Hi … where to start.
I discovered plex in 2017 and I tell you the sincerest truth … if someone asks me “Hey man, how does plex work?” I would reply with a curt: “What the f*ck do I know”. I have been more than 4 years and I still don’t understand exactly how it works! First of all, I think the interface is unclear! Is it possible that from 2017 until now, all of a sudden the settings change without me having touched anything !? But the most important question is … how does this plex actually work? Why if the internet is not there I can’t see my films stored in the HDD and made available via plex? … so plex doesn’t work locally? And … what is the remote access? Why via the internet (with my plex account) I can see and play my films on my home server in Local network when I don’t settting anything!!! ??? And above all … what are servers? (that item that appears with the padlock in the settings to the left column … in short, when you enter the name during setup).
Anyone explain all this to me in detail? And please, don’t bring me back to the plex support links because they are useless !! … most of the information written on the plex support is also written in the web interface … and this seems like a joke to me! Furthermore, in plex support we always use the term “server” … but which server does it mean !? The one of the local network or my Plex Account?
Because when you sign and authenticate the server with your account it requires authentication to access. if you don’t have internet then it can’t authenticate. Apps will try to cache auth tokens but if you shut down devices, apps or the server app, off then it needs to authenticate when it launched. Accounts are not local to the server and never have been. You can manually set IPs of devices that can access without authentication but that is inherently a security risk. Authentication also allows for enabling encrypted connection between the server and the client device.
The server is the application on your computer that manages the content and the streams to clients. It serves the media to players like a hot water system serves hot water to all the faucets in your house.
The an authenticated player tells the server something like “Hey I am an iPhone and I am located on a network on the other side of the planet, I would like to play the file XYZ. Please stream it to me.”
The server then checks how fast of a connection is between the server and client player, and if the requested media file is compatible with the player. If is not compatible or the connection is slow it will “trancode” the file into a format or quality that is compatible with the player or network speed.
I hope that answers some questions. It certainly is a program with a lot of parts.
A “server” references the Plex application running on a specific computer. You could have plex running on your laptop, and on a desktop too. When you “name” them you are giving them a human understandable name. I have one called “Youtube” that I just have downloaded youtube videos on.
Using Plex the user interface is fairly basic, you have your server, the libraries on that server, and then the content in said library. You also have access to Plex’s online catalog of ad supported videos and channels.
By default Plex enables remote access, which allows you to view/stream your media remotely. The reason that Plex requires the internet is that whenever a device connects to the computer running Plex, Plex reaches out to the central Plex servers to authenticate that connection. IE the local computer doesnt know what your password is, it checks with the company server to see if you have the right username/password to be allowed to connect.
With regards to having settings change, as the app gets updated, settings are added, removed , and updated. That is a fairly common occurrence as programs grow.
If you have any other questions hopefully I can help explain them.
Ok … I answer what I understand. The internet connection is used to authenticate (in this case my local server of my local network) to the plex servers on the internet (via email / password … my account) … but this has to do with the local devices? If I authenticate my plex server, my profile is automatically verified. So technically MY DEVICES IN LOCAL (LAN) only need to connect to the server (always locally and not on the internet) and see the movies saved on my hdd (connected to my pc / server)… there is no need for an internet connection for my devices in the local network …
In Plex there is a setting to whitelist (always allow) devices on your local ip range IE 192.168.xxx.xxx if you want to use it. By default it is not enabled as plex prefers a more secure setup.
EDIT:
By default Plex makes all devices even local devices authenticate. That way if you have roommates, share a WiFi connection or just don’t want to share, you can have a private server.
Plex always tries to do a direct connection between the server and the client if both are on the LAN, the stream says on the LAN, if one is remote the stream is then sent out over the internet to the client.
No, you dont. The “Remote Access” setting enables streaming content via the internet, with that disabled the server will not be accessible outside your local network
right now I tried to disable remote access and try to connect (on internet) to the plex.tv site and look in the “watchlist” … anyway it brings me back to my local server and I can always watch my movies.
But I also did another test. I have used my phone and I have enabled the 4g connection and did the same thing … it always takes me back to my server where I can see my folders (how is it possible if I have remote access disabled ??) but this time I cannot open them
I tried to disconnect the “server” inside the server in the “General” item (it sounds like a play on words) and now I can easily watch the videos locally and without internet … but this only through the browser … but if I connect through (example) the application Android without authenticating my account plex, but inserting only the local IP of the server, nothing comes out.
Would you mind recreating this one more time and then capturing (downloading) the DEBUG logs ZIP file Plex gives you so I can watch what has transpired?
When you installed the Android app, you linked it to your Plex account?
If you did, from that point, you won’t have to authenticate again. It will remember unless you expressly sign out.
I want to ask you another question … having an ISP that allows me to connect to the router remotely, could I enable a connection via port-forwarding on the router to my home server at port 32400?
Doing this is like having enabled “remote access” via the plex web app settings? … right?
You’ll still need to enable Remote Access in the settings of your Plex Media Server. But yes – establishing a manual port forward is usually the most reliable approach to make sure your Plex Media Server can properly communicate through the router / being found by your Plex clients outside your home network.
As a side note: The port forward needs to point to the internal IP address of the machine hosting your Plex Media Server on tcp port 32400. As for the public port you’re more flexible. Make sure to let Plex know you’ve configured a manual port forward and what public port you’ve setup. Settings > [Server Name] > Remote Access > Manually specify public port
