Apple TV - Outrageous Movie Download Time

crosstownk

Just hooked my Apple TV after some HDCP issues.

I've previously viewed trailers with no problem after some buffering (5 mins or so).

Now I do expect some buffering especially on HD movies but I've just rented a 4GB HD movie and I'm told it'll be read in 70 hours!! WTF!!

I do have a couple of movies (SD) that I rented before I realised I had a HDCP problem - are they still in the cache and possibly slowing the download of further movies?

I've 8M Eircom which doesn't explain the 70 hours.

Any ideas?

mooniall

Hi there
sounds like there's a serious problem somewhere in your setup or broadband.
I have my AppleTV running on 15 meg Upc and my wirelass clocks in at about 8 and I can watch a full HD movie about 10 seconds after renting it. HD trailers are instant.

Try connecting the Apple TV directly to your Internet and skip the wireless to see if it's a wireless router problem.
Could be Eircom, from what I've heard there not the best!
Or it could be a faulty AppleTV??

Other than that I can't suggest anything else but there's no way it should take that long to view a movie.

NM

Danbo!

Could it be apple's problem?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056143446

crosstownk

mooniall wrote: »

Try connecting the Apple TV directly to your Internet and skip the wireless to see if it's a wireless router problem.

Danbo! wrote: »

Could it be apple's problem?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056143446

Thanks for the replies.

I rented an SD movie and watched it instead (after 10 mins from renting) but I left the HD movie loading in the background. I didn't want to click play in case it starts my 24 hour period.

I can't connect the CAT-6 cable to the Apple TV as both wireless points are too far away so I need it to work via wireless(g).

I must say that the SD movie quality was excellent - much better than I expected. I'd a bit of digital noise in dark scenes but switching the NR filter to high seems to have sorted it.

I'll get to watch the HD movie in a few days and hopefully the download speed was a once off. I'll post the outcome.

The Big Gig

crosstownk wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

I rented an SD movie and watched it instead (after 10 mins from renting) but I left the HD movie loading in the background. I didn't want to click play in case it starts my 24 hour period.

I can't connect the CAT-6 cable to the Apple TV as both wireless points are too far away so I need it to work via wireless(g).

I must say that the SD movie quality was excellent - much better than I expected. I'd a bit of digital noise in dark scenes but switching the NR filter to high seems to have sorted it.

I'll get to watch the HD movie in a few days and hopefully the download speed was a once off. I'll post the outcome.

You could try resetting your apple tv. Menu and plus button for about 6 seconds, I think (maybe menu and minus button). Then check for downloads in settings

fbradyirl

Are you using Google DNS? There have been problems with it and iTunes movie rental download times. Switch back to your provider DNS and you should see speeds improve again (e.g. UPC / Eircom etc)

CivilEx

I've given up trying to rent HD directly on Apple TV and instead rent on my PC and stream to the ATV. I've noticed HD movies appearing in iTunes lately so I download there and I know I can start watching the movie when it suits me rather than waiting 20 hours for Apple to decide when I can watch it

ashleey

Can you rent hd via iTunes now? That's great news. I too gave up renting via apple tv as it was a joke.

CivilEx

ashleey wrote: »

Can you rent hd via iTunes now? That's great news. I too gave up renting via apple tv as it was a joke.

Yes indeed you can rent HD. I just checked iTunes and the top Rental is "Remember Me" for €1.99 as a HD rental.

Looks like a forgettable movie though

ted1

are you using the first or second gen? I'm on 8Mb from eircom and have no problems streaming a hd movie within seconds of renting it. In fact i didn't even know the did sd movies. All the ones i rent are hd.

ashleey

That's good news. Thanks for confirming that. I can stop using sky box office now. I might even rent inception again and try and understand it. Makes a masters in maths simple

Dades

I rented a movie via iTunes over Christmas.

Was told initially it was going to take days to download, but I left it and gradually it got quicker and eventually took under an hour.

ashleey

That's still rubbish though as it's supposed to buffer and then be instant. I can't imagine the bandwidth here is suitable though

vinnycoyne

ashleey wrote: »

That's still rubbish though as it's supposed to buffer and then be instant. I can't imagine the bandwidth here is suitable though

I have basic UPC broadband at home and it streams movies in seconds.

redman

I rent HD movies on my Apple TV in a matter of seconds over an N wirless network with a 7Gb broadband backend.......
even better to have a $ account too for a different range of rentals and cheaper too!

