Considering Plex but have a few questions

Plex Media Server Remote Access
,
1

I am currently using Synology Video Station for my media content, however I just purchased an HDHomeRun and would like to be able to access my channels from my Apple TV, which Video Station doesn’t seem to support. So I was looking at switching to Plex but have a few questions:

  1. If I use a custom domain for Plex can I still use the App Externally?

  2. Is Plex any less secure than Video Station, I believe Synology only gets involved for the “handshake” of the client to the server and everything after that is directly between the two, but I may be wrong.

  3. Does the client handle transcoding or the server?

  4. Can the look of the App be changed, for example say I don’t like orange can it be changed to a different color?

  5. Can I enable Two Step Verification?

  6. Can I choose the format that DVR videos are downloaded as because I would prefer MP4?

Any help would be greatly appreciated and please excuse any typos.

2
  1. possible, but it is much easier to just log in to plex.tv – particularly with encrypted connections
  2. https://support.plex.tv/articles/206225077-how-to-use-secure-server-connections/
  3. the server
  4. no
  5. not at the moment
  6. no, it is always stored in the TS container, unless you create a custom postprocessing job or use the Optimize feature of Plex after the recording
3

Thank you for the information, for 2 does this mean that all of the traffic for my media center would go through Plex servers? If that is the case and Plex is hacked or compromised that my server and its clients could potentially be compromised as well?

4

No, by default traffic is directly between clients and server. plex.tv acts as a DynDNS-like service and as an authenticating gateway.

There is only a fallback, “relay” connection available if a direct connection is not possible (for instance if the server is behind a carrier-grade-NAT).
But this is bandwidth-restricted and therefore only usable with music or very limited video quality for a small phone screen.

5

That is very helpful thank you.