In my experience the Apple TV is not a good streaming device

Forums › Apple iOS and devices › In my experience the Apple TV is not a good streaming device

bluedisk

226 posts

Master Geek

#160452 7-Jan-2015 10:47

Ok, so I have been very patient with my Apple TV over the last nine months. Its connected to the Vodafone VDSL modem by ethernet cable, then HDMI cable straight into the Samsung Series 5 48" LED TV. I use Unblock US.

It usually takes a minimum of three tries or a reset (not restart) to get a Netflix programme streaming, normally all I get is an onscreen message saying "An error occurred loading this content, please try again later". The programme will stream for about 10 minutes before I get a black screen and the same error message. On restarting the programme it will run for another 10 minutes before crashing again, and so on...

However when I plug in my Sony Vaio laptop and stream from there via HDMI it works first time every time.

I'm curious as to why I can stream from one but not the other (the one designed as a video streaming device).

BTW, I'm a self-taught user of technology, (not an IT guy) but someone who deals with filming, editing and uploading HD video content to clients around the world.

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all...

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2120 posts

Uber Geek

#1209765 7-Jan-2015 10:50

Apple TV works fine for me as a streaming device, except for the fact it's slow and text input is a huge pain. Streams first time every time.

Slingshot Fibre with Global Mode.

MikeB4

18435 posts

Uber Geek

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#1209767 7-Jan-2015 10:53

As designed Apple TV works great with other Apple products.

bluedisk

226 posts

Master Geek

#1209768 7-Jan-2015 10:54

KiwiNZ: As designed Apple TV works great with other Apple products.

Maybe so, but I only want to use it for streaming Netflix into my non-smart TV.

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all...

bluedisk

226 posts

Master Geek

#1209769 7-Jan-2015 10:56

macuser: Apple TV works fine for me as a streaming device, except for the fact it's slow and text input is a huge pain. Streams first time every time.

Slingshot Fibre with Global Mode.

Thats great for you, I'd like to know the secret for getting it to work for me too.

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all...

trig42

5809 posts

Uber Geek

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#1209773 7-Jan-2015 10:59

Mine works fine.
Spark ADSL2, Unotelly, HDMI into a Samsung TV. Network is wired, not wireless. DNS coded into the AppleTV, not the router.

Is the ATV fully up to date (does it itself most of the time)?

I also have a fireTV, wireless with Unotelly DNS coded into the FireTV. Menus etc. are much snappier and it also works perfectly.

bluedisk

226 posts

Master Geek

#1209774 7-Jan-2015 11:01

trig42: Mine works fine.
Spark ADSL2, Unotelly, HDMI into a Samsung TV. Network is wired, not wireless. DNS coded into the AppleTV, not the router.

Is the ATV fully up to date (does it itself most of the time)?

I also have a fireTV, wireless with Unotelly DNS coded into the FireTV. Menus etc. are much snappier and it also works perfectly.

Yes the ATV is fully up to date, with DNS coded into the ATV not the router.

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all...

ubergeeknz

3344 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Vocus

#1209775 7-Jan-2015 11:02

Try a different unblock service and see if it makes a difference.

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dclegg

2806 posts

Uber Geek

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#1209777 7-Jan-2015 11:04

bluedisk:
macuser: Apple TV works fine for me as a streaming device, except for the fact it's slow and text input is a huge pain. Streams first time every time.

Slingshot Fibre with Global Mode.

Thats great for you, I'd like to know the secret for getting it to work for me too.

Whenever we have issues streaming NetFlix content (which is usually the exception rather than the rule), we find a reboot of the ATV helps.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#1209788 7-Jan-2015 11:06

macuser: Apple TV works fine for me as a streaming device, except for the fact it's slow and text input is a huge pain. Streams first time every time.

Slingshot Fibre with Global Mode.

Have you tried pairing a bluetooth keyboard to help fix the text input issue?

bluedisk

226 posts

Master Geek

#1209789 7-Jan-2015 11:07

dclegg:
bluedisk:
macuser: Apple TV works fine for me as a streaming device, except for the fact it's slow and text input is a huge pain. Streams first time every time.

Slingshot Fibre with Global Mode.

Thats great for you, I'd like to know the secret for getting it to work for me too.

Whenever we have issues streaming NetFlix content (which is usually the exception rather than the rule), we find a reboot of the ATV helps.

Thanks for your comments, but I'm having to reset every second time I start it up, which is a massive pain. Merely restarting makes no difference.

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all...

khull

1245 posts

Uber Geek

#1209793 7-Jan-2015 11:11

Works fine here - I've had similar experience in the past but turned out to be a crappy router/modem combo that was the cause of Netflix problems. Unotelly here as unblockus is sub par

For on the fly streaming of local content I use Beamer which is AMAZING (Mac only unfortunately)

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

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#1209794 7-Jan-2015 11:12

KiwiNZ: As designed Apple TV works great with other Apple products.

But the ATV is clearly designed to function without needing additional Apple products - especially in its primary markets like the US (given most installed apps are for the US market). Yes, I find it great that I can Airplay BBC iPlayer or our photos to the TV via the iPad, but like the OP our primary usage is for Netflix, and it can generally do this well.

We do sometimes experience similar issues - an error message or just the spinning wheel going nowhere - and the solution is usually a reboot of the device, but you're clearly having it so frequently it would be frustrating. Have you tried resetting the device? Sticking the DNS settings in the router or ATV (whichever you are currently not using)?

It's worth trying to fix it as generally I think it's a good product that provides a great Netflix interface; if you really don't like it or can't fix the problem you could always try another device like the Amazon Fire TV, but my own experience with this is we have more problems with Netflix - in particular the sound stopping thus forcing a reboot) - on the Fire TV than with the ATV.

bluedisk

226 posts

Master Geek

#1209797 7-Jan-2015 11:15

khull: Works fine here - I've had similar experience in the past but turned out to be a crappy router/modem combo that was the cause of Netflix problems. Unotelly here as unblockus is sub par

For on the fly streaming of local content I use Beamer which is AMAZING (Mac only unfortunately)

I'm using an Asus DSL N66U modem, is this a crappy one for streaming? Why is Unblock US sub par?

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all...

Mark

1653 posts

Uber Geek

#1209798 7-Jan-2015 11:18

You are bodging things together to get access to Netflix, but because it's not working it's the fault of the AppleTV ? :-)

Personally I'm not an Apple person anymore (got all 3 AppleTVs here in cupboards), but if you keep the whole Apple ecosystem then they run great, barely had an issue streaming from iTunes or from Apple for videos when I used them.

But using unblockus and an ATV should work just fine (got bunch of friends doing it with no issues), are you doing everything via Wifi ? Possibly poor signal (your Sony laptop will have much better antennas).

davidcole

6029 posts

Uber Geek

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#1209800 7-Jan-2015 11:20

On a fairly slow spark connection (approx 5mbps) and with unblockus I generally have no issues using netflix via ATV3.

Regarding the text input, I'll start up the Remote IOS App, it's makes life a little easier

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