Server Version#: 1.18.3.2156
Router: Technicolor CGM4141
ISP: Comcast Xfinity
I’ve got my media server setup and it works fine over my own network, but outside of the network it’s limited to 0.7Mbps and the “Remote Connection” section of the settings always says “Not available outside your network”, regardless of whether I manually specify a port or not. When I hit retry it’ll show green & connected for a second, then switch back to unavailable.
I’ve forwarded the 32400 port to my server’s private IP, added exceptions in the windows firewall (and disabled it altogether temporarily), and disabled/reenabled UPnP on my router but it always says “Not available outside your network”. I have no anti-virus installed other than windows defender, so I don’t think there’s any other firewalls I can disable.
I’ve tried checking whether the port is open on http://canyouseeme.org/ but the website will not load for me, I’m not sure if this is related to my issue or not. Checking the port on a different port-checker website says the port is closed.
I’ve tried with UPnP on & off, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
I’m currently not using any VPN though if I can get this sorted out I likely will in the future
Yougetsignal.com says the port is closed as well, both with manually specifying the public port and doing it automatically.
If it matters, most times I hit “retry”, it shows “Fully accessible outside your network” for a couple seconds, and then switches back to “Not available outside your network”
The remote access status indicator in Settings > Remote Access is known to occasionally be out-of-sync. If your device can play a video/song while outside your home network, that implies it can connect to your server. If the playback is limited to 0.7Mbps, that implies you’re not getting a direct connection but the network communication goes through a Plex Relay (which has that limitation; 2 Mbps for Plex Pass users).
However… your description doesn’t add up – maybe I’m getting something wrong.
If your client establishes a connection to your server while outside your home network, the port used by Plex is obviously not closed.
Let’s approach this step by step…
Please try to play a video from a client outside your network and (while doing so) check Now Playing on the dashboard in Plex Web.
To troubleshoot, the following information will be helpful:
if the client can access your server and/or if you can play the video
if the video is playing… what information are showing in the now-playing tile in the dashboard (w/ details enabled)
can you post your actual remote access settings (without exposing your public IP)?
what’s your current router configuration (port forward and/or UPnP)?
re #2:
ok… got this one confirmed.
the relevant information is the 3rd line next to the client icon:
remote: Indirect -- 995 Kbps
local: Local (10.0.0.23 -- 2 Mbps
When your remote setup is fixed / troubleshooting succeeded, the indirect label should show Remote instead.
re #3/4:
Let’s try to establish a port forward in your router.
You can use 32400 as the public TCP port but you can also use pretty much any other port.
When you have configured the port forward, make sure to check Manually specify public port in your Plex settings, enter the port you configured in your router and click Apply
With these settings & the port (32400) specified manually it still says “not available outside your network”, and it says “the server is currently unavailable” when I try to access the server’s plex settings from a different computer via Teamviewer.
That’s… odd.
Can you try using a totally different port? Maybe even one that’s usually used by a more common service (maybe go with 80 or 8080 )
I’m currently guessing this is a network issue, maybe filter/block applied by your ISP… as UPnP is working but that particular port isn’t, that could be a possible explanation.
forwarding port 80 and 8080 (not at the same time) and manually specifying the port for Plex, still with UPnP off, both still say not available outside the network
Its a pretty standard apartment setup. Comcast router connected via coax directly into the wall, the PC being used as a server has a wired connection to the router.
I’m using MoCA for 2 other computers on the network, but the server is not using MoCA. Now that I think about it, I have a MoCA POE filter on (what I’m 99% sure is) the coax entry point for the apartment unit, to prevent sharing MoCA network access to other units in the apartment building. Could that be causing the problem?
I don’t get why the communication is working with the automatic configuration / UPnP but fails with a dedicated port forward.
One more thing coming to mind… can you double-check if your router’s public IP address is actually a public IP address? Some ISPs have stopped assigning public IP addresses and use private bands instead (establishing a CGNAT).
Most commonly those are 10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255 (as in your own home network), 172.16.0.0-172.31.255.255 and 192.165.0.0-192.168.255.255.
Last straw for tonight (3:23 am):
I just noticed that your router doesn’t allow configuring different private and public ports… so technically if you assign port 80, this will connect to port 80 on your local network as well.
Hence you will only be able to use port 32400, as that’s the only port the Plex Media Server on 10.0.0.69 in your home network is listening.
That means we might have been on a right track earlier… however we cannot verify if your ISP is maybe blocking that port.
Can you get in touch with them and ask them if there is such a blocker/filter and if they can open it for you?
Talked with Comcast advanced repair dept., they said this list of ports are the only ports they block, and my public IP is indeed a public IP. I asked if there was anything in general with Comcast that may mess with Plex services and they didn’t have anything.
I’m going to try removing the POE filter from the coax just in case, but other than that I don’t have much idea what else to do. I originally had the media server running on a laptop, but a couple days ago I switched to a desktop PC with no monitor or anything. The same problem happened on both of them, so it would definitely make sense that its a network or router issue and not something with my PC.
Hey just wondering if you found a fix for this as I had the same issue, had it working on my laptop with no issues and then swapped to a desktop and now I can’t get remote access. Turn it on and says its connected for a few seconds and then goes back to unavailable
Standard question #1:
Is remote access actually not working or are you relying on the status indicator?
If you cannot play any content while outside your home network… would you mind sharing some more details as for how you’ve setup your PMS‘ remote access (Plex and router settings)?
I’m not very technical but I haven’t really changed anything on my router beside giving my PC a reservation but this didn’t fix it. Remote stopped working once I removed my laptop and replaced it with a PC, everything was the same
However in the last day it has all of a sudden started working so not sure what happened but it is now working.
)