Apple TV 4 pauses streaming after ~5secs

Interesting. Could try reseating the HDMI cable to be sure it"s making a good connection. If the cable's as old as the set, a new one might help, since ATV expects current technology. Doesn't need to be an expensive cable, just current; look for "High Speed" in the name.

dcbinsomniac, I am adding this since I had the exact same problem since 9.3. I don't think the problem is related to anything posted here. Here is why:

1. I have 2 Apple TV 4 64GB. One works fine since 9.3, the other will only play music or YouTube for 45 seconds to almost 5 minutes. Most often close to 1 minute then stops.

2. The only difference was that the one that failed uses ethernet, the working one wifi. So, I changed from wired to ethernet, rebooted, power off. Nothing changed, still did not work.

3. The wireless is an Airport Extreme used in bridge mode, I use a Zyxel USG100 as the house router which is excellent. Since both ATVs get their DNS from the router they are the same. But still one works and one does not, so it's not DNS related at least for me.

4. This was a solid problem since 9.3, nothing I could do would change anything. Last night, we figured we would test watch an HBO Now show and assumes it would not last, same as other apps. Oddly, HBO Now worked fine for over 2 hours!

5. The fun fact: After the HBO Now stuff, I tried Apple Music and it stayed on! Left it on for 30 minutes, then changed to another Radio selection. It stayed working the entire evening. Keep in mind this is after never working properly since 9.3. As I write this I am playing AM to test it and it's still running fine.

So After weeks of only 1 Apple TV 4 not letting play music or YouTube for more than a couple of minutes it "fixed" itself after playing HBO Now. I did not test other apps. We just figured we would have to wait until 9.3.1. I am opening a problem with Apple Monday and advise you to do the same since a lot of people gripe here but never call Apple to let them know. Please report this so Apple.

Hello Mario,

Could please clarify a couple of things.

I don't understand the second sentence of item 2. You say that you switched the failed ATV from wired to ethernet and it didn't help. Do you mean that you tried it on WiFi and that didn't help?

Is the ethernet connection to the router or to the AirPort? It might make a difference.

Are you running your own DNS, or just using what the router gets from your ISP? This symptom (dropping server connection) really does seem to point to a DNS problem of some kind.

When you look at the ATV network settings, do they make sense? No bogus IPs, etc.?

I assume you haven't created some sort of conflict using static IPs.

Forgot to mention the one that had the problem was connected HDMI to a VP50 video processor connected to a Pioneer Kuro plasma, the working one to a samsung TV. Totally different units and been like that since the ATV4s were purchased a day apart. So I am pretty sure HDMI is not the issue.

Airplay problems also started with 9.3, in fact, at first I thought it was only Airplay related until we tried to play Apple Music from the ATV.

* Airplay to stops in about 1 minute no matter what I am playing. On both Apple TV 4s.

* Youtube App playing on Apple TV 4 now works fine. So HBO Now fixed it as well.

* Retested Apple Music and it's still fine. This occurs on both Apple TV 4s so it seems this is unrelated to the issue of Apple Music and other streaming.

Airplay has been useless since TVOS 9.1. 9.3.1 is around the corner and wonder if it will fix Airplay. Either way I am calling Apple and report this since 9.3.1 may not fix the issue with Airplay and they should know about the HBO Now fix.

Diana, I am a computer/network person, for 30+ years. Except for the AE everything is commercial networking, HP switch, Zyxel router. I can guarantee it's not DNS. There are over 50 network devices in the house. The Airport is in bridge mode so it would not make a difference since the AE is not engaging in DNS or routing in any way. Oh yes, my bad, I switched from wired to wifi and no change. Only Airplay is broken now.

OK. Your network configuration sounds great. I looked up your VP50, and it doesn't sound like it would have HDCP troubles. (Some users have HDMI to VGA converters for their older projectors, but those gizmos are meant for classroom use, and they don't support HDCP.)

So, lets try and help your AirPlay problem, because it's not a universal failure.

What happens when AirPlay stops? Does ATV cancel the connection, causing the sending device to turn off AirPlay? Can you turn AirPlay back on at the sender, or is ATV gone from the menu? Or does playback simply stop?

Have you given the ATVs different names? This seems obvious, but some users overlook it.

Have you tried AirPlay mirroring from a phone or Mac? Does ATV drop that connection as well?

I only know of two reasons for ATV to drop AirPlay like that. One is if it doesn't have an HDCP connection, but that will be instantaneous - on and back off immediately. The other more likely case is that it loses the connection to the server. Remember that video ATV actually connects to the server itself and plays the stream. So ATV needs access to the internet and reliable DNS. Or if you're playing from a local server, ATV needs to connect to it. The OP did mention that he identified a problem with his nameservers that seemed to cause his problem.

Could you describe the simplest AirPlay configuration that fails? Maybe AirPlay from YouTube app on iPad?

Thanks for trying to help, but I have had 5 Apple TVs for years and know them well. I even found DHCP flooding for Apple in a network trace so Apple could fix it. There is another reason for Airplay to not work.... there is a bug in TVOS. This has happened before where it would not work for months until Apple fixed it. I just called Apple about it.

I had this same issue. For me, the issue was being caused by my mac laptop trying to connect to my atv4. It was not as straight forward as airplay being turned on, however my audio output settings had been set to use the apple tv. The issue was resolved as soon as i switched my laptop back to use the internal speakers.

This is not a network issue as many have eluded to. Troubleshooting this issue drove me bonkers, but in the end it makes sense that another devices was causing the ATV to pause video. If you are having this issue, check other devices and make sure they are not connected to your ATV.