This post is for the following scenario:
- You have a Plex media server running on the LAN
- You have other users on the same LAN that want to access Plex at minimum using chrome.
- You have no internet (i.e. can’t reach google.com or any other site not on your LAN)
Note: LAN = Local Area Network - Example is using Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS
# 1. cd to directory
cd /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/
# 2. backup xml
cp Preferences.xml Preferences.xml.BACKUP
# 3. modify xml (replace vi with nano or your installed text editor)
vi Preferences.xml
# find /> at the end of the xml file and add allowedNetworks like:
allowedNetworks="192.168.x.0/255.255.255.0" />
# replace x above with your network. So x would be 3 if your network is something like `192.168.3.120`
# 4. Save the file and exit. For vim press esc and then
:wq enter
# 5. Restart plex
systemctl restart plexmediaserver.service
At this point you should be able to access plex on your LAN at http://192.168.x.x:32400/web/index.html when you have no internet.
Note that the above will give all users on your network access to Plex. My setup is a plex server running on Ubuntu with a network storage attached as the media. That storage gives READ only access to the media. If you have Read/Write access from Plex you may want a different alternative.
Other Notes, Dont Need to Read
More info about the above setting can be found here: https://support.plex.tv/articles/201105343-advanced-hidden-server-settings/
The above settings can also be accessed from settings > network when showing advanced options in user GUI. You’ll see it under List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth
Also note that you will have to adjust your nginx config if using nginx for access while offline.
With many ISPs (Brighthouse, Spectrum, AT&T, Comcast, Charter, etc) it is common to have internet outages. In my home we only use the ISP’s modem to bring internet in. I use my own equipment for firewall, routing and wireless. It’s wounderful because when the ISP’s hardware or something else goes wrong, it doesn’t interrupt anybody using wired or wireless services that are on the network (Local RDP, music and video from the NAS, fun with IOT devices that are talk over LAN).
For a better user experience browsing music and videos, I setup a Plex server. It was very easy and so impressive i bought lifetime plex pass after testing the browser and iphone/ipad apps. Then I did a test after eveyrthing was setup to make sure i could use it when internet was out (happens a lot). I was so upset when i found the default settings did not allow use of the app without internet that I almost reversed charges and cancelled the lifetime premium pass i bought a few hours eariler. I took a lot of googling to find a work around here [HowTo] Use Plex with No Internet
This setup is still frustrating and a bit silly. Auth should not be integrated in such a way that internet access is required when accessing resources on your own LAN! What if FreeNAS and Synology adopted that principle? I mean they both have some features that only work when your connected to the internet. Hell, while your at it, maybe firewall software should also be made so you can’t access the GUI without internet. Let’s just make everything not work unless there’s internet and see how many unnecessary problems we can create!
If plex reads this and want’s to make things better, decouple LAN/WAN resources and provide 2 levels of auth. You can do this while still maintaining a smooth user experience. PM me if you don’t know how and would like assistance.
In the meantime, i’m still looking for an alternative to plex and kodi. plex comes so close but crashes and burns when there is no internet like they want users to be stuck without their media just because they can’t reach https://www.plex.tv/ even though their media is already on their local network.
