Problems streaming with AirPlay

[Pa]

Last night my wife and I tried to watch classical music concerts streamed from two different sources. There were two problems I don't know how to fix:

1) I tried to stream directly to my new Sony "smart" TV, but there was no sound. I checked the settings and everything looked perfect, but still no sound.

2) I next started steaming to my Roku Premier streaming stick. Sound was perfect but I was getting frequent video freezes accompanied by audio dropout.

My internet service gives me over 700Mbps download with a hardwired connection, and over 400 through wifi.

I tried shutting down everything: MacBook Pro that I was streaming from, TV set, and then I reset the modem/router. Same problem. As I said above, we also tried streaming from a completely different source with the same result. I tried switching from Safari to Firefox. Nothing helped, so we gave up and watched a basketball game.

Can anyone suggest something else to try when this happens?

 

[tenplanescrashing]

What router do you have? Most of these problems i've found are hardware related with hardware that isn't very good in supporting multiple streams. If this is an internet stream that is going to your laptop then laptop to airplay you're essentially running 2 streams through your router.

Your internet speeds aren't the issue as the connection internal to your network has nothing to do with internet speeds but your networking hardware most definitely has it's own connection speed/strength/prioritization settings and some are editable and some aren't.

If you're using your ISP provided equipment, that may be problem #1. While I work for an ISP that provides equipment and the equipment is "good" for most general uses, it's not great for anything beyond that. Also, you should [nearly] NEVER have to restart your equipment...that is typically a sign of inferior equipment. I've had my current setup live for 3 years and i've only restarted it once because of a weird power outage issue that caused some issues with the power supply I was using.

 

[Pa]

The modem/router is the one supplied by Comcast. It's a Technicolor CGM4331COM.

 

[MortyCapp]

Did you check that the MacBook pro sound is set to the TV?
It might still be connected to another Bluetooth device.

 

[tenplanescrashing]

The modem/router is the one supplied by Comcast. It's a Technicolor CGM4331COM.

And I believe you have that because you probably have home phone service, yeah? Either way, you can make that a modem only and get your own router setup but that's up to you. Not saying this is the only issue you're facing but these devices aren't great for streaming.

 

[Pa]

Did you check that the MacBook pro sound is set to the TV?
It might still be connected to another Bluetooth device.

Yes, I checked that.

And I believe you have that because you probably have home phone service, yeah? Either way, you can make that a modem only and get your own router setup but that's up to you. Not saying this is the only issue you're facing but these devices aren't great for streaming.

Can you recommend a moderately priced router?

My current setup works great about 90% of the time. I can't understand why it is sometimes so abysmal.

 

[kilofoxtrott]

My internet service gives me over 700Mbps download with a hardwired connection, and over 400 through wifi.

Oh Jim,
now I'm dreaming...
I got 2.0Mbit download and 768kBit upload.

Klaus

 

[Growltiger]

Oh Jim,
now I'm dreaming...
I got 2.0Mbit download and 768kBit upload.

Klaus

Don't you have any sort of fiber offering you can buy?
For many years I used to be on 1Mb down, 400Kb up, so I know what it's like.
Now I'm on 300Mb down and 300Mb up, and if I wanted to pay a bit more I can phone them and instantly upgrade to 1000Mb down and 1000Mb up - but there is no point, I don't need it.

 

[Growltiger]

Jim - have you tested your speed when using wifi? I'm thinking that the 400 quoted may not be actual. You may have interference from other users - do you have neighbours? It would be worth doing a channel scan and making sure you are using the best channels.

 

[Pa]

Jim - have you tested your speed when using wifi? I'm thinking that the 400 quoted may not be actual. You may have interference from other users - do you have neighbours? It would be worth doing a channel scan and making sure you are using the best channels.

Wifi speed to the laptop I'm streaming from is about 410 Mbps; I checked it about an hour ago. I live on 12 forested acres on a mountainside, so interference from neighbors is not possible.

p.s. how do you do a channel scan?

 

[tenplanescrashing]

You don't have a channel issue. Let me see if there is something else before I go recommending new hardware.

 

[kilofoxtrott]

Don't you have any sort of fiber offering you can buy?
For many years I used to be on 1Mb down, 400Kb up, so I know what it's like.
Now I'm on 300Mb down and 300Mb up, and if I wanted to pay a bit more I can phone them and instantly upgrade to 1000Mb down and 1000Mb up - but there is no point, I don't need it.

No chance in our small village, Richard.
May we share yours? I'm willing to buy the cable…

Kind regards
Klaus

 

[Growltiger]

p.s. how do you do a channel scan?

It is built into macOS:
https://www.imore.com/how-use-macos-wireless-diagnostics-get-best-possible-wifi-settings-your-area

 

[Palouse]

It is built into macOS:
https://www.imore.com/how-use-macos-wireless-diagnostics-get-best-possible-wifi-settings-your-area

Not applicable to Big Sur.

 

[Pa]

It is built into macOS:
https://www.imore.com/how-use-macos-wireless-diagnostics-get-best-possible-wifi-settings-your-area

I didn't know about that, but it isn't relevant to my situation since I only get the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz signals from my modem/router.

 

[Pa]

I think I have solved Problem #2; it was apparently interference between wi-fi and Bluetooth since they both use the 2.4 GHz frequency. By changing all wi-fi connections to 5.0 GHz the problem seems to be fixed.

Problem #1 is still open, but I have discovered that I can stream to the TV from my iPhone and the sound works fine. So it must have to do with some setting on the Mac.

 

[tenplanescrashing]

when you say "changing all wifi connections to 5ghz" what do you mean?

There is such thing as BT & Wifi (2.4ghz) interference but i've never witnessed it being anything significant, usually only short distance issues like headphones or mice. You may have found a temporary fix but I don't think it's truly "fixed"...that seems quite odd.

If one device works but another doesn't for streaming, we can rule out network hardware. I rarely (if ever) stream internally to another device but I would definitely check on your audio settings on both your TV and on your laptop.

 

[Pa]

Problem #1 and #2 are independent. This only fixes #2.

I set the wi-fi connection for the MacBook and the Apple TV device both to 5GHz, and that completely eliminates the problem of the picture freezing and jerking. One of my best friends is a retired professor of Electrical Engineering, and is an expert on wireless communications, having written several books on the subject. He said this was a textbook case of bluetooth/wi-fi interference.

Problem #1 is still not solved. I spent about an hour with Sony and then Apple tech support, and they haven't figured it out. The last suggestion from Apple was to update the MacBook Pro from Mojave to Big Sur. But since then I have discovered that streaming directly to the Sony TV from my iMac running Big Sur suffers the same problem.

 

[MortyCapp]

Does this apply?
Not all Sony TVs are fully airplay compatible out of the box.

https://www.techjunkie.com/sony-tvs-compatible-airplay/

 

[Pa]

Does this apply?
Not all Sony TVs are fully airplay compatible out of the box.

https://www.techjunkie.com/sony-tvs-compatible-airplay/

Yes, this one is an X800H, which is the first model listed in that link.