Hi, new here so hope I’m posting correctly. When I sign into plex from my Firestick 4K in my living room I get a message that it can’t connect directly to server and apparently uses a relay which is not giving me HD quality. Please advise which setting(s) I need to fix?
Is there a way to know if I am connected directly to server? Should the server name show up in the app? Thanks
If you experience this on a client in the same network as your Plex Media Server you might want to review your network setup. Plex will only see the server “locally” if it’s in the same subnet – some routers e.g. create different subnets for wired and wireless connections (or for 2.4 vs. 5 GHz WIFIs). The same can happen if you use a WLAN extender or other network component that creates its own subnet inside your home network.
In such a setup, the client will not see the server locally and try to establish a remote connection. If configured correctly, the communication might apply remote access restrictions (e.g. bandwidth limits) but the communication itself should still go between your router and devices.
If your remote access has some hiccups, this can result in the communication being routed through a Plex relay server… this seems to be what’s happening to you.
1st priority should be to get your network in order – Plex Pass members have an addition option to “tell” Plex to treat certain subnets to be part of your local networks.
If that doesn’t work out you can still troubleshoot the remote access configuration to avoid remote connection to be relayed.
If you’re streaming from a friend’s server, you might want to ask them to review their remote access configuration to ensure you get a direct connection.
Thanks. Currently remote access states “fully accessible outside your network” and has a green check mark by it so I thought it was working fine. I didn’t think it applied to inside my home on the same network but do now understand the clients have to be on the same subnet as you stated. However, I’m not sure how to tell if they are on different subnets and how to configure properly to fix the issue. I’m not opposed to getting the plex pass but still wouldn’t know what to do. If I followed the instructions to specify manual port in remote access would that solve the issue? Sorry if I’m not following exactly, still learning.
You can compare the local IP addresses of the different devices.
This example shows 2 subnets in a common private network (see the 3rd number in that sequence):
- 192.168.1.255
- 192.168.10.255
Thanks again. So yes, my fire tv and my shield pro have different IP addresses. Both are on different Wi-fi network as well. So…
My fire tv is: 192.168.5.62
Shield Pro: 192.168.2.42 (I think this connects direct to server as picture quality better but not sure)
Plex server settings under remote access: Private 192.168.2.00 : 32400 Public 142.162.000.000 : 26941 (The 0’s at the end of the IP’s were changed as I wasn’t sure if I should post correct numbers for privacy, but if you need them let me know)
What should I do to get all on the same network?
Update, I switched over my fire tv to same wifi network as the shield and the picture quality appears to better on that device now. How do I confirm they both are running on the same network as plex now? Compare the 3rd number in all the IP addresses to ensure they are the same? Do I look at the “private” IP address on my server page to compare as opposed to 'public ip"?
Comparing the 1st 3 segments of their local IP addresses should do.
Thanks. They are all the same now if I’m looking at the “private” IP. Is there anything I need to do to ensure they don’t change?
In most cases that’s up to your router. Generally, devices won’t “jump” subnets… you can configure the router to assign a static local IP address to certain devices (IP reservation)
Thanks for your help. Much appreciated!!
Just to give you directions. You want to setup the other AP as bridge, not router (the way it is right now). This way you will be able to connect to its wifi and still be directly connected to your server.
Costa can you give more detail on that. I don’t fully understand. Thanks
Search for the model of your router followed by bridge mode.
Example: tp-link ac1750 bridge mode
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