Hi, everyone,
I want to move to Plex instead of Emby but before I do I have some questions that I would greatly appreciate if you would answer me.
I was once a Plex but left because I did not have local user management.
Is there such a thing in Plex? I saw there was something like this in Plex Pass. But I did not understand exactly how it works.
I want every user to have a local account on the server, like in Emby (for those who know how it works, then something like that.)
I understand that for Plex Pass you need a Plex account but if it will be only for the server and not for the users then I do not care.
And in addition to that if I want to connect to Plex outside my network, so I want that the only way will be just through my domain and not through app.plex.tv hope this is possible. (Then log in through their local account and not through the Plex account and that is if there is a local user account in Plex at all - question above.)
And is there a Plex Pass trial? - a week or so. Because I want to know everything before I pay (it’s still been a few years since I last used Plex I’m sure things have changed in that time.) And also to see that everything works exactly as I expect.
And I will mainly use iOS and AppleTV devices so I of course want everything to work smoothly there along with all the things I ask (local account etc)
And if that matters I plan to install Plex Media Server on FreeNAS / TrueNAS
Plex has the concept of a „Plex Home“ and managed users. Those managed users will be linked to your account. You can then share content from your server with them, applying an age group based restriction profile if needed. https://support.plex.tv/articles/203815766-what-is-plex-home/
The Plex Home feature used to require a Plex Pass membership. From all I can see that’s no longer the case.
Plex however has no concept of fully local users. While it’s possible to define certain exceptions for devices inside your home network not to require a specific authentication (Plex Pass feature), the authentication of users will always require a connection to Plex‘ backend.
There’s no Plex Pass trial offer. However you can setup your server and libraries with a free account to get started. If you want to check out certain Plex Pass features, you won’t get around a 1-month membership (usually ~5 $).
So Plex Home is the best option and close to what I’m looking for?
And if so, I can create two Plex accounts - one for the server with which I buy Plex Pass and another only for Plex Media Player and in an account for Plex Media Player I basically do not give it access to anything and it will basically only be used to connect to applications and then I run Managed Users together With a PIN code and that way there will actually be access to the content … then whoever needs access to my server I actually give him the account intended for the applications and there will be another Managed Users profile for that person (basically it will be 99 percent only family members)
Hope I explained understandably what I want to do.
And can I disable access via the app.plex.tv to my server? And that the access will be only and exclusively from my private domain?
Is there a refund if I want to cancel Plex Pass but say I only used it for a few days out of the month (in case I buy the plan of the month)?
No need for the “application account” for the Plex Media Player in this picture…
Basically you’ll setup your server and link it to your account.
In order to access it from another application, you log into that same account from that application and will see your server’s content.
When you create managed accounts for your kids it’s good practice to assign a PIN to the admin account so they won’t mess things up.
If you want them to access the server from another device, you’ll sign them up on that device. Afterwards you can switch users on the device (requiring a PIN if you set one).
If you don’t intend to apply parental controls on those managed users, you could also create some separate Plex accounts for them (can make sense for a spouse). Keep in mind that in such use case the separate spouse Plex account will not benefit from the Plex Pass features.
I don’t think you can limit access to be only available through your private domain.
From what I’ve seen, Plex has no refunds… if you go with a 1-month membership to test those extra features, you’ll end up paying for 1 month.
Edit: then again… to set this up you don’t need a Plex Pass. Personally I’d start doing the setup and test it. Once everything is working according to your liking you can add the Plex Pass for 1 month to check it out… if you like it, keep it going.
Nope, all the users must log in via plex.tv( even you setup r-proxy) to get your server’s IP and port.
I’m tried Emby in another day; there’s something I can’t put up with:
1.When I need to grab the poster manually, I must input something; instead, plex will automatically do it; most time, I only need to click the “search” button.
2.I can’t find an interface that allows me to upload a subtitle file in Emby. I do not want to use SCP or something else for such trivial things.
Ok,
I want to try as little as possible to use the Plex account to avoid as much as possible the “home call” thing
But really it does not seem to be a possibility that is currently possible. That really sucks, the product is a great product (at least that’s how I remember it).
I was thinking of creating a separate account for the server and for the Plex Media Player to minimize access to administrator settings. But if we say there will be no access to such settings then ok for family members and the things I connect them then it does not really matter to me to connect to the same account of the server.
Because I do not exactly want to give the password of this account to anyone.
I thought I would only use Managed Users because I want everyone to have their own follow-up on the series they watch and basically a personal profile.
I currently do not plan to put parental controls on the accounts.
I thought that through the Plex Home I can also share Plex accounts and then they will also have a Plex Pass from the main account (which is connected to the server)
Yes, I read that you do not need a Plex Pass for this. But if I do invest in this move from Emby I will already be buying a Plex Pass, of course after I check that everything is working properly.
And another question I remembered, if I can not tell Plex my domain and where exactly to connect to access the media from the server, how do I know exactly that it will not accidentally log in externally to the network that is internal? Explanation: If I connect to a device that is on the internal network (which the server is also on) how do I know that suddenly the application will not connect externally to something that is internal and then things will be very slow, and even if it does connect internally or worse externally then, it Raises a security question because with an internal IP address there is no valid certificate. Only for FQDN … so … the traffic uses HTTP and not HTTPS ?!
All my domains use reverse proxy for SSL only I can not put Plex in there.
And in order to check and get to know everything, I will soon install Plex on the FreeNAS, we’ll see how it goes …
The thing that made me start switching from Emby was that a few days ago they released an update to the Apple TV app that ruined everything - subtitles and getting the TV in the right mode and who knows what else I still haven’t found.
Yes, I know the problem with the poster in Emby it happens to me from time to time.
I upload all the media files and subtitles through SMB sharing, but I can understand how annoying it would be to every time open an SCP for stuff like that.
Plex support HTTPS mode for mandatory, that’s for sure.
For me, it’s a totally different story, vice versa.
My Apple TV with Plex working smoothly, until a few days ago, loading some media file would take over 1-2 mins (with 10G port speed network), and I’ve done nothing with it.
I’m not using SMB or SCP, because media files are scattered over 40 HDDs; it’s like finding the needle in haystacks. So, for now, I’m trying to figure out fix the problem with Plex. We’ll see what it goes.
I think the above is what you are talking about in terms of a direct connection to your personal server. I am a plex pass user. If you add a local account, you pick the name. You can then assign that user a 4 digit pin so that only they can access that account. The admin user you, will show up in the list as well and you can have a pin too. I do not know if they have opened this to non plex pass users.
