Hi all, new here and not 100% sure if this belongs in player or server category. I’ve been having difficulties getting my Plex server accessible on my local network. The ultimate goal is to get it working with an Apple TV, but for now I’m just trying to get the web browser player working.
I have an odd setup where I am stuck using double-nat to get this working, my ISP provided router is ideal for 90% of my network, but when connected to it the plex server misbehaves in many ways (losing connection after 20 mins, refusing to connect via IP…)
I’ve tried two different routers as a nested network to the ISP router (Linksys AX3200 and Apple Airport Extreme 2009) and both of these routers allow me to access the plex media server and content by going to the ip/port address, but neither allow me to access from app.plex.tv in my browser. I’ve tried unregistering/re-registering the server to my account, I’ve manually updated the server in the jail shell, but I cannot figure out why I am unable to access from the webapp over my local network. Does anyone have any idea what I could look at to troubleshoot further?
Because my ISP router does not play nicely with the Plex server. It only works on one particular IP address, and only for 20 mins at a time before I have to reboot the server to get it to work again. If I change the IP address, it prevents connections altogether, removing my ability to access it through the IP/port address.
Is double NAT somehow preventing me from accessing through webapps despite being on the same LAN?
With some soak time on the idea that double NAT is just plain bad, I think I have two options:
-Factory reset ISP modem/router and set up plex server first, see if issues continue
-Bridge ISP modem to allow 3rd party router to manage all network traffic
I thought I had a third option with throwing the double NAT router in DMZ, but the issue persisted, so I’ll try the above things and see if either resolves the issue.
Reading further down your link I realize I have an xFi rebranded product with the advanced security feature enabled, so I may be better off just bridging and running a 3rd party router as the network’s main controller. I’ll miss some of the features the ISP router offered, but at this point I’d prefer to have my plex server working than some rudimentary network analytics features.
Update: I have bridged the ISP modem, using only the Linksys AX3200. I can enable remote access, but I am still unable to access the server from app.plex.tv. Only accessible from IP/port address. What could possibly be the issue here?
Are you still only getting 20 minutes of connectivity before you lose it? You mentioned this was happening with just your ISP router.
What model router is connected to your ISP and what model is the bridge? What router do you have in bridge mode? Are you using the additional router as a WAP or for other segmentation purpose? What is the path to your server, through the bridge or just the primary router?
Can you give an example of the IP/port address it is accessible from and what it is not accessible from?
I’m not quite sure how to help but maybe understanding more about your architecture and devices might assist.
My brain hurts. I reverted back to the “bad” double NAT setup and have a weird update. I linked my account on the Apple TV and it works as intended. Browser webapp still does not work, but I can access everything from the Apple TV over LAN, within double NAT.
@Aquaman - While using the AX3200 I was not running into the 20 minute server death. The ISP router is a Comcast XB7 (through one of their partner companies in Canada) and secondary/bridge/WAP is the Apple Airport Extreme (2009). Originally I had been using the Airport as a bridged AP (extension of XB7’s 10.0.0.x network) for smarthome devices, to keep the XB7 clear for high-performance devices, however after starting to troubleshoot the Plex server I set it up in a double NAT config (192.168.1.x with gateway 10.0.0.1) in order to segment a LAN to resolve the 20 minute death issue (it sounded like an IP conflict issue, full details on a TrueNAS forum post.)
As of now, I can access the server from 192.168.1.101:32400 in a browser, AND directly from Apple TV app (Version 7.26 (1744)), but not from app.plex.tv in Chrome or Safari.
@FordGuy61 - My ISP handles it weird, I’d have to call them and have them disable it at a billing account level for it to disable on my service, and honestly I do like having the feature for my less-technically-inclined members of the household. The ISP router does not allow custom DNS settings, but the Apple Airport does; anything configured statically on my network uses cloudflare/google as main/secondary, and the Airport router has this setup as well.
That is very interesting. I have heavy network segmentation and my plex server is also currently double natted behind two dedicated firewalls that I haven’t configured for Plex yet. I am able to access it remotely from app.plex.tv through the relay.
Is it possible that something in one of your firewall configurations is blocking Plex?
You might try putting a port forward on both of your routers. Then you could access it directly at your ISP WAN IP. If that fails, then it would default to the relay, assuming the relay is working.
