Buffering on Remote - Regardless of Client/User

Plex Media Server Remote Access
1

Server Version#: 1.29.2.6334-7000

I have been having an issue with my only family member who streams from my Library, specifically, that over the last few weeks, maybe a couple months, he keeps having buffering problems. I thought it was their internet as they have been having issues - but after they were resolved it continued.

Essentially, it will play, buffer, play, buffer etc.

I have now tested on my own login from my Work PC, which has a 100mbit connection (download), and it is doing he same thing. I switched between an Android TV, Shield TV, two different remote internet connections and they all have the same problem suggesting its my end somehow.

I installed speedtesting docker on my NAS and have been running it several times, including before and after testing, its reporting my upload speed at close to 50mbit which is my maximum, however, if the remote stream is set to anything higher than 8mbit - and sometimes even then - it has issues.

I set it to 10mbit this evening, still problems buffering. The graph of outgoing in Plex showed it never went higher than about 15mbit, which should be well within the margin. I checked resource monitor - Synology not having issues transcoding, logs say its throttling the transcode, which as I understand it means its going fast enough to stay ahead.

I tried looking through logs, and the only thing standing out (but I don’t know what I am looking for) is (my IP removed in case), but I am honestly at the point I don’t know what else to check. Only that it “seems” that Plex specifically to be thinking my internet upload is significantly slower than it is. I did check my settings for upload bandwith, they are set at 40mbit at the moment.

Does anyone have a suggestion for me to check?

Oct 31, 2022 21:41:44.520 [0x7f1b99801b38] DEBUG - Completed: [<MY IP>:47639] 200 GET /video/:/transcode/universal/session/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/1/840.m4s (18 live) TLS GZIP 302ms 324184 bytes (pipelined: 15)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:45.079 [0x7f1b95dadb38] DEBUG - [Req#283da/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956] Transcoder segment range: 838 - 841 (841)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:45.709 [0x7f1b90d6fb38] DEBUG - [Req#283e4/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956] Transcoder segment range: 838 - 842 (842)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:46.263 [0x7f1b90d6fb38] DEBUG - [Req#283fd/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956] Transcoder segment range: 838 - 843 (843)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:46.806 [0x7f1b92ba2b38] DEBUG - [Req#28414/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956] Transcoder segment range: 838 - 844 (844)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:47.406 [0x7f1b93566b38] DEBUG - [Req#28423/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956] Transcoder segment range: 838 - 845 (845)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:48.022 [0x7f1b92904b38] DEBUG - [Req#2842e/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956] Transcoder segment range: 838 - 846 (846)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:48.689 [0x7f1b92904b38] DEBUG - [Req#2843e/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956] Transcoder segment range: 838 - 847 (847)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:48.855 [0x7f1b90394b38] DEBUG - [Req#2843c/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956] Session pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz (4) is throttling
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:48.856 [0x7f1b93911b38] DEBUG - [Req#28447/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956] Throttle - Going into sloth mode.
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:52.198 [0x7f1b995feb38] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 17613611 bytes: 32 - Broken pipe
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:52.198 [0x7f1b995feb38] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [<MY IP>:47687] 200 GET /video/:/transcode/universal/session/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/0/838.m4s (14 live) TLS GZIP 10018ms 17613611 bytes (pipelined: 7)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:53.437 [0x7f1b92ba2b38] DEBUG - Request: [<MY IP>:47639 (WAN)] GET /video/:/transcode/universal/session/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/0/838.m4s (13 live) #283ce TLS GZIP Signed-in
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:53.437 [0x7f1b92ba2b38] DEBUG - [Req#283ce/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz] Asked for segment 838 from session.
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:53.437 [0x7f1b92ba2b38] DEBUG - [Req#283ce/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz] Returning segment 838 from session
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:53.438 [0x7f1b8fa90b38] DEBUG - [Req#283ce/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz] Cleaning directory for session pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz (/var/packages/PlexMediaServer/shares/PlexMediaServer/AppData/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sessions/plex-transcode-pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz-9e85f409-950a-4283-a57a-9c0f566cf4ae)
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:53.438 [0x7f1b92ba2b38] DEBUG - Content-Length of /var/packages/PlexMediaServer/shares/PlexMediaServer/AppData/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sessions/plex-transcode-pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz-086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956/init-stream0.m4s,/var/packages/PlexMediaServer/shares/PlexMediaServer/AppData/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sessions/plex-transcode-pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz-086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956/chunk-stream0-00839.m4s is 20157537 (of total: 20157537).
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.737 [0x7f1b9456db38] DEBUG - NetworkServiceBrowser: Parsing SSDP schema for http://10.0.0.74:9080
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.737 [0x7f1b9456db38] DEBUG - [HCl#205b] HTTP requesting GET http://10.0.0.74:9080
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.740 [0x7f1b95fb5b38] DEBUG - [HttpClient/HCl#205b] HTTP/1.1 (0.0s) 200 response from GET http://10.0.0.74:9080
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.741 [0x7f1b9456db38] ERROR - XML: Entity: line 1: 
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.741 [0x7f1b9456db38] ERROR - XML: parser 
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.741 [0x7f1b9456db38] ERROR - XML: error : 
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.741 [0x7f1b9456db38] ERROR - XML: Start tag expected, '<' not found 
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.741 [0x7f1b9456db38] ERROR - XML: status=ok 
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.741 [0x7f1b9456db38] ERROR - XML: ^ 
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.741 [0x7f1b9456db38] ERROR - Error parsing content.
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.741 [0x7f1b9456db38] ERROR - Error parsing XML: Error parsing file.
Oct 31, 2022 21:41:58.741 [0x7f1b9456db38] ERROR - SSDP: Error parsing device schema for http://10.0.0.74:9080
Oct 31, 2022 21:42:03.444 [0x7f1b995feb38] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 18629419 bytes: 32 - Broken pipe
Oct 31, 2022 21:42:03.444 [0x7f1b995feb38] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [<MY IP>:47639] 200 GET /video/:/transcode/universal/session/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/0/838.m4s (8 live) TLS GZIP 10006ms 18629419 bytes (pipelined: 16)
Oct 31, 2022 21:42:04.627 [0x7f1b92904b38] DEBUG - Request: [<MY IP>:47751 (WAN)] GET /video/:/transcode/universal/session/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz/0/838.m4s (8 live) #28444 TLS GZIP Signed-in
Oct 31, 2022 21:42:04.627 [0x7f1b92904b38] DEBUG - [Req#28444/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz] Asked for segment 838 from session.
Oct 31, 2022 21:42:04.627 [0x7f1b92904b38] DEBUG - [Req#28444/Transcode/pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz] Returning segment 838 from session
Oct 31, 2022 21:42:04.627 [0x7f1b92904b38] DEBUG - Content-Length of /var/packages/PlexMediaServer/shares/PlexMediaServer/AppData/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sessions/plex-transcode-pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz-086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956/init-stream0.m4s,/var/packages/PlexMediaServer/shares/PlexMediaServer/AppData/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sessions/plex-transcode-pwzu8s24ihk79yuj58l77ntz-086cb4d6-1026-4be4-8d78-72501ec90956/chunk-stream0-00839.m4s is 20157537 (of total: 20157537).
Oct 31, 2022 21:42:10.881 [0x7f1b8e0b2b38] DEBUG - Request: [10.0.0.9:49038 (Subnet)] GET /web/static/e8c14a7b2f07aaa06fc6.svg (9 live) #28480 GZIP Signed-in
2

