Finally got around to playing with an Apple TV a couple of weeks ago; set it up as a temp source in my setup; my initial impression was "nice interface"; my very next impression was "WTF, why is it not seeing the network?!?"

Long story short, it seems that even thought hte ATV is succesful at connecting to a wireless network, every few hours it drops off; the ATV still responds to pings from another network client, so it's not fallen off the network; and in fact in the network settings it still reports a connection and IP address. Yet the device appears to think it's got not network connection, as evidenced by the fact that all network media apps/playback options disappear.

Restarting the device doesn't resolve; the only thing that appears to do so is to redo the wireless network connection (SSID, password, etc).

Annoying, to say the least; and certainly not something I'd care to deploy in a client home. Anyone else experienced these type of network dropoff issues?

One possible solution:

[Link: macworld.com]

Also, changing encryption type may work.

can you plug it into the network vs. using wireless? As always wired works better than wireless

Make sure you are using WPA2-AES encryption. Nothing else works consistently other than perhaps WEP.

Try using Airport Extreme as a router

del

-1, dude .... seriously?!?

Natch, I fully expect this will work, just haven't gotten around to trying that yet as I'd have to pop a switch in nearby. Still, it's telling that wifi isn't reliably on this device - not a mere annoyance, but a deal breaker imho.

yes, that is the case ... fwiw, the router is a Netgear WNDR3800, and I have tried connecting to both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks (WPA2/AES) with the same result, of the ATV stumbling off the network several hours after setup.

Thanks for that - it appears they are saying that ATV isn't happy with routers configured to use 'wide channels' (e.g., combining channels 1/6, 6/11). Not the case here, though - my router is configured for a single channel only.

Why not? I bet out of the box with no changes to setup other than setting an SSID and WPA2 the AE will perform far better than the Netgear you have in there. I mean we are comparing two off the shelf consumer brands here...you can't polish a turd but the AE is a shinier turd than that Netgear IMO.

I consistantly have this issue. Apple loses all the icon options but two. Hardwired. Eventually it fixes itself and then happens again a couple times a week.

HARDWIRED! NOt wireless. Frustrating. No solution. Yes. For me.

Infuriating ... I hard-wired the Apple TV, left it alone for a few days - come on back, and once again it has 'fallen off' the network.

Just as when configured for wireless - the ATV still responds to pings from another network client, so it's NOT fallen off the network; the network settings still report a connection and IP address. Yet the device thinks it's got NO network connection, as evidenced by the fact that all network media apps/playback options disappear.

Went into network settings to "reconfigure," selected automatic IP, back to main, and suddenly it's 'back on' the network. What a steaming POC ... glad I tested it before deploying in client's home - guess I'll be going Roku for this client.