Using AppleTV (and Airplay) with BT Home Hub 3.0

If you're reading this post then you're probably experiencing one of the following issues;

• Your Apple TV can connect to the internet over Wi-Fi but can't see your iTunes Library (that you're sharing via Home Sharing) on a another machine on your home network
• Airplay Devices you own (such as iPod's, iPhone's, iPad's, etc) cannot see your Apple TV (despite them all being able to access the Internet via the Home Hubs Wi-Fi

You've probably tried;

• Doing a "hard reset" of the Home Hub - always a good place to start when you have an issue!
• Adding in the AppleTV ports to the list of forwarded ports (although this doesn't always work as sometimes you get a conflict)

And still no Airplay on your devices, and no iTunes library on your AppleTV.

Here is the solution (well, what worked for me anyway!);

• Go to Your Home Hub 3.0 login page (see here if you're having problems finding it) and login (if this is the first time you've logged in it will ask you to change the password from the "admin password" on your Hub Settings fob)
• Click "Settings" 
• Click "Wireless" (on the left)
• Change Security from "WPA & WPA2 (Recommended)" to "WPA2 only"
• Re-enter the Wireless Key as specified on your Hub Settings fob (you could pick another, but that just complicates the process and means everything will have to reconnect and login again)
• Scroll to the bottom and click "Apply"

And that's it, assuming everything is connecting properly and this was the only problem (and you've chosen the same Wireless Key so that everything doesn't have to reconnect - always a good idea!) then everything should, as if by magic, start working.

BT Home Hub 3.0 Wireless Security Settings

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iTunes: How to Download 1080p Content By Default (If Available)

By default iTunes is set to download HD content (TV Shows and Movies) in 720p and while this is the maximum supported resolution for the AppleTV 2 the new Apple TV supports up to 1080p and, if you've paid for the HD content, you might as well see it full size!*.

Start with opening iTunes and bring up "Preferences" and select the green "Store" icon;

iTunes Store Preferences > Store Tab

In the second section at the bottom there is a drop down, showing "720p" in the image above, you can change this to "1080p" to download the maximum high-definition format (well, until maybe the iPad 4 anyway ...).

If you want to check it's working just go to a HD item in the iTunes store and take a look at the settings on the left;

Alcatraz, Season 1 Showing 1080p HD Download as Default (click to enlarge)

Of course not all HD content is currently 1080p but there are a few titles which offer free previews in 1080 like the BBC's Sherlock.

To go straight to the option screen from the TV/ Movie screen just click on the "(Downloading xxx)" indicator on the left, it's actually a link and will take you straight to the settings page to change your option.

*- Disk space permitting of course! A 22 episode series HD will take you around 3.5GB (SD 600mb, HD 720p 1.4Gb, and HD 1080p 1.6Gb) per episode. That's around 80Gb for the complete series. Looking at West Wing that's over half a terabyte for all seven seasons for 1080p!

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Apple TV (2nd Generation) Buyers FAQ

Q: It says it does HD, is that 1080p?
A: No. It does 720p. There has been a lot of speculation recently about Apple launching "HD+" which would be 1080p content in the iTunes Store. At the moment (December 2011) this is just speculation and nothing has been released yet. It is unlikely that Apple TV will start doing 1080p before Apple has started selling content.

Q: Does it work right out of the box?
A: Yes - and no. You need to have a home network on which there is at least one machine which is running iTunes with home-sharing turned on, the Apple TV needs to then connect to the same network and be able to see this machine. You also need an HDMI cable.

UPDATE (Dec-11): If you have purchased either Music or TV Programmes (*not* Films) from the iTunes Store then these will be available as soon as you start-up your Apple TV and it connects to a network which has access to the internet.

Q: Can I put "x" from my iTunes library on it?
A: No. That's not how it works. The Apple TV streams media from another source (typically your iTunes library, iCloud, or one of the (few) supported internet services like YouTube, Vimeo, etc, or from AirPlay supported devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) it has a very small amount of local storage for buffering but you cannot "put" an item on that storage for viewing later.

