Apple TV does not find my NAS or SMB share

What to check when the network screen stays empty, the share list is empty, or the connection fails.

The network screen in Samba Oelek lists devices that announce SMB via Bonjour. Plenty of servers do not announce themselves, and a few Apple TV settings can block discovery. Work through this list from the top.

1. Add the server by address

Discovery is a convenience, not a requirement. Choose Add Server and enter the address:

an IP address such as 192.168.1.20
a hostname such as diskstation.local or nas
optionally a port, 192.168.1.20:445, if your server listens elsewhere

Enter only the host. smb://nas/videos, \\nas\videos and paths with backslashes are rejected with a hint. IPv6 addresses work too.

2. Check local network permission on the Apple TV

tvOS asks each app once for local network access. If it was declined, discovery and connections fail silently. Open the Apple TV Settings, Privacy & Security, Local Network (the exact wording varies by tvOS version) and make sure Samba Oelek is allowed.

3. Make sure the server speaks SMB 2 or 3

Samba Oelek uses SMB 2.0.2 up to 3.1.1. It does not speak SMB 1. Old NAS firmware and some routers with USB drives only offer SMB 1. Look for a setting called minimum or maximum SMB protocol and allow SMB2 or SMB3. Modern Synology, QNAP, Samba, macOS and Windows all support SMB 3.

Some servers refuse to list shares for guests or for certain users while still allowing direct access to a share. Add the server again and enter the share name directly. Hidden shares whose name ends in $ also need to be entered directly.

Use the server’s own user and password, not your Apple ID. Passwords with spaces and special characters are supported.
If the server belongs to a Windows domain or workgroup, try the user as DOMAIN\user or set the domain field.
For guest access the server must actually allow guests on that share. Most NAS defaults do not.

6. Signing and encryption

If the server requires SMB signing or encryption, Samba Oelek honours it. If the server refuses encryption that the app was told to require, the connection fails on purpose. Check the security options of the saved server and match them to what the server allows.

7. Same network?

The Apple TV and the server need to be on the same local network. Guest Wi-Fi networks and client isolation on the router keep devices from seeing each other. Wired Ethernet on the Apple TV avoids most of this.

Still stuck? Write to the support address on the press and contact page with the server type and the exact message the app shows.

Checked against: Samba Oelek README and Raspberry Pi test matrix, 1.0.1, Samba Oelek privacy notes on local network permission. Last checked 2026-09-26.