Server Version#: 4.12.3
Player Version#: 7.25.2.14287
Hello all,
I am having some serious quality issues with remote streaming. The video is very choppy, and heavily pixelated with big block sized pixels. Here’s the setup:
Plex Server is on a powerful 6 core I-7 processor, with 64 Gigs of memory, nVidia 1080Ti GPU, connected to a 400Mbps down, and 22Mbps up Spectrum internet via a wired Ethernet connection.
PlexRelay has been disabled by the firewall (I don’t want PlexRelay to cause quality issues).
The Plex player (client) is installed on a FireStick, version number noted above which is the latest version at the time of this post.
Client Firestick is connected on a 100 Mbps down internet connection using a wired Ethernet connection (no Wifi).
Client Firestick is in a different city.
Port forwarding is active on the Router and working fine.
The issue persists even after setting the Playback quality to 1080p 12 Mbps. Theoretically, if the server upload bandwidth is the bottleneck, it should buffer frequently, but the quality should be great, instead of 144p type of quality. But 12 Mbps should be easily doable on my connection with consistent 22-26Mbps upload speeds.
I have run out of ideas so looking for expert input. Thank you
How would you disable Plex Relay? As far as I know it uses the exact same ports as a direct connection does.
Also, if you do a direct remote connection from the outside by browser to https://[ip]:[port]/web , what do you get? That way you can check if the problem is with the Firestick client app, or the Server.
I blocked Plex Relay.exe in the Firewall at the application level, the ports themselves are unrestricted.
Thank you for that trick. When I try to get access using IP from outside my network, I get a “Unsecured Connection” warning, and upon proceeding I am able to get to the Plex Home screen of the Server.
Yeah unsecured is expected, as you’re using the ip address, not the dns name (which Plex has secured with their certificate), but this is really just for testing. What kind of bandwidth do you get from this browser access?
Great Idea, didn’t try it before. How do I check the bandwidth? By just playing the movie at a certain bitrate or is there a console/dashboard view I should be looking at to find the bandwidth?
I wonder what happens if the same media is played in direct play / direct stream and if the media does work OK then it’s not the bandwidth. You will turn off the bitrate limitation of remote streaming in server settings and also make sure your plex client is set to play at highest level. You’ll monitor Plex activity that no transcoding is happening but only direct play.
Looks like you want to use Plex according to the bitrate limitation of 22mbs upload which will never be enough. I had Spectrum with same upload download as yours and i got rid of them few months ago and I now have Verizon 1gb down and 1gb up, no issues at all ever; your can go for 300mbs down and 300mbs up if you want which is more than enough upload speed.
‘Remote Quality’ is a setting in the Plex App and plays a large part in this process - as it overrides almost everything. Out of the box it’s set at 720 4Mbps - meaning everything bigger than that is being transcoded to fit in that window. You may not want that. Fiddle with ‘Remote Quality’ in the remote client app to get what you want.
There are other settings at the server to play smaller files at original quality - if possible (like if they fit into that aforementioned window) and those may be useful, but feeding the remote animal may be troublesome at times - if you’re not there doing it yourself.
