Does AppleTV really need an internet connection

Just a quick question - does AppleTV really need an internet connection. I am really struggling with the same syncing problems that many people describe on these forums. AppleTV will show on my devices now and again, it tries to authorise with iTunes, syncs for a while and as long as it is connected and showing in the device list I can view any of my movies, TV programs or music on my AppleTV.
But for some unknown reason the Apple TV fails to sync properly, disappears from the devices list and then tells me that there is no content stored on my AppleTV. Very frustrating as you can imagine. Everything checks out - I have good signal strength, can browse the iTunes store and Youtube but the syncing just isn't working.
I have read about problems with the BT Home Hub that I am using for my wireless network and despite taking the recommend steps to open the relevant ports on the hub to allow my AppleTV and computers to talk to each other properly I encounter the same problems.
As a solution I was thinking that I could buy a wireless router and create a network that is separate from the network that I have for the internet and try syncing through that. I don't really want to spend money on a new router unless it is likely to solve the problem.
What do you think?

Thanks for all the comments guys.
Latest update: I decided to try it and have had some success. I acquired a basic Netgear wireless router and set it up in isolation from my BT Home Hub network. I used the basic settings wizard and let it do it's thing.
The AppleTV does show in my devices list however it does disappear randomly every now and again. Syncing has worked although for some reason I can only sync one item at a time - leaving me to have to repeatedly hit sync on iTunes, which is irritating but much less than not being able to sync anything at all. I have since dedicated my old iBook to the new network to act as my media machine.
Conclusion: I'm not sold on this as a solution but as I'm not bothered about accessing the internet through AppleTV it suits me for now. I just wish that I had not bothered with AppleTV and just got a MacMini. For all the hassle and the usability issues I would gladly have paid the extra £200 or whatever.
When it works the AppleTV is great but when it doesn't I just want to throw it out of the window.

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