So something up in your config

I have a US account and a previously 5mb - now 10mb UPC connection - and either connection was perfect. HD movies streamed in seconds. I did find though leaving it two minutes initially would eliminate any lip synching which can happen ever so slightly (most people do not notice it)

slasher_65

I have Vodafone broadband, supposedly 24mb (hah!) and it takes about 1 hour 40 minutes or so to start streaming HD.

ted1

for those with the delay are you using the second gen apple tv?

dingding

If your wireless access point is a distance from your apple TV, this will cause a bottleneck as the wireless will ramp down to a lower speed for reliability.

ironclaw

crosstownk wrote: »

I've 8M Eircom

8Mb Eircom is at best going to give you circa 600 to 400kb/s on the download. Also, depending on which package your on, its going to slash your download limit. You will need the unlimited package for HD content. In fact, depending on how much you rent, SD content will hammer the download limit as well.

I'd recommend wiring up the Apple TV by Cat 5e or Cat6 if at all possible. Wireless isn't great for streaming, especially if you have other devices on the network. Failing that, get a true dual band N router. The dual band is important as single band will default to the slowest connection made (i.e. standard 2.4Ghz speeds)

crosstownk

ted1 wrote: »

are you using the first or second gen? I'm on 8Mb from eircom and have no problems streaming a hd movie within seconds of renting it. In fact i didn't even know the did sd movies. All the ones i rent are hd.

Second Gen Apple TV.

ted1 wrote: »

for those with the delay are you using the second gen apple tv?

As above - second gen Apple TV.

dingding wrote: »

If your wireless access point is a distance from your apple TV, this will cause a bottleneck as the wireless will ramp down to a lower speed for reliability.

Nearest wireless access point is about 3.0 metres away. The other one is probably 7 metres or so.

ironclaw wrote: »

8Mb Eircom is at best going to give you circa 600 to 400kb/s on the download. Also, depending on which package your on, its going to slash your download limit. You will need the unlimited package for HD content. In fact, depending on how much you rent, SD content will hammer the download limit as well.

I'd recommend wiring up the Apple TV by Cat 5e or Cat6 if at all possible. Wireless isn't great for streaming, especially if you have other devices on the network. Failing that, get a true dual band N router. The dual band is important as single band will default to the slowest connection made (i.e. standard 2.4Ghz speeds)

I've an Eircom Netopia router connected by LAN to an older (circular shaped) Airport Extreme Base Station which relays the wireless via WDS to an Airport Express - both are G.

And yes, I'm expecting some communication from Eircom about the 'fair usage' policy but I'll address that as and when it happens

I'm not in a position to watch the HD movie tonight but hopefully I'll get a chance in the next few days and I'll report back.

Thanks for all the helpful feedback so far. It's much appreciated.


EDIT: I could move the Airport Express to the 240VAC socket beside the Apple TV and connect via CAT 6. Will this help given it still has the wireless relayed from the Airport Extreme Base Station upstairs?

Johnmb

crosstownk wrote: »

I've an Eircom Netopia router connected by LAN to an older (circular shaped) Airport Extreme Base Station which relays the wireless via WDS to an Airport Express - both are G.

I think that will definitely be a contributory factor to, if not the main cause of, the problem. For HD content to be usefully streamed via wifi, you really should be using an N standard router. Even if the specs of G imply they should be able to handle HD, it simply isn't meant for that type of usage.

ted1

just ditch the air port. I've my ATV going wire less straight to the eircom router.

Johnmb

ted1 wrote: »

just ditch the air port. I've my ATV going wire less straight to the eircom router.

That won't make any difference to him as the Eircom router is only G too. He needs an N router, or a direct cable link to have any real chance of getting it to work properly.

crosstownk

ted1 wrote: »

just ditch the air port. I've my ATV going wire less straight to the eircom router.

I'll try that if I still have problems only I've long lost the password word for the Eircom router but I suppose a call to Eircom will sort that out.

My Netopia is 4/5 years old. What's the chances of Eircom upgrading me to an N router?

