Apps are not loading on ATV (3rd Gen)

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Level 1

11 points

Apps are not loading on ATV (3rd Gen)

Apple TV 3rd Gen is not loading any apps. The three I have tried are ABC, Netflix, ESPN, and Crackle. It's not always the initial page that refuses to load, but somewhere along the way to watching a show they get stuck on a spinning wheel. I've tired the following:

Tested network/download speed on ATV (it's good).

Restarted ATV from remote, then unplugged for 1 minute.

Power cycled cable modem, router, and ATV.

Hard reset modem to factory settings, and only added WEP security.

In ABC, I removed my TV provider login. When I attempt to verify access, the verification screen loads, however there is no code given (it's just a black space where a code would normally show).

All very odd and it doesn't seem to be a widespread network issue since no similar issues are getting reported.

Any ideas?

Apple TV (3rd generation)

Posted on Jan 27, 2016 6:57 PM

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Answer 1

Haise Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 27, 2016 7:06 PM in response to Haise

Follow up: ESPN loaded after sitting for around five minutes. In ABC, TV provider verification shows two or three characters... have to play Wheel of Fortune to guess the rest!

Could something with TimeWarner Cable, although it is working through the Watch ABC website. Download speeds are clocking 10-14 Mbps.

Thanks for any suggestions!

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Answer 2

Haise Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 28, 2016 7:49 PM in response to Haise

Just in case anyone else out there runs into the same issue: Solved by switching to DNS 208.67.222.222, which I read somewhere is the OpenDNS server. Everything had worked fine with the previous DNS... very odd.

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Answer 3

vazandrew

Level 8

40,912 points

Jan 28, 2016 9:03 PM in response to Haise

DNS should always be set to auto, the network issue needs to be looked into rather then a temporary workaround that will ultimately lead to other issues.

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Answer 4

Haise Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 29, 2016 3:56 AM in response to vazandrew

I have changed the DNS setting on my computers in the past without any issues. What specifically is wrong about changing this on the ATV?

Apple doesn't have much technical info to help with the ATV. There's a support article here Non-responsive DNS server or invalid DNS configuration can cause long delay before webpages load - Apple Support that implies choosing a manual DNS server may require another change in the future.

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Answer 5

vazandrew

Level 8

40,912 points

Jan 29, 2016 6:28 AM in response to Haise

ATV is a streaming reaming device, changing to a public DNS will mean you have no control over which server is used and also the amount of traffic. This will lead to performance issues and also disconnection

There was a support article advising this, if I find it I can post

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Answer 6

Haise Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 29, 2016 11:20 AM in response to vazandrew

Yeah, I read that could be an issue with public DNS, although it seems debatable. Auto is definitely not working, but I could manually change it to the TWC DNS if necessary.

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Answer 7

vazandrew

Level 8

40,912 points

Jan 29, 2016 4:54 PM in response to Haise

Not debatable, it's a fact. It's not working because of a deeper network issue, you are using a temporary workaround. You can choose to do that but to offer it as a solution to other users isn't helpful.

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Answer 8

Haise Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 30, 2016 6:39 AM in response to vazandrew

If you have a solution to the "deeper network issue," please enlighten.

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Answer 9

vazandrew

Level 8

40,912 points

Jan 30, 2016 7:09 AM in response to Haise

Set DNS to auto

If on wifi try ethernet

You can run a diagnostics on the network by going to istumbler, netstumbler or similar. Look for signal strength, noise, nearby networks

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Answer 10

Haise Author

Level 1

11 points

Feb 5, 2016 5:46 AM in response to vazandrew

OS X has the Wireless Diagnostics tool built in. (iStumbler is $25 and NetStumbler is a Windows program). No issues were detected. There are a lot of nearby networks, but at this point things are working fine. If that changes, I'll look at my router's DNS settings.

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Answer 11

vazandrew

Level 8

40,912 points

Feb 5, 2016 6:58 AM in response to Haise

What were the values for signal and noise? Were any other networks running on the same or nearby channel? Where is ATV in relation to router?

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