Hi, I am having an issue when it comes to buffering issues. I am using Remote Streaming to share my library of movies with a friend that lives in Puerto Rico, but every time he plays a movie from my library it keeps buffering. I wanted to know what settings or options I can do to fix this issue? My friend said that he doesn’t have any buffering issues using Netflix or Prime, so I know it must be something with either my connection or settings. When I play the movies within my home or network, there’s no buffering issues at all, but when sharing my movie library with this friend from Puerto Rico, it keeps buffering for them. I have high speed internet from Spectrum, using a Ethernet cable as my connection, and I am using a fast processer in my PC. I don’t know if I should be using the Internet Upload Speed or the Limit Remote Stream Bitrate, or both at the same time? I currently have my Internet Upload Speed set a 9 Mbps and the Limit Remote Stream Bitrate at 15 Mbps. I did run a internet speed test and my Download Mbps is 516.67 and my Upload Mbps is 10.35. Can someone help me with this buffering issue please?
This will very much depend on what media your friend is trying to stream from your server. 10 Mbps upload from your place to the internet isn’t awfully much when it comes to streaming videos.
As a side note: comparing streaming with Netflix and Co. can be completely off. They have already highly optimized their media for that use case (usually pushing for super-low bitrates).
What information is showing in the “now playing” tile for that playback on the Plex server dashboard?
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200871837-status-and-dashboard/
He was streaming a regular 1080p movie that I added to my Plex library. I didn’t realize 10 Mbps wasn’t enough to stream videos. What can I do to improve it?
Also I can’t really tell you what information is showing in the “now playing” title for the playback because my friend is no longer using my server in this moment. Is there a way I can get the log for that information when he was playing a movie from my library?
Hi, this message is in response to what you said to me about the buffering issue I am trying to fix.
He was streaming a regular 1080p movie that I added to my Plex library. I didn’t realize 10 Mbps upload wasn’t enough to stream videos. What can I do to improve it? The file size is around 6 GB. Should I reduce the file size or should I reduce the bitrate from 1080p to 480p?
Also I can’t really tell you what information is showing in the “now playing” title for the playback because my friend is no longer using my server in this moment. Is there a way I can get the log file for that information when he was playing a movie from my library?
That’ll depend on how capable your server is – though in most cases you shouldn’t need to modify the source files (e.g. creating lower-bitrate or lower-resolution versions).
Plex can transcode files on-the-fly, that means it’ll provide a version that’s compatible with the client from which your friend is trying to stream. Transcoding of videos can be quite demanding and not all CPUs are up to it.
As you have a Plex Pass, you might be able to use hardware accelerated transcoding – that means the job of on-the-fly optimizing the video for streaming is done by a (supported) GPU or iGPU.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to your question.
Just keep in mind that the max bandwidth needed for streaming is based on the actual maximum bitrate. This can be significantly higher than the average
Ok, thank you. I appreciate your help.
When your friend is playing a file, he can click on the settings in the player and change the quality setting. There is a list of reduced bitrates. This will require a transcode, so this will need a GPU or a beefy CPU to handle.
10Mbps is pretty low, and your Remote stream is higher than your ISP’s upload rate. Change that to 8Mbps.
Also consider that residential internet service, (uploads, and especially at exchanges between service providers) are likely deprioritized. This may be a problem, but a better internet plan (money you cough up to your ISP) will result in a better experience for your remote users.
You can also create optimized versions of movies that are pre-transcodes for devices or bandwidth limits.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/214079318-media-optimizer-overview/
Most 1080p content can be transcoded @ 3-6Mbps and look good.
1080p is still a bit vague when it comes to video bit rate. You can have some 1080p movies that use as little as 3 mbps, or as high as 15-20. I know, I need to use compressed videos that come in under 3 GB in size for 1080p in order for the bit rate to not be too high for my upload.
I have 10mbps upload, which is pretty pathetic, but the best I can get for my isp.
