Apple TV constantly freezing

Velskoen

Velskoen

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I have an older Apple TV module (3rd Gen, A1469) that we stream Apple movies on. I am far from everything but have Wi-Fi download speed of 7.3Mb/s and upload of 6.1Mb/s. My problem is it's a PITA to watch movies. The movie freezes, loses sound, gives me "unable to play content on this TV" messages etc. Even when downloading a movie and then using AirPlay from an iPad Mini, I get the same issues.

I have checked every fix I can find online but none work. Rebooted everything from TV, Apple TV, router, iPad etc numerous times. No joy. Before spending R3k on a new Apple TV, I was hoping you clever guys could assist me please.
 
Someone on here previously solved their issues by moving the ATV away from the router/other devices, are you sure you're not suffering from network interference?
 
OnePlusOne said:
I have an older Apple TV module (3rd Gen, A1469) that we stream Apple movies on. I am far from everything but have Wi-Fi download speed of 7.3Mb/s and upload of 6.1Mb/s. My problem is it's a PITA to watch movies. The movie freezes, loses sound, gives me "unable to play content on this TV" messages etc. Even when downloading a movie and then using AirPlay from an iPad Mini, I get the same issues.

I have checked every fix I can find online but none work. Rebooted everything from TV, Apple TV, router, iPad etc numerous times. No joy. Before spending R3k on a new Apple TV, I was hoping you clever guys could assist me please.
Click to expand...

10Meg line in 2023?
 
Rickster said:
10Meg line in 2023?
Click to expand...
I'm a farmer in the middle of nowhere. A world beyond the city limits exists and it differs substantially from that of the majority of people.Plus, I love it. :cool:

The speed is fine for everything I need to do, even streaming. When I moved from Chromecast to Apple TV, things worked fine. For a while. Problem has recently developed.
 
prod said:
Someone on here previously solved their issues by moving the ATV away from the router/other devices, are you sure you're not suffering from network interference?
Click to expand...
Thanks @prod. ATV is around 10m from router and in a different room. About 8m from my office where I have my iMac. Only electronic device in the lounge is the TV itself. I have a cellphone signal booster in the roof. How would I check for interference?
 
OnePlusOne said:
Thanks @prod. ATV is around 10m from router and in a different room. About 8m from my office where I have my iMac. Only electronic device in the lounge is the TV itself. I have a cellphone signal booster in the roof. How would I check for interference?
Click to expand...

Use an Ethernet cable and see if the problem goes away.

When you say freezes I presume you actually mean stutters?
 
SauRoNZA said:
Use an Ethernet cable and see if the problem goes away.

When you say freezes I presume you actually mean stutters?
Click to expand...
I know you okes will laugh at me, that's OK, I laugh at myself quite a bit too.:p

So I went and checked my LG 32" LED TV from nineteen voetsek. HDMI port, USB in and the other coaxial RWB or whatever colours cable ports, no ethernet port. Understand, we watch a movie every other weekend or so, no TV. It's not high on our priority list but we enjoy it when we do.

First prize is to get the existing setup to work. Our wi-fi SP cannot find a fault with the service. Thereafter I need to think real hard on whether to splash R3k on the latest ATV or R4k on a new TV and hope that one of them sorts it out.

Fencing has become an (even more) expensive exercise these days and I get better bang for my buck there than watching TV. :cool:
 
OnePlusOne said:
I know you okes will laugh at me, that's OK, I laugh at myself quite a bit too.:p

So I went and checked my LG 32" LED TV from nineteen voetsek. HDMI port, USB in and the other coaxial RWB or whatever colours cable ports, no ethernet port. Understand, we watch a movie every other weekend or so, no TV. It's not high on our priority list but we enjoy it when we do.

First prize is to get the existing setup to work. Our wi-fi SP cannot find a fault with the service. Thereafter I need to think real hard on whether to splash R3k on the latest ATV or R4k on a new TV and hope that one of them sorts it out.

Fencing has become an (even more) expensive exercise these days and I get better bang for my buck there than watching TV. :cool:
Click to expand...

Yeah the Ethernet is on the Apple TV….
 
When watching a movie through Apple TV. Either streaming or downloaded and watching via airplay.
 
Try screenshare or chromecast from your phone and see if it does the same thing.

ie bigger screen needs more bandwidth. Also run some speedtests when this happens.

I have a 100mb line and get stuttering some times with HD content. Which can be irritating.

You can try reset your apple tv back to original and see how that works. also see if a latest update for it.

You said you have wifi speed? Try running a cable between the apple tv and the router. see how that works. but if you do that already then try connect via wifi. See how the speed differs.

What are you trying to watch also?
 
OnePlusOne said:
So interface should be between ATV and LG TV or between ATV and router?
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Ethernet between ATV and Router.

If the problem still persists it’s not your local network or interference.

But I can say from experience with “farm wifi” setups that are run by absolute amateurs it’s almost guaranteed to be your internet service that just can’t handle it because they likely have no clue what they are doing and are sharing a private network across a bunch of point to point links and not providing a real internet service with proper NAT and direct public IP’s.
 
OnePlusOne said:
When watching a movie through Apple TV. Either streaming or downloaded and watching via airplay.
Click to expand...

So from the Apple TV service?

If it’s doing it when having been downloaded too over Airplay then it’s a local network problem.

Assuming it plays just fine on the device itself where it has been downloaded?
 
SauRoNZA said:
So from the Apple TV service?

If it’s doing it when having been downloaded too over Airplay then it’s a local network problem.

Assuming it plays just fine on the device itself where it has been downloaded?
Click to expand...
From Apple TV service yes. Plays 100% on iPad, freezes when playing direct through ATV. I will hook up an ethernet cable between the router and ATV this weekend and see if that helps. Appreciate your advice so far, thanks.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Ethernet between ATV and Router.

If the problem still persists it’s not your local network or interference.

But I can say from experience with “farm wifi” setups that are run by absolute amateurs it’s almost guaranteed to be your internet service that just can’t handle it because they likely have no clue what they are doing and are sharing a private network across a bunch of point to point links and not providing a real internet service with proper NAT and direct public IP’s.
Click to expand...
The guys are big, servicing most of the Northern Cape and Free State, large areas of the Karoo. They do all the farmroad camera monitoring too. Having said that, big means nothing, but it's not a backyard operation. I don't have the knowledge to delve into a service level discussion with them.

What puzzles me is that this freezing issue only raised it's head recently.
 
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