AirPlay on Apple TV 2 failing more often than it works

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I'm finding that when streaming video or audio from either my iPad 1 or iPhone 4 to my Apple TV 2, it more often than not fails (although it does occasionally work). I'd say 6/10 it fails.

I'll:

  • Start playing the media
  • Press the AirPlay button (either from within the app or on the task bar)
  • Choose the Apple TV receiver

and after a few seconds it'll revert back to displaying on the local device.

I select the AirPlay option either before the media starts, or during it. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

Some times it'll look as though Apple TV tries to load it, other times it does not.

This happens with any application I use (eg. Safari, Spotify, Downcast).

My setup is as follows:

  • My iPad and iPhone 4 are connected to an Airport Express
  • My Apple TV is wired to a Netgear DG934G (a Sky Broadband router).
  • The Netgear and Airport Express are wired to each other.
  • I also have a laptop running XBMC which is acting as a AirPlay receiver. This is connected wirelessly to the Netgear. This too is flakey in terms of supporting AirPlay.

Is it common for AirPlay to fail this frequently, or do I have problem?

Thanks.

Best Answer

No - that is not at all common.

Something is certainly causing the instability so you might need to isolate the potential causes one at a time.

  • network issues (the most likely culprit but by far not the only one)
  • Apple TV needing a restore or perhaps just a reboot.
  • iOS device needing the same (restore or reboot).

Before restoring your iOS device, you might try the other steps first or also you could take your device to another network / Apple TV such as a retail store to test and make sure that's not the cause.

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