In need of Network Settings Guidance

Plex Media Server Remote Access
1

Server Version#: Version 1.32.8.7639
Player Version#: Plex for LG Client Version 5.76.2 Platform Version 6.4.0

Hi everyone,

I’ve been using Plex for many years and I’ve never been very confident about my setup and settings configuration. I’ve been interested in really fine tuning my settings and network setup.

A couple factors at play that are imporant to point out. I do use Private Internet Access for my VPN, but I use the Split Tunnel feature to bypass the VPN for Plex. I don’t think I have issues with Remote Access, like most, but I’m not satisfied with the performance whether local or remote. I feel pretty confident with my undrestanding of Port Forwarding and beleive I have Port forwarding setup properly.

The main issue that has me really perplexed is that when using Plex on my LG CX’s Plx App, it appears to be transcoding and not Direct Playing/Direct Streaming. The transcoding is not good and I don’t believe I’m utilizing my setup and hardware.

HTPC/Plex Server Specs below:

Processor - AMD Ryzen 7 2700 Eight-Core Processor 3.20 GHz
Installed RAM - 16.0 GB
GPU - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
Operating System - Windows 11 Pro

I am able to connect to the Plex Server using a dynamic dns I have setup and DIrect Play to a Plex Web Player on the local network.

I’ve looked through many, many of the Plex Support articles and most of them cover remote access issues. I would love to tune up my settings, but I don’t feel confident in what they all are and how they are affecting my network experience.

I know it’s a lot to ask, but I would love to have someone who is knowledgeable about network setup help me with my setup so I can get this figured out. I will be glad to answer any questions I can and am eager to learn! I would be so grateful!

Plex Stats
Plex Stats816×612 60.6 KB

2

Look at the “decision reasons”.
And right above, you can see that the TV has been connecting to your server using its public address, so it says “WAN”. (while it should say LAN instead)
Which means that

  1. the bandwidth restrictions for remote connections are in effect = transcoding
  2. your TV has no support for DTS audio = transcoding

You cannot solve 2), unless you use a different player with support for DTS. The only other option would be to select a different audio stream, if your file has several of these to choose from.
However, on many TVs picking a different audio stream than the first one will also invoke transcoding, because it is used as a preventative measure to avoid desynchronization of audio and video over time.

The main issue though is 1).
Something prevents the TV from reaching your server on its local LAN address.
This can have several reasons. Among the most common are

  • check box “Treat WAN IP As LAN Bandwidth” is not checked
  • local LAN is fragmented due to more than one “router”-type device, or due to involvement of things like PowerLan extenders
  • wrong firewall configuration of the server
  • a VPN software
  • “DNS rebinding protection” on the local DNS resolver (typically contained in your router, but sometimes replaced by 3rd party firewalls, ad-filter or privacy filters [pi-hole, privoxy, et al] etc.). There are some tips how to configure your DNS at the bottom of this article https://support.plex.tv/articles/206225077-how-to-use-secure-server-connections/
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