ATV2 and XBMC bufferring

I've been plagued with this on MKV files to the point where I had given up
on the ATV as an XBMC platform.
However, as others with the same hardware can probably attest the whole buffering issue was stemming not from my ATV or this remarkable XBMC port but from my *damned* (expensive) Airport Extreme that I had even upgraded to a fast 2T drive.
I moved some of the stuttering MKVs to a plain old Win7 share and the buffering and stuttering has completely disappeared.
Awesome work, XBMC team!!

Actually it's a Time Capsule with a fast internal 2T drive not a Airport Extreme..

Do you have a computer linked on the time capsule at the same time? Try shutting it off and see if the buffering still occurs.

I got a similar issue with an airport extreme. One iMac and the ATV2 connected to it, as long as the Atv is the only thing on, I get flaWless playback in 1080p. As soon as I turn my iMac on, I get buffering issues even in 720p...

Now on to find why...

Here's my experience..

ATV2 and Windows 7 64-bit PC. The PC is plugged in to the router using gigabit ethernet. The ATV2 is connected to the WiFi network using 802.11n 5ghz.

If I stream movies on the ATV2 connecting via an SMB share I get constant buffering.

If I stream the same movies on the ATV2 connecting via UPnP by way of running PS3 Media Server software on the PC I get no stuttering, at all. This includes 1080p rips of movies, with DTS sound. It's beautiful.

I don't know what's going on with SMB shares in XBMC.. but as UPnP seems to be working perfect for me, I can wait patiently.

Hmm I'll have to try that.
Something definitely wonky though with the Mac SMB protocol.
Although I have AFP installed on my ATV I can't see a way to use AFP within XBMC for file access, can I just set up a video source with
afp://mac-server/whatever to access shares from my Mac Mini ?

Sorry I *may* have found the answer here

http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/Mount_a_R...ve_via_AFP

I'll have to try it to see if native AFP is better than SMB.
I can just move the Win7 shares to my Mac Mini.

Have you tried accessing the same SMB share via XBMC on your laptop?
The buffering might not be due to SMB.

I've had some slight buffering issues with some 4-5 GB MKV's. Initially I thought the external drive connected to the Airport Extreme couldn't transfer to the network fast enough, but when I tried with XBMC on the laptop there was no buffering.

Gonna experiment some more, and then upload a piece of the MKV giving me the most trouble.

No luck, apparently mount_afp has been removed from the afp package on the new ATV2 :/

@jchisholm - NitoTv has an afp install package within its interface. I installed it - successfully, according to the on-sreen feedback, yet I believe that the ATV must be rebooted to get it to work (I tried a tethered reboot with Seas0npass, but could not get into DFU - had to rejaibreak from scratch - though that was not a big deal).

Perhaps I did something wrong with the tethered boot and someone else wants to try this.

Thanks Eric
Yes I installed that package, I can see my ATV via AFP from another mac but mount_afp still isn't there. I tried to copy the version from my Mini to the AFP but of course it complains about CPU incompatibility.