Netflix on AppleTV over Orcon Global Mode: has anyone got this working?

Forums › Online streaming services › Netflix on AppleTV over Orcon Global Mode: has anyone got this working?

Kanuka7

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#151625 31-Aug-2014 14:08

Has anyone managed to get Netflix working on Apple TV with Orcon's Global Mode? Any tips?

Netflix works well on my mac. On the Apple TV I changed to the US iTunes Store, and I get the Netflix app appearing on the home screen, so that part is good. But the issue is that when I go into netflix on ATV and login using my netflix account it just sits there on 'Accessing Netflix' forever. It never loads the content. I know the netflix account is ok because:

1. I use it on my mac on the same home wifi
2. If I use the wrong netflix password on the apple tv it will come back straight away saying the password is wrong (so my AppleTV can reach Netflix's authentication servers). But with the correct user/password it just loads forever.

Weirdly, on the first Netflix screen you can sign up for a free trial. I tried that with a new email address, and after supplying a new email & password I got straight in to Netflix. But when I exited and went in again to login with the same new details I got the endless 'Accessing Netflix' message.

...I've tried restarting the ATV and a factory reset. I've tried switching back to the NZ iTunes store then switching back to the US. I also just for fun tried using a non-dhcp ip and google's dns servers on the ATV. I've set my netflix to low quality.

Other info: WiFi is 2 * Airport Express devices. ATV is currently attached via ethernet to Airport Express. I've also tried over WiFi. The ATV can access iTunes Store and *some* of the other content apps (Hulu Plus and HBOGo seem to time out too).

Our internet is not great (though netflix works fine for us from other devices). Speedtest:

Has anyone had success or otherwise with this kind of setup?

ripdog

548 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1119205 31-Aug-2014 22:29

Netflix now does forced public DNS lookups on the PS3. To get Netflix working correctly on your PS3, you'll need to perform an additional step of setting up static routes to block public DNS servers.

That's from the Unotelly website.

Not sure if you can access it, but here: http://help.unotelly.com/support/solutions/articles/192836-why-do-i-need-to-block-public-dns

Chrisalis

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1120024 1-Sep-2014 21:58

I had been watching Netflix on the ATV through uno telly but changed back to auto DNS when Orcon announced Global. It worked for a couple of days but on Sunday I was logged out and couldn't get back in. It did work ok on my iPad though. When I re-entered the uno telly DNS I got my access back.

Kanuka7

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1120213 2-Sep-2014 08:25

ripdog: thanks. I tried this last night, but it didn't work. But I think the answer may lie there somewhere. I wonder if the list of open DNS servers is just out of date or something. Will do some digging and post back if I find anything.

Chrisalis: Good to know, thanks. Is this an NZ retail ATV? I might have to go for unotelly if I can't get it working with Orcon's Global Mode. I'm getting sick of plugging my laptop into the tv when we want to watch The Killing!

Chrisalis

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1120255 2-Sep-2014 09:36

Yes it is a NZ retail ATV with US iTunes account. I just have unotelly configured on the ATV and leave the router as it was. Strange that Netflix still works ok with global mode on the Ipad (should that be at the moment).

Kanuka7

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1120284 2-Sep-2014 10:04

Ok, same config as mine! I guess the Netflix ATV app has something baked-in that tries to circumvent global mode. I'm going to sign up for unotelly.

BTW I asked Orcon about this with a whole bunch of detail and they said:

I have done an investigation regarding this issue. Due to limited resources, I can't offer support for the said device and service. You may ask further assistance with the manufacturer of you device.

...which I get, but to me reads like a help desk response. There must be some smart engineers there who could figure this out.

Disrespective

1925 posts

Uber Geek

#1120350 2-Sep-2014 11:05

Have you put the DNS settings into the ATV manually? If not, try that.

aceinnz

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#1120452 2-Sep-2014 13:19

I spent about two hours trying to get this working over the weekend. Phoned tech support twice... Eventually gave up and returned to the unblockus service. I have an insider at Orcon and have asked them to investigate. Would be nice to have the Global mode working with the Apple TVs... I also just get the spinning wheel when logging in. It worked for a while initially - but completely broke over the weekend. If there are known fixes for this - I would like to know. It works fine on my PC and other devices - just seems to be the Apple TV that's an issue.

