Getting the iPhone remote app to see my Apple TV

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
My Apple TV is connected via an ethernet cable. Tonight I was trying to use the remote app on my iPhone to control the Apple TV and it showed me that the Apple TV was "offline". I later discovered that if I switched my iPhone from "ournetwork=5G" (not the actual name of course) to "our network-2.4G" it worked. Not sure why that would have a bearing on the ethernet cable connected Apple TV and can't find a setting on it that may influence that. Any suggestions?

Dave
 

chas_m

Well-Known Member
This probably has something to do with either the age/model of your Apple TV or the age/model of your iPhone, as some older devices can't "see" 5G networks properly.
 

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
The Apple TV is (I think) the 4th gen. At least it is the 1080p version just before the (present?) 4k version. The iPhone is an 11 But if the Apple TV is on the network via an ethernet cable is it using wifi to talk to my iPhone or bluetooth? If wifi, where are the settings to say which network?
 

chas_m

Well-Known Member
The Apple Remote itself, probably like its app counter part, uses Bluetooth not Wi-Fi, which is why it can connect even if the Apple TV hardware isn't on Wi-Fi. But it likely looks for a network connection as well (several of Apple's technologies use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in harmony for ensuring a connection, such as AirDrop.

You can check to see if your Apple TV is connected (as well) to your Wi-Fi network by checking the network settings on the device.
 

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
It seemed to me that when I checked the network settings on the Apple TV (I'm not able to check at the moment) it said "ethernet >" and when I clicked on that to dive deeper it just listed the IP address router address etc. Nothing at all about wifi. Have I overlooked some area of the settings?
 

chas_m

Well-Known Member
No, but I think the Apple remote is using Bluetooth to communicate, and that works on the same 2.4Ghz band as Wi-FI, so that’s probably something to do with it.
 

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
Thanks Chas, I guess knowing I have to be on the 2.4G band will have to be enough even if I don't completely understand why.
 
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