I have searched these forums and on the internet generally but cannot find a comprehensive article or document explaining how remote access works in practice. There is lots of information on setting up remote access on the server and how to invite friends to share your content but very little on what those “Guest” people need to do to access the server.
Please could someone point me to any information where this is explained. If not can you answer the following.
When an invitation email is sent to someone what action do they have to take? Do they have to go to the Plex website and create their own “Guest Account” or is the log in information provided in the invitation email?
How do they actually access the server i.e can they use a web browser and if so what address do they type into the address bar.
Are they limited to using only APPs eg on Firestick, Roku, or windows Media Player and how do they connect to the remote content.
Does the Plex.tv website play an intermediary role in streaming? i.e. does the stream from the remote server first go via the Plex.tv website servers and then out again to the guests internet connection or is the connection point to point i.e. guest direct to remote server?
Many people do not have a fixed external IP address. Does Plex.tv website manage all the DNS and routing or is there some sort of DDNS software built into the Plex Server that announces the remote IP address changes to the guests App or Web Browser
Can you access content via 4G network and how does that work. Do you have to configure an iOS/Android App to connect to the remote server.
As you can see lots of questions but not sure where to find the answers. If I have missed an article or discussion on this subject that explains all this apologies but perhaps you could point me in the right direction. If not perhaps this needs writing up as an FAQ or similar??
Many thanks
Fozzie
There is no true “Guest” account in Plex.
(What I mean by that: access per URL or per one-time use password for persons who are not a plex.tv account holder or something similar is not possible atm.)
So:
the invitation email is only directing invited users to the plex.tv website where they are required to create an account for themselves. The server owner then shares his media (or a part of it) to these newly created plex.tv user accounts
they type plex.tv or app.plex.tv and sign in with their personal user name and password
(There is a different way available for Plex Pass owners, who can create “sub-accounts” of their own, for close family members who don’t need a full plex.tv account [‘managed users’].)
They can use whichever Plex client app they prefer. (I am referring to “real” Plex clients. A generic DLNA-compatible client is not a plex client.)
DynDNS for servers
(there is no need to set up a domain name for your server yourself)
handing out cryptographic certificates to servers for secure connections between servers and clients
(There is no need to get a certificate elsewhere. Fully trusted certs are included in all plex accounts, automatically.)
in some (rare) cases, when there is no way for the client to reach the server directly, plex.tv will serve as a ‘Relay’. This mode is restricted in bandwith and works only encrypted
in all other cases, communication between clients and servers is direct and plex.tv is only helping entitled clients to find the server(s) they have access to
There is no fixed external address necessary. A periodically updated public IP is sufficient (which is used for ~ 80% of all domestic internet connections). Since plex.tv plays the role of DynDNS, it gets periodically notified by the server, which external IP it currently has and then updates the FQDN of the server accordingly. More details here
There is currently a restriction that the server needs a publicly reachable IPv4 address in order to be reachable by all clients: If the server is behind a carrier-grade-NAT, it cannot be reached ‘directly’ (often used by mobile network operators or public/campus networks). Thus a direct access is not possible and the only way to use remote access is per ‘Relay’ connection. If the server only has a public IPv6 adddress, it can only be reached by clients which also have a fully working IPv6 connection (which is sadly still not the usual case).
Yes. It works because the server is directly accessible and has a FQDN, which the mobile app is using to find the server. Unless the network operator interferes (some have found a way to identify Plex traffic and ‘throttle’ it), this is working pretty well, provided there is sufficient mobile bandwidth available.
You simply ‘sign in’ the mobile plex app to your own plex.tv user account.
Thank you so much Otto. That’s the best description I have found and answers all my questions. Perhaps this should be mad a “sticky” thread if such a feature is available on Plex forums?
Fozzie
