Streaming stops - WiFi reconnect needed

Are you using the DNS from your ISP? If not, you may be experiencing name resolution problems. Could you try using the default DNS and see if it helps?

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.

It's up to you what you buy I guess, but I'd be very surprised if it isn't something related to your network. Not sure why you ar fiddling with DNS, you need to use the settings provided by your ISP, any other may well cause issues.

Hi

If you are using WiFi try an Ethernet cable to router if you have a free socket .

Cheers

Brian

When trying to diagnose a problem I'm am big fan of using the process of elimination. With that in mind, and with an understanding that you don't want an solution that includes wired ethernet, you might want to try a wired ethernet test anyway.

By doing a wired ethernet test you can determine whether the problem is network related or not. For example, if the symptoms are eliminated with a wired connection you know that the problem is related to your Wi-Fi connection.

If you find that it is in fact a Wi-Fi issue, maybe creating separate 2.4 and 5 GHz networks and testing on both separately may help narrow down the cause.

See what I'm getting at?

If its only Apple TV having issues ,that rules out the router. But i would still play movies via iTunes,or Netflix website or app on Mac/tablet/phone just to see if it still happens as a temp solution...

If its ok,, then u know its the Apple TV,,, Do a restore first before returning. You may not want to blame the Apple TV, but what are the other options.. if it plays fine elsewhere..?

I have a related issue, wonder if anyone can help:

Just moved to South Africa. We have a brand new Apple TV which seems to work fine. It is connected via our wireless router with excellent signal strength. Our internet connection is really slow, around 3mb - but for some reason our new free trial to Netflix (via Apple TV) plays content quickly and with no hiccups. However....the TV shows we bought on iTunes before we moved to SA take forever to load - up to two hours for a 55 minute episode. My question therefore is: How can Netflix be so quick yet iTunes be so slow ?? They are using the same Apple TV, connected to the same slow Wifi, so surely there shouldn't be much difference. My new Apple TV has loads of spare GB storage, so there shouldn't be a buffering problem. It is really frustrating.

But i would still play movies via iTunes,or Netflix website or app on Mac/tablet/phone just to see if it still happens as a temp solution...

If its ok,, then u know its the Apple TV,,,

Wrong.

Doctor Zhivago wrote:

My question therefore is: How can Netflix be so quick yet iTunes be so slow ?? They are using the same Apple TV, connected to the same slow Wifi, so surely there shouldn't be much difference. My new Apple TV has loads of spare GB storage, so there shouldn't be a buffering problem. It is really frustrating.

Netflix uses adaptive streaming so if you have a slow network its sends you low quality video, that's why.

Buffering issues are caused by slow connections not a lack of storage space.

Thank you for the interesting and informative answer. If what we have been watching on Netflix is "low quality", I'm buying ! It is good enough for me - pretty good picture quality, excellent sound quality - I would never have guessed unless you had mentioned it. I wish Apple would do the same - it is simply the difference between "useable" and "useless" and whilst we have this slow internet speed, Netflix is the former and iTunes the latter, which means it's Netflix's gain and Apple's loss. How short sighted of Apple and how arrogant, to assume that everyone has a high speed connection. Moreover, judging by the sheer number of threads on these pages from disgruntled users with very high speed connections who still have iTunes download problems (compared with rival services), I wonder if there is more to it.......