What information is showing in the “now playing” tile for that playback on the Plex server dashboard? I’m specifically interested if those streams are reported as Remote or Indirect and if there’s any transcoding details.
Exemplary screenshot from the "now playing" section
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200871837-status-and-dashboard/

Buffering can happen due to bandwidth limits or if a video is required to be transcoded and the server not being up to handling that in real-time.

As for bandwidth limitations/restrictions, you seem to already have checked off some aspects.
Can you double-check the server’s remote access configuration and see if there’s any bandwidth limits set?
Also… have your clients by chance configured a remote streaming bitrate limit (usually Quality > Video > Remote streaming)?

As for transcoding… on what Syno model are you hosting your Plex Media Server. There’s quite some differences in their capability to handle transcoding.

3

The good news is I can remote into my Work PC and be the client as remote at the same time while testing.

I have attached a screenshot of the whole page showing that tile while it was having an issue (buffering):

b13BHQN
b13BHQN653×765 57.3 KB

Currently, I have no limitation set - its set to be able to stream the maximum available, including direct play if it can, but I have set the upload bandwidth to 40mbit.

The actual Synology details are here - copy pasted the whole info section just in case:

image
image1599×553 9.94 KB

I can control the remote streaming bitrate for testing, but i set it to maximum available (direct play) on the client side when doing this test.

4

Setting the remote bitrate to Max. should actually be helping as it’ll avoid any artificial restrictions from your side.

Can you double-check the actual bitrate of that video, e.g. using Get Info from the item’s context menu?

5

I assume this is the correct copy paste:

Codec H264
Bitrate 13968 kbps
Bit Depth 8
Chroma Location left
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
Frame Rate 23.976 fps
Height 1040
Level 4.1
Profile high
Ref Frames 4
Scan Type progressive
Width 1920
Display Title 1080p (H.264)
Extended Display Title 1080p (H.264)
6

That means you should at least not have any bitrate/transfer speed problems.
The video has an average bitrate of 14 Mbps and that’s in line with the bandwidth consumption we see in your graph and on the now-playing card.

7

I know - essentially. This is why I am getting a bit confused as everything I have been checking seems to show there should be no issues - but am having issues anyway.

I even changed the external port for Plex just in case something was funny with that Port. I am starting to go down the path that my ISP is somehow throttling it. I was unsure if the logs would be verbose enough to indicate where the problem may be coming from.

Otherwise changing the router itself to rule that out just in case.

8

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