I’ve been having a lot of issues lately with Netflix on my Apple TV and other iOS devices from home. On Apple TV, the most common outcome of launching Netflix was the dreaded “Netflix is currently unavailable” screen. It has gotten so bad that my kids keep asking to just watch Netflix on Roku!

Obviously if Netflix was running on Roku and computers, the problem wasn’t with Netflix themselves, and today I decided to break out Wireshark to see exactly what was happening when the Apple TV tried to load Netflix. I’ve written previously about how Apple TV handles ‘applications’, so this was halfway between trying to fix a problem and hopefully learning something new.

I configured port mirroring on my Ethernet switch so I could see traffic heading to and from the Apple TV (I keep my Apple TV’s wired if at all possible, saving wireless bandwidth for other devices). As my Airport Extreme, my Ethernet switch, and Apple TV devices are all in the same cabinet, this was fairly simple to accommodate.

The first thing I noticed is when I attempted to launch the Netflix app, the Apple TV would immediately do a DNS lookup for a netflix.com hostname, but did nothing from there for basically 50 seconds until the “currently unavailable” screen popped up. Very strange…

After doing some more digging, I discovered that this was NOT actually the case – the Apple TV was just switching to IPv6, which I had filtered out of my Wireshark view. I changed the filter to the MAC of the Apple TV, and could now see that something was happening after the DNS lookup, but that whatever was happening didn’t appear to be working very well. There were duplicate packets, and it appears the SSL connection never really got much past the TCP connection establishment before ending the connection.

So, now the question was, is this related to IPv6, or is something else broken with Netflix/Apple TV? I disabled IPv6 connection sharing on the Airport Extreme and tried again.

Success!

Netflix quickly loaded as if nothing had ever been wrong. Wireshark showed the difference – SSL connection is successfully negotiated without a problem.

I haven’t done a capture from the external side of the Airport as of yet to see what the ‘IPv6 Connection Sharing’ was breaking in the SSL stream, but there is obviously a bug somewhere. At this point, I’m content having things work again, and while troubleshooting SSL is a great Friday activity over beers, I think I’ll just binge watch some X-Files instead.

To disable IPv6 on your Airport, launch Airport Utility and go to Edit —> Internet —> Internet Options and uncheck the “Enable IPv6 Connection Sharing” box.

I have also had intermittent, and frustrating, issues with AirPlay either not connecting, taking a very long time to connect, or not working at all. Since making this change, I have had no AirPlay issues at all.

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Till a couple of days back, finding Apple TV‘s product page on Apple.com was a bit difficult thanks to its mysterious location in the Accessories section for iPods. Generally I used to resort on Google to find it rather than taking the pain in browsing through the website. However, that shouldn’t be a problem from now on, as Apple TV has been promoted to occupy one of the tabs besides Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad at the Apple online store. In addition, Apple TV now has its own pages for accessories, community and refurbishes.

So why would that be – Apple graduating one of their devices from a mere ‘hobby accessory‘ to a ‘new product line‘ after seven years of initial release?

A lot of reports on the next Apple TV has been circulating lately. According to one of them, Apple TV 4 will be a complete revamp of the device, at least software wise. The new firmware will be iOS-based and will come with an in-built Apple TV App Store. This would open the doors of HDTV to third-party apps and games. A Bluetooth controller is also said to be in the works.

Now, the guys at 9to5mac have received new information on Apple TV 4 from a reliable source.

These claim that the next generation of Apple TV will come with integrated Airport Express components, i.e. they will have a router welded into the core. This makes a lot of sense, especially for those who connect the Apple TV via Ethernet, because they will no longer need another router for iTunes Home Sharing. Also Airplay Mirroring will be more stable and of better quality since the intermediary modem is eliminated.

Another report suggests that the games on Apple TV will be seamlessly linked to other iOS devices. Apple TV 4 games are expected to utilize the iDevice themselves as the controller. MFi controllers could be used as well. Maybe one more app will join the App Store under the Apps by Apple category – Apple TV Joystick?

And the last rumor claims that the Apple TV 4 will come with a TV tuner card for use with your existing cable subscription. This will again simplify the process of enjoying video content since you can use the same set-top box for online streaming as well as for cable channels.

The launch of Apple TV 4 seems imminent as the speculations are piling up. If  all the above rumors turn out to be true, we’re looking at a major deviation in the Apple TV lineup and we think it’s apt that the small black box has rose from being a simple accessory to a mainstream iOS device.

You might also want to read: Where is Apple taking TV in 2014?

The post New rumors on Apple TV 4 surface as Apple TV gains special profile at Apple official website appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

A new WiFi standard called 802.11ac, which enables significantly faster transfer speeds than 802.11n, has recently began to find it’s way into consumer devices, including the new AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule base Station. Now it seems the Apple TV is about to get the same treatment, with speculation that a new Apple TV will be released soon with 802.11ac support.

If you’ve ever used devices that take advantage of the 802.11ac standard, you’ll definitely notice the increase in speeds and performance in places of low reception or high interference when transferring files or streaming media.

Given the new AirPort Extreme is 802.11ac capable, it makes sense to optimise the Apple TV to take advantage of these faster WiFi speeds, since it’s more than likely that the Apple TV will be one of the devices that will be connecting to it.

The faster speeds will become even more noticeable with Apple’s enhancements in the 6.0 firmware which was recently released, taking advantage of iTunes Radio and iCloud, as media can reach the Apple TV at a greater transfer rate.

Apple TV 802.11ac

It is expected that Apple will release the new Apple TV model in the next few weeks, potentially alongside the new iPads at the upcoming October event. Expect it to be a relatively small announcement, much like the recently refreshed iMac’s which were introduced without much attention.

802.11ac will not only enable faster data transfer speeds, but will also result in stronger signals and more resistance to interference.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ to be first to know when the Apple TV 4 comes out.

Via: Product Reviews and MacRumors

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