I have a Plex Server running off a standalone hard drive, through an iMac Pro and on a gigabit, wired connection.
This has worked flawlessly for 2 years, until recently (Nothing I know of has changed or precipitated this bug).
Lately, I cannot stream anything over 3mbps to my WIRED televisions on my network, multiple televisions in multiple bedrooms, both wired.
I get delayed buffering that makes watching anything impossible.
I can however stream over wifi connections and cell connections to various devices.
I recently reset my router back to factory settings and had no issues for 3-4 days.
Before the same thing happened all over again. I have scoured the forums and my logs, and I simply cannot figure this out.
I watch my dashboard on my server and on both WIRED televisions my connection spikes at around 3mbps and it won’t go any higher.
However on iPads and cell phones over the wifi connection I get into the 300mbps and everything runs perfectly.
The settings on all devices are exactly the same, I have checked over and over again. I can’t understand how my wifi is streaming faster than my wired connections as usually in life, its always the other way around.
I get a consistent speed on my router when speed testing it in the 800mpbs download and upload (fiber connection).
All signs point to this being a router problem, but I can’t figure it out. It is the strangest bug I have ever seen and I am desperate for someone much smarter than I am to come to my aid.
Is the wired path between the PMS server and TV ‘Server -> Router -> TV’ or is it something else? What about the wireless path? If you set up the TV for wireless, does the situation improve?
And to answer your question YES, wireless streaming over WIFI works, I can at least use PLEX now. But I would still like to understand why my wired connections are not working.
So I gather you are using the gigabit ports on the router. What router are you using?
The quickest way to check the router is to temporarily replace it with an ethernet switch or hub (gigabit ideally) and see if the problem disappears. If it does, the ethernet ports on the router may be faulty.
Faulty switch? I’ve had this happen. Try plugging the TV and server into the ethernet ports on the router bypassing the switch. If the problem disappears, the switch may be faulty.
Restore the connections. Turn the switch off and on. This may clear the issue. If the issue returns, replace the switch.
So it’s possible you may be correct, but I can’t be sure. I plugged the TV into the router directly, worked great. Plugged the TV back into the switch, STILL worked great (and for no reason I might add), and that’s just for one tv though. So while I have one TV working through the Switch, the other television I had working through wifi, was turned back over to the switch and is now, NOT working ugh FML.
Have you tried power cycling the switch to see if the problem disappears?
For that second TV, it may also be the ethernet cable going bad. Can you test with a known working cable?
If the problem reappears in the coming days for the first TV, the switch may have an intermittent hartdware fault, in which case you should replace it.
I can’t change the ethernet without doing a LOT of fishing, but no matter I’ve already tested it and its not the cable. I think it may be the switch, I just really can’t be sure at this point. I’ve cycled it with no effect.
Any recommendations for a 24 port PoE Switch?
To confirm it’s not the cable, where it presents at the switch, plug it into a router port instead. If the problem disappears, it’s not the cable. On the other hand, if the problem persists, there may still be an issue with the cable path. To eliminate this possiblity, consider the following:
Is it one long ethernet cable between the switch and TV, or is the house wired for ethernet and you’ve connected the TV and switch to ethernet outlets on the wall? If the latter, try swapping the leads between the wall outlet and switch/TV. These have been known to go bad, particularly if they are man-handled a lot. When this happens, strange and inexplicable symptoms often transpire.
I wouldn’t replace the switch just yet, particularly as it appears to be working just fine for your cameras. You’ll know in the coming days if the switch is going faulty if other devices connected through that switch start playing up.
You are a GENIUS!!! Its my wall outlet ethernet port! I plugged it into another Port and it worked just fine!!! OMG Thank YOU so much! I never would have thought of that.
I don’t know how that was effecting the other Television, It could still have something to do with the Switch, or maybe the fault wall mount was messing up the whole situation.
