AppleTV needs WIFI reconfigured too often

Question

My AppleTV loses connection to my Airport Extreme base station (802.11n). Every couple of days I need to configure wireless again on the AppleTV.
The tv display shows that it still knows the Network Name and has an IP Address. However it does not know the Router address or the DNS address. As strong signal strength is displayed.
I don't broadcast the network name. It is a mixed config on the AEB (801.11n and 801.11g). I am using WPA password.
Generally I don't lose the connection overy night... but after two or more days of not using the AppleTV I will have to re-configure.
Any ideas on what is wrong?

Answer 1

Sure, provided you have an Apple Airport router. If you have some other brand you'll have to Google it
0) First, find out the MAC addresses for your iMac and AppleTV(s) (See separate procedures at end)
1) Open Airport Utility and double-click your router.
2) Click on the round 'Internet' icon.
3) Click on the DHCP tab.
4) You'll see a numeric DHCP beginning address of the form AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD where "AAA", etc are all numbers (on mine it is 10.0.1.2)
5) You'll also see a DHCP Ending Address like AAA.BBB.CCC.EEE (where EEE is a bigger number than DDD above (mine says 10.0.1.200)
6) Click on the [+] below the DHCP Reservations box.
7) Type in a meaningful description like "appleTV" or "iMac"
8) Make sure "Reserve address by MAC Address" is checked. (I don't know how to set it up the other way!)
9) Click Continue
10) Type in the MAC address of the device (it takes the form II:JJ:KK:LL:MM:NN)
11) Type in the final 1-3 digit(s) of the ipv4 address (the first digits, "AAA.BBB.CCC", should already be filled in for you. Just enter a unique number here.
12) Once you've entered a unique number, the Done key should un-grey automatically. Click it!
Repeat for the other device(es)
_To find the wireless or wired MAC address(es) of your iMac (depending on how it's connected):_
i) Click on the apple symbol in the top left hand corner of the screen.
ii) Click on "About This Mac"
iii) Click on "More info"
iv) In the left hand list, click on Network.
v) In the upper panel, click on either Airport, or Ethernet depending on how you connect.
vi) In the lower panel, look for "Ethernet:" and below it "MAC Address". It takes the form: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX where 'X' can be any digit 0-9 or letter a-f. (Note that it reads "Ethernet" regardless of whether you're looking at wired or wireless. Seems odd, but there you go!)
_To find the wireless MAC address(es) of your AppleTV_
On the AppleTV: Settings --> General --> Network. It's labelled "Wireless ID"
You'll need to set up a separate ip address reservation for your iMac and each AppleTV (at least, that's what I did. I actually set up reservations for ALL my wireless devices now). If you mess up one, just highlight it in the listbox and click the '-' button (below the listbox) to delete it.
Good luck.