Server Version#: 1.13.5.5291 on a Synology DS718+
Player Version#: All clients off LAN
I have been having issues for some time with all movies and TV shows buffering outside my network. I have 10 ms ping, 300 down, and 50 up. (Pay for more, but that is what I actually get). My family has 200-1000 down (real world). All of my files are very efficiently encoded in mp4 and can direct play. They average between 4-10 mbps depending on the file.
What logs or info can I provide to see why my / my family’s networks can’t seem to keep up?
Another reason for buffering/stuttering can be your server not being up to the transcoding… NAS tend to be underpowered when it comes to transcoding.
Key question:
Can you make sure they’re all using max/original quality in their clients for remote playback? If the client asks for your videos to be transcoded, plex will do so.
I can confirm that they are using max quality, and are not transcoding. I use both Plex and Tautulli to monitor the streams. I also have the same issue on my phone and PC when not on LAN.
The NAS is quite powerful (for a NAS), since it has an Intel CPU which runs the x64 PMS package with hardware transcoding. Even when the NAS does transcode, since the mp4s are fairly low bitrate, the NAS CPU only sees about 3-10% per stream. I usually only have 1-2 concurrent streams. If I or they set it to transcode at a lower bitrate (usually 2mbps 720p) it runs flawlessly… It just chokes on 5-10mbps 1080p direct play/stream.
My network is: Gigabit capable Cable Modem -> Netgear Orbi RBK50 -> NAS all connected together with cat 7.
@ChuckPa what logs (client(s)? server? debug/verbose?) can I post to get some assistance on this? I’m sure that a quick look from you and you’d see what the issue is… =)
I attempted to follow your directions and just PM’d you the logs. Hopefully I didn’t screw it up. If you need different/more logs, please let me know! Thanks so much for helping!
)