AliExpress

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NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#1120467 2-Sep-2014 13:31

Kanuka7: Ok, same config as mine! I guess the Netflix ATV app has something baked-in that tries to circumvent global mode. I'm going to sign up for unotelly.

BTW I asked Orcon about this with a whole bunch of detail and they said:

I have done an investigation regarding this issue. Due to limited resources, I can't offer support for the said device and service. You may ask further assistance with the manufacturer of you device.

...which I get, but to me reads like a help desk response. There must be some smart engineers there who could figure this out.

weird. you would think if they were going to offer a service, they would also support it.
They specifically advertise global mode as being able to access Netflix. If you can't access Netflix using global mode on Orcon, and they refuse to help you out, that, to me, is blatantly false advertising.

Kanuka7

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1120473 2-Sep-2014 13:41

Disrespective: I tried using 8.8.8.8 in the ATV when I first struck the issue, but I haven't tried any other DNS changes on the ATV. Do you mean using Orcon's DNS in ATV? I assumed that wouldn't help because that should already be my DNS. If you mean using unotelly or another provider no I haven't done that because I don't have an account with them. But I'll try unotelly tonight: sounds like that works.

aceinnz: I bought my ATV on Saturday and never got it to work so maybe this issue has only just come up. Please let me know if you hear back from Orcon! I don't think there are any documented fixes for this right now. I'm guessing that something about the ATV streaming traffic does not trigger Orcon's global mode.

In case anyone else is wondering I also did these:

- removed all the additional profiles from my netflix (there was an old version of the atv app that couldn't deal with a response from netflix which listed multiple profiles - I had already upgraded iOS but worth a shot)
- reduced the number of items in my netflix queue from over 100 to about 50 (in case the size of the xml or whatever returned by netflix was too large. Yes, grasping at straws)

...my reasoning being that the app seems to connect to netflix (because it logs in) but seems to not like the data it gets back.

Kanuka7

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1120487 2-Sep-2014 14:01

NonprayingMantis:
Kanuka7: Ok, same config as mine! I guess the Netflix ATV app has something baked-in that tries to circumvent global mode. I'm going to sign up for unotelly.

BTW I asked Orcon about this with a whole bunch of detail and they said:

I have done an investigation regarding this issue. Due to limited resources, I can't offer support for the said device and service. You may ask further assistance with the manufacturer of you device.

...which I get, but to me reads like a help desk response. There must be some smart engineers there who could figure this out.

weird. you would think if they were going to offer a service, they would also support it.
They specifically advertise global mode as being able to access Netflix. If you can't access Netflix using global mode on Orcon, and they refuse to help you out, that, to me, is blatantly false advertising.

Agreed! Maybe Orcon rushed Global mode in order to spoil lightbox so it needs to mature. I'm sure there must be Orcon people reading the forums or someone with a packet sniffer who can see what the atv is up to!

bameron

305 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

2degrees

#1120562 2-Sep-2014 16:06

Hi all,

Thanks for the heads up. There were some issues over the last few days which the team reckon should be sorted now.

If you could, please ensure your modem DNS (http://www.orcon.net.nz/support/gfaq_page/how_do_i_change_my_dns_settings_for_global_mode) and Apple TV DNS (http://www.orcon.net.nz/support/gfaq_page/what_are_your_dns_server_addresses) are set correctly, restart your devices and try again. If you're still having problems, please let me know with as much detail on the error as you can!

Cheers,

Cam

Kanuka7

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1120570 2-Sep-2014 16:27

Awesome, works perfectly. Thanks!

Chrisalis

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1121441 3-Sep-2014 21:54

Yes thanks, mines working ok too.

albi90

554 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

dns4me

#1121473 3-Sep-2014 23:09

Hi ripdog,

I dont think this is correct, the only netflix version that i know of that uses fixed DNS servers is the Roku and they can do this because the netflix channel is only designed to feed US content, if netflix were to do this for the PS3 app anyone using the app to access content from a valid region like say the UK would be forced to stream the content from Akamai's US servers this would have a massive impact on the quality of the streams (Akamai points you to the closest node based on the dns servers location)

thanks
Jason k
https://dns4me.net