Apple TV not picking up home sharing

[Mocke]

Good day,

I know there are many posts like this but I can't seem to find the answer to the issue I have. Yesterday I bought a new Apple TV (3rd Generation).
Hooked it up to the TV and connected it to my WIFI network. I can see all my purchased items from iTunes of the ATV3 but here is my issue now.

I turned on Home Sharing on my ATV3 (enter Apple ID + password) and AirPlay is also on. On my 27" inch Mac I also turned home sharing on in iTunes (used same Apple ID) and my Mac is connected wirelessly to the same network. Now for some reason the AirPlay icon is visible in top toolbar (next to the time) and it picks up my ATV3 and I can easily mirror my screen. What I don't understand is the AirPlay icon is not visible within iTunes so I can't "stream"/listen music from iTunes on my ATV3 because there is no AirPlay icon.

Also on my ATV3 it doesn't pick up any computers within my home sharing network.

I have restarted my Mac, ATV3 and router.
Logged out and back in into Home Sharing on my Mac and ATV3.
As well as resetting my ATV3.

I do believe that it might have to do with my router as I own a Windows laptop and it also does not display the AirPlay icon in iTunes (I have IPv6 unchecked in Windows). If both my MAC and PC won't show an AirPlay icon in iTunes and my Apple TV does not pick up any computers in/iTunes libraries then I guess it would have to be the router right? Only weird thing is, like I said, the AirPlay icon is visible on my Mac in the toolbar at the top. I have a 150Mbps Wireless N ADSL2+ TP-Link Modem Router (Model: TD-W8951ND).

I seriously don't know what to do anymore. Any help will be much appreciated!

 

[Cassady]

Also had problems - but mine was a JB ATV2. Very intermittent. You might want to have a look at the MacRumours ATV sub-forum, bound to get plenty of info there.

 

[SLi-Man]

Hi I also had a similar problem on my Windows PC.

Airplay won't show up in iTunes and home sharing wasn't working. I tried everything possible to resolve it.
Mine finally came down to having some routing setup on my PC because I was running the WUG from the same PC and wanted to direct traffic from WUG via LAN and ADSL via WIFI.

So my 2 cents will be to ask if you maybe have a unusual setup?

After I deleted the WUG routes from the routing table and restarted iTunes Airplay was working!
(Just be careful when deleting from the routing table - can screw up your connectivity)

 

[Mocke]

Thanks for the feedback.

SLi-Man I don't think I have a unusual setup. MAC, PC and ATV3 connected to router all over WIFI. That's about it. I have read a lot about people talking about enabling igmp multicast on their router. This fixed the issue for some users.

I came across this article to enable it on my TP-Link router: http://www.tp-link.com/en/article/?faqid=536

BUT I highly doubt this will resolve the issue.

 

[Mocke]

Thanks for the feedback.

SLi-Man I don't think I have a unusual setup. MAC, PC and ATV3 connected to router all over WIFI. That's about it. I have read a lot about people talking about enabling igmp multicast on their router. This fixed the issue for some users.

I came across this article to enable it on my TP-Link router: http://www.tp-link.com/en/article/?faqid=536

BUT I highly doubt this will resolve the issue.

 

[SLi-Man]

Mmm, is your router set to use auto b/g/n and not just n for wifi?
Any firewalls that might be blocking it?

Something from Apple:

5. Check Firewall settings
If you have a firewall enabled in your router or computer, make sure that the firewall is not blocking communication between your computers. Home Sharing uses TCP port 3689 and UDP port 5353 to communicate with shared iTunes libraries.

In addition, Apple TV and Mac computers will use port 123 to set the time automatically. Incorrect date and time on either the computer or Apple TV can cause errors for Home Sharing and connections in general.

If you are unsure whether your router has a firewall or the required ports open, test additional devices or another network to help isolate the issue. If the devices tested work on another home network, it is your router or network configuration.

For Mac OS X, you don't have to edit the port addresses, but make sure the firewall in Apple () menu > System Preferences > Security > Firewall are not set to:

Block all incoming connections
Allow only essential services

As well as:

IF the WiFi Network is WEP It needs to be at least WAP2

Apart from that, I'm stumped...

 

[creeper]

What worked for me:

1. Deactivate Home Sharing on the Apple TV
2. Open Itunes and deactivate Home Sharing on the Apple TV
3. Restart your computer
4. Restart the Apple TV
5. Open Itunes. Activate Home Sharing
6. Activate Home Sharing on the Apple TV

 

[Mocke]

Ok well I reset my router and made sure the network is WAP2. Also reset the ATV3 as well as signed out and back in of home sharing on all by devices. Still nothing worked but this morning when I woke up everything seemed to work fine. ATV3 picked up my iTunes library and the AirPlay icon appeared in iTunes both on my Mac and PC.

Not totally sure why all of a sudden it is working but in my opinion I think it might have been something to do with WAP2.

Thanks for everyone's input !