Youtube Stream Quality Drop

Question

Level 1

20 points

Youtube Stream Quality Drop

So I've been watching a lot of the recent League of Legends livestreams on YouTube and have been having some problems. While watching, usually about 30ish minutes into the stream the quality will massively drop from 1080p to 240p (or something comparable, it's awful.) If I do nothing the stream stays on this lower quality. If I back out of the stream and then enter it again the quality is instantly 1080p again.

Watching on my Chromecast of FireTV does not have this problem but I'd prefer to use the AppleTV because the stream is higher quality when it works right. The AppleTV has a wired ethernet connection (FireTV is wired, Chromecast is wireless.) Setting the time back a few minutes from live (i've tried 5 minutes and 30 minutes) seems to delay the problem from happening but it still occurs. This seems to be an issue exclusive to the AppleTV. Watching non-live streams seems to have no problems.

Anyone know why this is happening? Is the YouTube app for AppleTV just inferior for live streams?

Apple TV, Windows 10, 4th Generation Apple TV

Posted on Oct 7, 2016 9:12 PM

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Answer 1

vazandrew

Level 8

40,906 points

Oct 7, 2016 9:58 PM in response to Splurch

Is it sounds like the issue is only occuring for Youtube and only for the live stream?

Make sure DNS is set to auto (settings - general - network)

Try testing on another network

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Answer 2

Splurch Author

Level 1

20 points

Oct 7, 2016 10:02 PM in response to vazandrew

Yes, only for YouTube and only for the Live Stream (and only on the Apple TV.)

DNS is set to auto, trying on another network will be tricky but I may be able to give it a try next week.

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Answer 3

Oct 8, 2016 4:23 AM in response to Splurch

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.

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Answer 4

Splurch Author

Level 1

20 points

Oct 8, 2016 11:35 AM in response to Winston Churchill

As I originally said, the Apple TV is on a wired Ethernet connection so wireless issues are not the problem (the Chromecast is on wireless and does not have any issues though.)

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