Airplay - issues with video jumping and losing audio

Hi all. I have a late 2011 MacBook Pro - I bought an ATV box today and upgraded to Mountain Lion. I have everything up and running and it's all working beautifully, including the Airplay mirror monitor on my TV, except for one problem. When I play a YouTube video from the internet on my laptop (i.e., not from the YouTube feature in ATV), the streaming is poor - it keeps freezing, jumping, and losing audio. I have zero problems with streaming on anything else through ATV including Netflix, videos stored on my hard drive, etc.

Has anyone else experienced this and can someone tell me what I need to do to fix this?

Thanks so much!

So, there's a tremendous amount of bandwidth being consumed when you do AirPlay and are streaming at the same time. Assuming you're using a wireless network, you may be at the limits of the available bandwidth by doing both simultaneously.

What kind of wireless network do you have? If it's 802.11b or g-based, you may need to upgrade. If it's 802.11n, and it's working on b/g compatibility mode, it may have stepped down to least common denominator status, to accommodate one of your older network devices.

Hi there. Thanks so much for the reply. I just checked and I have an SMC8014W-G and when I google the specs, it says it's 802.11g which according to your answer, I may have to upgrade. This unit comes from my cable/high-speed provider (as part of my monthly package), so perhaps I should return it to them and buy something better. I will also check with them and see if they have something newer I can trade for because this one is two years old, they probably use a better one now.

Thanks very much!

So, that's an all-in-one modem and router combo. I would check with your ISP about getting a normal modem and then get a standalone wireless router.

802.11g operates at a peak rate of 54Mb/s. That's under ideal conditions with only one device using the bandwidth. When you start dividing it up and introducing walls, you're probably looking at just a 10Mb/s or so.

That's probably not enough to do reliable streaming of video both from Netflix and from AirPlay to Apple TV.

I would look at a dual-band 802.11n router. Even Apple's $99 AirPort Express would be a better option (although it has just one wired Ethernet jack). Personally, I use a D-Link DIR-655 that I am still thrilled with after years of reliable service. I'm thinking of upgrading to something that is dual-band though... not sure what my next router will be.

Awesome, thanks for the suggestions, looks like I have a little upgrading to do