Slow Buffering

[mattfromcanada]

I've got two AppleTV's running in my home. An ATV2 in one room, and AT3 in the other. Both are on 6.0.1. Both run wirelessly. Both stream content from my iTunes library (no internet viewing...Netflix, rented from iTunes store etc).

After I upgraded to 6.0.1, on both machines, the buffering takes a minimum of 5-10 minutes before the content will actually play, and the buffering does not stay ahead of the playback (so eventually it freezes up).

I have my iTunes library currently stored on a 2TB harddrive, and have approx 64gb of free space on that hard-drive.

My iMac has a 1 TB harddrive and approx 750gb of available space.

I've reset my network, reset my router, reset both AppleTV's.

The problem still remains.

Any ideas why this may be happening? My next step is to free up space on the external hard-drive to see if that helps.

 

[alicepattinson]

if your iMac has 50gb available space then i guess there's no problem on the external drive.

 

[mattfromcanada]

I moved some files and freed up about 60gb on the external….I can't tell if the buffering is faster or if it's wishful thinking. I also upgraded iTunes thinking that would help....I'm going to try re-locating more from my iTunes (it just won't be consolidated)....is it possible I need a faster router? I've got 3 macs (iMac, MacBook & MacBook Pro) 2 iPhones, 2 iPod Touch, 1 iPad and 2 AppleTV's all connected to the same network....should I think about setting up a dedicated WiFi for ATV?

 

[Lifeisabeach]

With as little free space on that external hard drive, I haven't a doubt that your external hard drive is fragmented. That absolutely will impact streaming performance as the drive's heads move all over the place trying to read the bits and pieces of all your media that are spread around. I've experienced this myself. You will either need to defrag it (I highly recommend iDefrag), or do a "rough" defrag using a cloning tool like SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner. In either case, make sure you have a backup!!!!!

I don't know if you need a new router (you didn't mention what router you have)... if it's at least 802.11n compliant, then not likely. In the router's wi-fi security settings, you should be using WPA2 for optimal speeds. That really does make a difference.

You didn't mention what connection your external hard drive is using. If it's USB 2, then that may be part of the problem also. I'd recommend Firewire/USB 3/Thunderbolt.