Buffering on local playback ONLY when PC is server

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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1

Okay here’s the deal. I got Nvidia Shield Pro 2019 and LG OLED B9.

When I run Plex Server on my Shield and the Client on Shield, then I can play any 4k file with 0 buffering. Everything is always being direct played, and NO transcoding is taking place.

When I run Plex Server on my PC, and the Client on the Shield, then I get constant buffering and message “network too slow”. Eventhough I am constantly buffering, everything is still being direct played. NO transcoding.

I have Tautulli and I checked that actually NO transcoding is going on. Every category is Direct Play.

My PC is connected via cat5e cable to the router, and my Shield is also connected to the router via cat5e cable.

Why is that the case? How come I get buffering only when my PC is server?

2

Can you post your PMS logs from the PC from during the time that you reproduce the issue?

And/or can you post the Now Playing section of the Plex Server dashboard during that time?

3

I will be able to do that later tonight because I would need to install Server on my PC again and configure it. Would that be alright?

4

That would be great :slight_smile:

5

Plex Media Server Logs_2020-04-08_22-05-22.zip (2.2 MB)
Here are the Logs as promised, and also 2 screenshots. One is form Plex’s Dashbord and the other one from Tautulli’s Dashboard.

6

Did you take a look at the logs?

7

Do you have the same issue when not using subtitles?

Also, what version of PMS do you have installed on Windows?
And what version of Plex app (client) are using on the Shield (version 7.something)?

8

PMS Windows version: 4.22.3 (latest version)
Shield: latest version. I check daily for updates.

Same issue is happening with and without subtitles. Tried with both srt and pgs subtitles.

9

That’s actually the web client version number; the server version number is below the Server Name / General.

10

My bad, this one: 1.19.1.2645

1 Like
11

Sorry, I keep thinking of questions to ask – is this a gigabit connection throughout?

12

At the moment my PC is hooked to the router via Cat5e cable, and Shield is connected to that router via WiFi.

I did have the exact same issue while my Shield was connected via Cat5e cable to that router as well.
Tried hooking everything with cable, and tried without it, result was always the same.
Only Shield acting as server and client gave me no buffering when playing back 4k content

13

Yes but is that a 100mb/s connection or a 1000mb/s connection?

What’s the make/model of the router?

14

Router supports 1000mb/s connection. I also checked in its settings. Gigabit ports are working

Router: AVM Fritzbox 7530

15

This is also the response time when I ping the Shield from my PC:
Pinging 192.168.178.27 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.178.27: bytes=32 time=96ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.178.27: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.178.27: bytes=32 time=37ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.178.27: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=64

I was told that since Shield and PC are in the same network, the ping shouldn’t be that high.

16

Those are actually some pretty high pings being on a LAN. I think even the shortest time (15ms) is on the high side… so it seems like you might have some kind of network problem.

17

Atm I am using Cat 5e cable from PC to the router.
I ordered a brand new Cat 7 cable. Will try to replace the 5e one with that one.

Could that fix the issue if the cable is broken?

18

I’m not the best to debug network issues but yeah, you’re going to want to eliminate different parts of the network chain. Starting with the cable is not a bad place to start. It could also be an issue with your router – one way to potentially rule out your router would be to run an Internet speedtest…

19

Yeah, I had that issue also on my old router.

I ran speedtest, and my speeds are what I’m paying for (100 download, 40 upload)

20

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