Q: Can I use it as an external hard drive for media?
A: No, that's not how it works either - see above.

Q: Does it always have to be connected to the internet?
A: No. But it always has to be able to see it's source. As an example I took it, my wireless router, and my laptop running iTunes and my iPhone on a caravan holiday in South Wales. Despite the wireless router not having an ongoing connection to the internet the Apple TV was able to play streamed media from both the laptop and the iPhone when they were all connected to the router.

Q: Does it have to use Wi-Fi?
A: No, it has an ethernet port (and that's how I use mine). For performance reasons I find it works better with a wired connection (my wireless is provided by a Virgin Media Wireless-N box).

Q: Can I watch BBC iPlayer on it?
A: Directly No, but you could for example use Airplay to mirror iPlayer content  from either an iPad or an iPhone to it.

Q: Can I use my iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad as a remote control?
A: Yes, just install the Apple Remote application from the iTunes store and connect the device to the same network (so it can see the Apple TV) and turn on Home-sharing in the remote app.

Q: Does it play DVD's?
A: No. There is no DVD slot for a start. If you have the time and inclination you could use some software like HandBrake to convert your DVD's, add them into iTunes and then stream them to the AppleTV but the honest answer has to be "No".

Q: So would you recommend one?
A: Yes. Wholeheartedly.


So what other questions would people considering buying an Apple TV want to ask? Leave a comment and I'll try both to answer questions and to keep this FAQ up to date.

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Apple TV (V1) unable to play Purchased Video (White Screen)

This blog post attempts to give a way of fixing the problem described above (which is related to account authorisation when using Multiple Apple ID's from iTunes not being correctly passed through to the Apple TV when you do a Sync).

This fix will only be of use to you if you have just factory-resert your Apple TV, performed a new Sync of your videos, you actually use multiple Apple ID's (i.e. you and your partner have separate accounts), and you are seeing the white screen instead of your video.

NOTE: This problem relates to an issue with the FIRST VERSION of the Apple TV. It does not occur on Apple TV 2.


Symptoms
When you select a video (film or TV program) that you have purchased from the Apple Store (i.e. it includes Apple DRM) the screen fills with white and at the bottom you see the "progress" bar which continues to count up but the picture remains just solid white.

There is no audio.

Cause
Your Apple TV has not been authorised to play video's for the specific user account that purchased the video.

Replicating The Problem
I've always though this this should be the most important section when describing any IT-related problem. How do you know you've fixed a problem you can't replicate? Needless to say working out exactly what caused this required quite a lot of time!

First of all you need two Appe ID's both of which have to have purchased a video (of some description) from the iTunes Store. Of course this is fairly easy to setup given the number of "free" videos and email services like GMail out there.

Let's call the accounts [1] and [2]. [1] has the free pilot episode of Stargate: Universe while [2] has the free recap of Lost.

Perform a factory reset of your Apple TV and then perform the initial setup from iTunes when it appears. Use account [1] to register your Apple TV and then sync both videos.

Attempt to play the video from [2] (Lost) on the newly refreshed Apple TV. You will see the white screen as despite iTunes allowing you to Sync the video it does not have the keys to actually play it.

Fixing the Problem
Ah yes, the important bit! Apple provide a potential solution to the problem here - IT veterans will recognize it as our perenial favourite the "turning it off and on again" answer to everything.

Assuming Apple's recommendation hasn't worked try the following:

• Go to the "Settings" and then the "General" menus
• Select "iTunes Store"
• Log in with the Apple ID that purchased the video (following the example above this would be account [2])
• Go back to the main menu and select "Downloads" and then "Check for Downloads"

Now when you try and play the video it will work (as the Apple TV has now been authorised to play videos from this account). You should be able to repeat this with as many additional accounts as necessary.

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