Home Users Without Internet

General Discussions
1

I’ve setup a Plex server on the NAS on our boat (which is also our home). We spend 98% of the time disconnected (or with really slow internet). I’m trying to figure out how I can get home users to work without an internet connection.

We sometimes have kids visiting, so I’d like to setup a user for them, that limits what they can access (only the Kids Movies library maybe).

Also, my wife and I watch different shows, and it would be great if we could keep our recommendation and “watched” data separate.

We have 4 Roku sticks throughout the boat, which we use primarily.

Thanks in advance.

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3

That seems a bit, strange though, in a way. I mean Plex feels like a solution for enjoying offline media… um. Is there a way to customize the authorization system someone? Maybe an extension?

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5

Do you just reply to questions and comments for the sake of replying? You’re “it is how it is” seems a bit… not adding any value to the question / comment.

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7

https://www.howtogeek.com/303282/how-to-use-plex-media-server-without-internet-access/

8

Thanks for helping out.

I’m really keen to have user accounts for each person on the boat… so that seems to require internet access.

Seems odd, maybe a feature for the future.

9

the reason WHY internet is required, is because the home/users are managed an authenticated via plex web.

the server itself does not do the authentication.

unfortunately, this makes it difficult to use different user profiles without a way to authenticate via internet.

You can however continue to use a single user (without switching) without the internet. ie all users share the same profile/history

You could also buy a separate device for each user, that device is logged into the appropriate user and never switches.

To switch users, simply remove the current device and put the applicable device of the desired user.

Fire sticks, roku sticks, while obviously not free, are pretty cheap.

And it could be assumed, if you can afford a boat and all the costs of using/maintaining one, then some cheap extra devices would not break the bank.

it comes down to how much you really want individual user accounts without internet.

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10

Depends on the size of the hole it makes in the water to pour money into:

nomoneyforthehole

plentyofmoneyforthehole

11

lol nice.

the happiest days of a boat owners life— the day you buy it. and the day you sell it.

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12

Haha, I don’t know about that part.

We’ve had quite a lot of amazing moments, and when it will be time to sell the boat (probably to buy another), we’ll be sad to see her go. She’s amazing.

BUT… I don’t see a reason why authentication should be done on the Plex web server/system… why wouldn’t auth be done on the Plex server?

Makes no sense. Is there an alternative to plex?

13

it is done that way, so you can have single sign on, anywhere access to Plex Web

some people recommend emby, or perhaps jellyfin, they would have their own kinds of authentication systems you would have to investigate.

14

Because Plex Home and managed users are a feature of Plex Pass. Your account cannot be verified that it has a valid Plex Pass without checking back to plex.tv.

15

But I’ve got the pass. I’ve got it. I’ve got it!!!

I should be able to print it, and then scan it, to verify that I’ve got it!!!

^ bad joke

16

You might try Emby. I run it along side of Plex on my server and on rare times Internet down can use it, except for the premium features.

17

Plex says now you can:

When you setup the server, at the very bottom, you can SKIP the sign-in.

Some versions have the “ What’s This? ” in the lower right corner.

In either case, this brings you to the Limited Functionality setup.
It looks just like everything else but:

There are no Plex-Pass services (which is why constant on-line connection is required)

You will get most of the codecs but not all. Some are Plex Pass only.

You will be free of the contant connection requirement but with limits.

The choice is yours to make.

(LAST POST)

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18

you can use plex offline (after initial setup).

you just cannot use any plexpass features.

of which home users, are a plex pass feature, which is what the OP wants.

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19

Yes for some but no for me. I am not using a computer in my secondary home/RV, instead I am using an Android TV OS set top box. The work around you are mentioning does not apply to Android TV OS but instead applies to people who are using a separate computer as a Plex media server which I do not care to do for a temporary make shift arrangement. If Plex’s Android TV OS app would allow it to not be dependent on an internet connection or have to cache connections that would be what I am looking for in my case. I just do not want to maintain yet another computer with fixing issues and keeping it updated, got enough of them already to do that for.

20

That is only the client. You don’t need internet for that, but you also can’t use that as a server. If you only want 1 device, you can use the NVidia Shield, which can act as a server and client.

21

Agreed and I looked into getting an Nvidia Shield TV but there were numerous hit or miss issues in getting Plex to work without internet. There are a few threads about it. If there is now a fix that is specific to the Nvidia Shield TV that would be cool.

22

While it may or may not solve other offline problems, I don’t think nvidia shield is going to solve the problem of trying to use home users while offline.

home users are simply not going to work without internet

23

Well, this is all very disappointing to be honest.

In my, maybe misguided, opinion, Plex should allow user accounts without an internet connection.

I’d pay more, to have this functionality available without internet.

And I don’t mind Emby, but it doesn’t have the same agents available to get meta data in.

Is there a way to disable a library (hide it) temporarily without “deleting it” and losing the meta data? This way, I could just make the “movies” library unavailable and only have the “kids movies” library accessible.

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