It seems like there is 2 ways to connect to my PMS. The first is via https://app.plex.tv and second is via <public_IP>:46916 (assuming port forwarding set up on home network). Other than app.plex.tv allowing for a https connection, what’s the difference between these two methods? Is my traffic always routed through the plex.tv servers? Does connecting to <public_IP>:46916 connect directly to my server avoiding extra hops? I’m curious what the traffic route looks like in each scenario and reasoning to use one over the other.
These URLs only serve to load the web app onto your web browser.
The first one is the “hosted” web app, which is usually a few versions ahead of the second one, which is called the “local” one. (Because it is stored locally on your server).
Apart from that, there is no difference later on, when the web app actually accesses your servers and the servers which might be shared with you.
Traffic is never routed through plex.tv, except if a server is not accessible directly. This connection is then marked as “indirect”. It is drastically limited in terms of available bandwidth and can only serve as a makeshift measure. https://support.plex.tv/articles/216766168-accessing-a-server-through-relay/
Actual access to your server(s) is done through a subdomain in the plex.direct domain. Your server is getting this assigned automatically when you sign it into your plex account. Both in the local network and from remote. https://support.plex.tv/articles/206225077-how-to-use-secure-server-connections/
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Cool. Thank you! That’s the exact specific sort of response I was looking for.
My third paragraph above describes the regular case.
In the local network, the raw IP and port are sometimes also used, if: secure connections are not enforced and the client is allowed to fall back to unencrypted connections (only some Plex clients have a setting for this).
For remote connections, you can actually supply your own domain name, but you’ll have to have a fitting security certificate as well.
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