Apple TV works great for streaming without internet!!!
Hi guys, just joined a moment ago. I thought I'd put this up because it was such a MAJOR pain in the butt to find the answer to this problem.
YES, it is 100% possible to use iTunes homesharing and stream all your iTunes content from your Mac/PC to the Apple TV. HOWEVER, you do initially need to connect it to the internet and "register" it for homesharing. After that, no freakin' problems. Works like a dream! Now I can access all 100GBs of movies, anime, shows, podcasts, music and photos from my TV. Totally awesome!
The area that I happen to live in has pathetic internet access 'cause its about just 500 metres or so out of range of the nearest local access point. So the only way to get internet is through a 3G (or dialup ).
Luckily I happen to have a 3G pocketWIFI device which acts as a portable router with internet access.
1. I connected the Apple TV to the pocketWIFI (WITH INTERNET ACCESS) first, went into Settings > Computers > Turn on Homesharing.
2. I then follow the prompts to set it up etc. Once you finish, DO NOT turn off homesharing otherwise you're probably gonna have to do this again, which was a total ordeal for me due to wireless problems.
3. At this point, you have to go to the network settings and disconnect it from the internet, otherwise it will keep searching for rentals, movies, youtube, etc.
4. Connect to your home network router with NO INTERNET ACCESS. Make sure it is a fairly good router with a strong solid connection. Mine is a relatively crap Netgear MBR624GU router (wifi b/g). I tried WPA2 at first, but it was very patchy. I then tried WPA and it works fine.
5. Enjoy your iTunes Library!!
I'm not entirely sure if ATV would remember your homesharing settings if you had to turn it off from the wall... maybe 75% sure it will though, so perhaps you could take the ATV somewhere with internet, register it for homesharing, then bring it back to your place with no internet access and it'll still work.
Good luck!
hYu