Xfinity App on Apple TV 4K will not allow me to watch live sports while Apple TV is ethernet connected to Comcast [Edited]

MN893LL/A version 27.0 (24J361) - Apple TV 4K.

This was the latest generation Apple TV 4K until Apple released a new one a few days ago. 

@user_5392c7 Thanks, that is a good set up. Are you seeing the error code TVAPP-00101 in the message about needing to be on Wifi? 

That will have to wait until I am denied in a Live broadcast again.  

All that said it is non-sensical that my iPad running Xfinity stream over WiFi and my Apple TV running Xfinity stream over ethernet have opposite outcomes given they are eventually connected to the same LAN and then WAN links. 

@user_5392c7 Totally get that, and it would help us determine the route to take for troubleshooting. See if you can replicate it by watching other live sports that you wouldn't normally enjoy. 

Thanks for letting us know! It's likely you're receiving that error because live sporting events are very particular about verifying they're being broadcast to anyone's home correctly. In your case, the error message you're receiving is not incorrect in that some programming does have to be viewed exclusively via a Wi-Fi connection to be able to verify you're using your home network. When you're connected via Ethernet, the Xfinity app/Apple TV has no way to tell what Wi-Fi network it's connected to to relay to the Xfinity app for authentication when sports are on, so it pops out that error. Does the programming work fine when the Ethernet is removed, and it's connected to Wi-Fi only?

@XfinitySeth​ I’m not going to disconnect the ethernet cable on my AppleTV 4k.  It’s buried in an AV rack.  

The xfinity streaming app can determine if it’s connected to a Comcast network via ethernet or WiFi! The app can simply perform a traceroute to determine if it is traversing a Comcast network. I’m a network engineer and a software developer. This is simply lazy programming by the Xfinity stream app dev team. 

I understand not wanting to mess with your setup as is, but it's not a matter of detecting a Comcast network, it's a matter of detecting your home Wi-Fi network specifically, which is going undetected if the Apple TV is using the Ethernet connection. The sports programming requires specifically a Wi-Fi connection, so those errors you're seeing are by design as we have to adhere to broadcasting regulations for these live events that require we verify how the program is being watched explicitly via Wi-Fi.

@XfinitySeth​ this is going nowhere.  Please have a supervisor contact me via my Comcast email address. 

To net this out for you - you are currently stating I need to have a worse experience watching my desired content to satisfy some agreement Comcast may or may not have agreed to.  This is lunacy. Comcast software can detect if it is using a Comcast network.  Saying the last connection must be via WiFi is just moronic. ETHERNET IS BETTER THAN WIFI.  Game over full stop! 

I understand the frustration, and your points are valid for sure, but what you're requesting goes above an Xfinity requirement, and it is not up to us how the programming partners require any content to be viewed. As we're a corporate team, were more than happy to pass that feedback along, but what you're describing is working as described, so you would need to connect your Apple TV via Wi-Fi to view certain content. Apologies for the inconvenience.