Just another thought- iTunes is obviously on the internal iMac drive, but the library is on an external firewire800 drive, could that make any difference?

Hmm... ping to AEX when iTunes is idle:

PING 192.168.1.40 (192.168.1.40): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 192.168.1.40: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=2.272 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.40: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=2.295 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.40: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=2.287 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.40: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=3.014 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.40: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=2.279 ms

Could something be timing out?

Ah i wondered why the pings were high in the first set, that's not the issue though. Having iTunes on external HD is not related. Since you can ping the AEX even when AirTunes is not showing suggests a Bonjour (DNS type) problem. When the Macbook joins AEX wireless instead of 3Com is it the same? I assume AEX and ATV are joining the wireless network of 3Com (ie they have internet).

Edited by deleted (Wed 14-Jan-09 01:13:36)

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suggests a Bonjour (DNS type) problem

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Everything uses the router (192.168.1.1) as its DNS server (as far as I can remember...).

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When the Macbook joins AEX wireless instead of 3Com is it the same?

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Not sure what you mean? The MacBook just joins the LAN, is there a separate way to talk to the AEX?

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I assume AEX and ATV are joining the wireless network of 3Com (ie they have internet).

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Well, the ATV has because it's just told me there's an update available, which I'm downloading now! I assume the AEX has, don't really know how to check.

I'll see how it behaves after the update, it's time I went to bed

Many thanks for your help, I'll report progress (if any) tomorrow.

Airport (triangular shape) in the menu bar lets you choose which wireless device to connect to - you should see your 3Com and AEX at least. Tip: Alt + Click on the triangle will display information such as the speed you're connected at.

I'm thinking perhaps the 3Com is having trouble with the routing which you might resolve by connecting directly to AEX instead. Depending on how you set up AEX (Airport Utility) it will either have joined your existing wireless/ethernet network (with internet access) or created one by itself (without internet access).

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Airport (triangular shape) in the menu bar lets you choose which wireless device to connect to

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Not here it doesn't... if Airport is on I get a list of available networks, not devices, if it's off I get the option to turn it on or open Network Prefs...

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Depending on how you set up AEX (Airport Utility)...

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It's joined my local network.

But I've found a repeatable set of symptoms...

As I'm sure you're aware, the ATV buffers the incoming movie stream. So I found some short movies (OU clips actually, they're free ) and investigated behaviour whilst watching the network traffic on Activity Monitor.

Basically, if ATV is streaming from either the iMac or the Macbook then neither machine can find the AEX. When the streaming finishes, both machines work fine.

So it might be a speed issue? Apple suggest using 802.11n, but my router is only a 'g'. I can live with it if it is, I've no intention of buying another router- I've only had this one for a month or so!

Sorry i do mean available networks not devices. Which network is the Macbook connected to when it loses touch with the AEX? If 3Com then try connecting Airport directly to AEX.

I don't think speed is an issue, Apple wrote that to cover itself since HD can potentially require a chunk of bandwidth. Your g network should be adequate to handle multiple streams, at least in SD.

edit: sorry, i just realised in "join existing network" you can't chose the device as they're all one network. Using Ethernet plugs to separate out AEX might do it.

Edited by deleted (Wed 14-Jan-09 13:45:20)

Ah, I see what you're getting at... you reckon I should try "Create a Wireless Network" in the AEX utility instead of just joining?

Any downsides to that?

If you don't need the AEX to provide internet access then yep that should do it - at least to test whether connecting directly to the AEX resolves the network problem.

Cheers, I'll give that a try later, bit busy at the moment .

Noticed one thing earlier- playing a movie from the iMac, after a while the ATV disappeared from the Devices list, and trying to play through the AEX brought up cannot be found on your network. But I could ping it, and it was there (and usable) on the Macbook . Still waiting to see if they come back on their own.

Definitely something odd somewhere... can't decide whether it's most likely a router, iMac or iTunes problem, but I've got no idea where to start looking . Hopefully setting up a separate AEX network will fix it.

Thanks again for your help.