Iflan2000

Q: Airplay keeps dropping out

When streaming from my ipad/iphone to the ATv, the connection keeps dropping and the tv goes back to main menu.  The ATV will no longer be listed under airplay options on the iphone/pad either; this is the same for over wifi or bluetooth, tried on different networks also the same issue.  It is improved if i turn autolock off on the Ipad as that sometimes kills the connection but it does still remain and there seems to be no logic in the fault appearance; it may be minutes or hours.  I have tried reinstalling all software, doing factory resets etc on both the ATV and the IPad, turning airplay on and off, connecting to different networks, updating firmware now i'm out of options -  any ideas.  Model is A1469 firmware 7.2.1

AppleTV 2, 7.2.1

Posted on Apr 16, 2016 10:29 AM

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Q: Airplay keeps dropping out

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  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Apr 16, 2016 2:12 PM in response to Iflan2000
    Level 6 (19,023 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 16, 2016 2:12 PM in response to Iflan2000

    Airplay doesn't work over Bluetooth. Try connecting Apple TV via Ethernet. Have you taken to a different location to test?

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Apr 16, 2016 2:33 PM in response to Iflan2000
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 16, 2016 2:33 PM in response to Iflan2000

    It may be that your ATV is dropping wifi, not just AirPlay. When AirPlay fails, can you still access the internet from ATV using one of its apps? That would confirm if you still have wifi connectivity. If you don't, there's another current thread on wifi dropping constantly. As vazandrew suggests, try a wired connection to remove possible wifi issues.

  • by Iflan2000,

    Iflan2000 Iflan2000 Apr 17, 2016 2:18 AM in response to vazandrew
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 17, 2016 2:18 AM in response to vazandrew

    THe bonjour services does though, this is why i mentioned bluetooth, this was brought in with the 6.1 update in Mar 14.  I have tried different locations and the issue remains unfortunatley.

  • by Iflan2000,

    Iflan2000 Iflan2000 Apr 17, 2016 2:23 AM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 17, 2016 2:23 AM in response to Diana.McCall

    No wifi connectivity remains, i can go on to an app and it woks fine; also when i watch a movie or play music directly through the ATV this issue never shows, its only over airplay.  This is the same over wifi or ethernet connections.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Apr 17, 2016 3:12 AM in response to Iflan2000
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 17, 2016 3:12 AM in response to Iflan2000

    Interesting. Could you clarify what you mean by "streaming?" Are you playing a video, playing music, or mirroring the iPad or iPhone screen? AirPlay handles video playing differently, handing the stream directly over to the ATV, which handles downloading and playback by itself, independent of the source device. That's why the device player shows only a grey screen with the AirPlay icon. In this mode, ATV will turn off AirPlay if it loses the stream connection for any reason (server timeout, dropped packets, etc.). It will also turn off if the stream becomes unplayable for any reason, i.e. the ATV codec rejects the data. I've seen certain videos that play fine on iPad, but simply will not play on AirPlay. (I'm not referring here to balky starting videos, but to ones which AirPlay simply rejects.) Seems to me these were "commercial" videos on CNET or similar. So, your older ATV may be hitting snags that your other devices are able to handle. If you are using the video playback mode, you might try mirroring. If it is trouble-free, that would rule out simple AirPlay failure, and suggest that it's a problem between ATV and the stream source.

    Are your devices on the same wifi network, or are you using the newer peer-to-peer AirPlay (which does use bluetooth for discovery)?

  • by Iflan2000,

    Iflan2000 Iflan2000 Apr 17, 2016 1:41 PM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 17, 2016 1:41 PM in response to Diana.McCall

    HI Diana,

     

    Both the iphone/ipad are on the same network as the ATV but i have to have bluetooth on as the network seems to block the bonjour discovery occasionally.  Its always video i stream like you tube etc, i tend to browse on my ipad and fire it across to the atv as the app on the atv is cumbersome and doesnt give the same results.  What generally happens is either the video cuts from the tv and starts automatically replaying on the ipad or the video crashes all together.  Sometimes this seems to be caused by the screen lock but i overcome this by making the screen never lock.  This second scenario is it stops all together and will not even continue to play on the ipad, at this point the ATV does not show up in available airplay devices, either with the symbol on the youtube video or swiping up from the bottom of the screen.  If i come out of all screens and go back to the homescreen it will eventually come back up, but i generally have to reload everything.  I have tried the mirroring and this is better, but the same issue occurs in full screen mode, some of the tutorial videos i watch are over an hour and as i have a plasma screen i need to get it to full screen to avoid uncessary burn on the display.

     

    Thanks in advance for any help you can offer, everyone is telling me to go to chromecast but im adament to stop with apple.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Apr 17, 2016 3:11 PM in response to Iflan2000
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 17, 2016 3:11 PM in response to Iflan2000

    Sorry I didn't ask this before, but is your ATV on wifi? The symptoms you describe are as if the multicast airplay discovery packets are being blocked. Some routers don't route these between wifi and ethernet, even on the same router. Other routers handle this and it's not an issue. You should never need bluetooth to make the AirPlay connection. This Use AirPlay to wirelessly stream content from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support Apple help document doesn't even mention ethernet, only wifi. When the ATV is wired, AirPlay from iPad may work intermittently, as you describe. It appears to "work", which is surprising, but then it just fails totally. Using bluetooth as you describe may get you past initial discovery, but there are still internal packets that expect to go direct over the wifi. I hope you can resolve at least some of these problems by switching ATV to wifi.

     

    Regarding troubles with the lock screen, I think the iPad player must remain in the foreground for AirPlay playback to continue. If you stop "watching" the video, it shuts down the airplay. I haven't used autulock, but I suspect that locking would be taken as lack of interest, and would stop the AirPlay.