Do you have a hard connection to the router or a wireless one?

crosstownk

Johnmb wrote: »

That won't make any difference to him as the Eircom router is only G too. He needs an N router, or a direct cable link to have any real chance of getting it to work properly.

Just had a thought here.

My Sky+HD box is connected to the phone line so that means I have an Eircom/telephone connection at my AV set-up. I can move the whole lot (Eircom router and Apple Extreme Base station) down to the AV cabinet and use a LAN connection. Will that negate the need for an upgrade to the router?

ironclaw

crosstownk wrote: »

And yes, I'm expecting some communication from Eircom about the 'fair usage' policy but I'll address that as and when it happens

Depending on your package, they'll just charge you until your paying the unlimited package. So if you on the 30GB package, the most they'll charge for outside the package is €10 per month (As thats the cost of the unlimited packager per month) A

EDIT: I could move the Airport Express to the 240VAC socket beside the Apple TV and connect via CAT 6. Will this help given it still has the wireless relayed from the Airport Extreme Base Station upstairs?

Still a wireless connection, so your not going to see a difference.

My Netopia is 4/5 years old. What's the chances of Eircom upgrading me to an N router?

Eircom won't upgrade you. Any PC World or Currys have a good selection of routers. Just be sure to get a dual band router. Wireless N is a funny thing, there is draft and true N. You need real N to benefit. The best one I think is this one:

http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/

So your connections would be:

Current Eircom Router > Airport Extreme > Wireless > AppleTV


The best solution however is cable. The throughput is just so much better.

Another option are these:

http://www.clearwire.ie/index.php?section=41

They plug into your power socket and link to each other as if they were an ethernet cable. Throughput is generally quite good, but you can only use one pair per house.

ashleey

I've a d link dsl 6740r wireless n which is pretty good and I turn off all the other wifi gadgets and I've tried streaming to the apple tv 2nd gen using wifi and also via a netgear powerline connection and the buffering prevents hd use. Sd is fine and also streaming from my mac mini is fine so it's not my LAN problem. My vodafone at home 3mb dsl line is the problem as it seems to max at 2.3 mb with a ping around 350ms according to speedtest.net. Renting to my mac mini then streaming at home gets round the 72 hour buffering but it still requires a couple of hours forethought to rent an hd movie. One day....

ted1

have you got a filter on the line where the sky box is? This could be causing a problem. Get yourself a long patch lead and connect directly to the router. See if this fixes the problem. If it does then get a new router or run a cable.

crosstownk

ashleey wrote: »

but it still requires a couple of hours forethought to rent an hd movie. One day....

I don't really mind the foresight of an hour - it gives me time to get food ready/kids to bed/trip to off licence but any more is just a pain in the ass.

crosstownk

ted1 wrote: »

have you got a filter on the line where the sky box is?

I've a filter contraption upstairs where the phone line splits to broadband and phone. I intend to bring this downstairs and plug the Sky HD box feed into it and and take the broadband out. It'll mean also moving the DECT base for the phone.

construct06

Could you use the telephone lines in the house as an Ethernet?

I mean in my house the eircom cable comes into hall and is connected to the hall telephone socket. There is then telephone cable from from that socket back up to the attic. all my other telephone sockets are cabled back up to the attic also. Could I and the op connect these together to allow each telephone point to then act as a wired access point?

I'm just speculating here as currently eircom exchange not broadband enabled...I receive my broadband wirelessly via an aerial.

Or maybe is standard telephone cable not good enough for distribution of broadband...?

acous

construct06 wrote: »

Could you use the telephone lines in the house as an Ethernet?

Pretty sure you can't Ethernet has 8 core wires, phone cable is 4 sometimes even 2 core.

OP: I think you're on to a winner by moving your router to beside the ATV. If you still have problems, double check that you're not on google dns!

ashleey

All phone equipment has filters and the router is at the main phone point. I'm tempted to retry an hd rental since the software update but apple refunded me an hd rental when I got the product and might be difficult if I fail again. A bit of preplanning is fine but don't tell the kids toy story is ready if you get the 280 hour download message!

crosstownk

construct06 wrote: »

Could you use the telephone lines in the house as an Ethernet?

Not a hope. The phone line in is just a twisted pair going to a black box where it splits to run to the Sky HD box and upstairs to the DECT base and broadband splitter so the only RJ-11 connection is upstairs.

