 AM in response to FourWiggle

    Thanks for your reply FourWiggle, but im not sure i can try this since i have my PC connected with an ethernet cable connected to a Inteno wireless device which gives me about 95 MBIT...  but i did try to disable that and use the wireless on my router which gave me about 50 MBIT.

    Both ways gave me the problem with the apple tv loosing connection with my iTunes library. And the ethernet - Inteno sollution gave me no problems prior to

    replacing my Zyxxel router for the Asus RT-AC66U.

     

    But i will look into if i can update some network driver as you suggest, but in this case i guess it will not be the wireless driver.

  • by FourWiggle,

    FourWiggle FourWiggle Mar 19, 2016 9:54 AM in response to MrJimFromOstersund
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 19, 2016 9:54 AM in response to MrJimFromOstersund

    MrJimFromOstersund

     

    Then change / update the standard Windows 10 driver on your wired network card to a manufacturers supported certified (preferably) Windows 10 driver.  It will not matter if it's wired or wireless, it is my contention that the standard (preloaded) Windows 10 drivers are the culprit and causing the network issues.

     

    You may also want to disable IPV6 afterwards, depends on your ISP...

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