So I suppose my best option is to move the router/base station downstairs to the AV cabinet.

Johnmb

crosstownk wrote: »

Not a hope. The phone line in is just a twisted pair going to a black box where it splits to run to the Sky HD box and upstairs to the DECT base and broadband splitter so the only RJ-11 connection is upstairs.

So I suppose my best option is to move the router/base station downstairs to the AV cabinet.

That should work, takes the wireless problem out of the equation completely. And it can easily be reversed if it doesn't sort the problem (although if it doesn't sort the problem, that could mean a problem with either the ATV or your internet connection).

mad muffin

I have the second gen Apple TV, using it with a US iTunes account.

7 meg Vodafone with a wireless N router in the same room as the Apple TV, phone line connected to sky box with filter, DECT phone in the same room as well.

I have rented dozens of HD movies and they have all started with in 30 seconds.

Possibly a problem with your setup somewhere?

ashleey

VF don't supply 7 meg down here in the country outside Kilkenny. We get 'up to 3 meg'.

ironclaw

I think your bottlenecking at the distance your trying to get a connection. Its just too far. Move the set up and if you can at all, link by cable. Then report back. I'm doubting a DNS problem as thats just lookup and shouldn't affect the download speed.

crosstownk

ironclaw wrote: »

I think your bottlenecking at the distance your trying to get a connection. Its just too far. Move the set up and if you can at all, link by cable. Then report back. I'm doubting a DNS problem as thats just lookup and shouldn't affect the download speed.

The nearest wireless point to the ATV is 3.5 metres - is that too far.........??????? I wouldn't have thought so. Signal strength is full on my iMac using the same wireless point and the iMac is at a similar distance.

But yeah, I'll move the router & base station downstairs at the weekend and connect to the ATV via ethernet and report back.

Thanks for all the helpful replies so far!

big_moe

Having a similar issue here as well. I have the 2nd gen apple tv with a US account and 15mb UPC broadband. Films have started to pay within 30 seconds since I bought it 6 weeks ago. But tonight I couldn't even get a trailer to load... I've rented a film and it's saying over 3 hours til it starts?.. Something must have changed on the apple end as I've never had anything like this. My broadband is still showing full whack on speedtest.net

Adam

Cyrus

i was having these issues too

im on upc 10mb so there should be no issues

went into my wireless router settings and to dns, it seemed to have one typed in, i just clicked to auto select based on my provider instead,

apple tv works a charm now

crosstownk

-

crosstownk

OK - so I moved my Netopia Router downstairs.

I connected my Netopia via CAT6 to my Apple Extreme Base Station and then via CAT6 to my Apple TV. With the HD movie 25% buffered, I'm getting a message telling me it'll be 30 hours before I can play it. :eek:

So then I connected my Apple TV direct to the Netopia and got the same message,

Here's my Speedtest result (from my iMac).



What is wrong here. Surely this is not right

Cyrus

You try what I suggested??

crosstownk wrote: »

OK - so I moved my Netopia Router downstairs.

I connected my Netopia via CAT6 to my Apple Extreme Base Station and then via CAT6 to my Apple TV. With the HD movie 25% buffered, I'm getting a message telling me it'll be 30 hours before I can play it. :eek:

So then I connected my Apple TV direct to the Netopia and got the same message,

Here's my Speedtest result (from my iMac).



What is wrong here. Surely this is not right

crosstownk

Cyrus wrote: »

You try what I suggested??

I had a look in my Netopia Router settings but I don't seem to have that option.

ted1

try resetting your ATV and router. No one else is having this problem so it must be a localised problem. What is your fire wall on the modem set too.

Leiva

...also update the firmware on the Netopia .

Cyrus

crosstownk wrote: »

I had a look in my Netopia Router settings but I don't seem to have that option.

This link any help?

www.netopia.com/support/hardware/technotes/CIR_012.html

nagero

There seem to be some issues if you're using Google or OpenDNS in that it can't tell you're in ireland so you end up downloading via further away servers.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/reminder-google-dns-can-slow-down-apple-tv-streaming/8960

ted1

i've my location set to the states and still get movies in seconds. I'm using a us account and was worried that they might only give irish content.