Indirect connection for shared users only (and remote access shown as disconnected but it's working fine)

[ThD]

Hello,

It’s my first time on the forum and I’m not a native speaker, so I will try my best to be comprehensible and the most precise as possible.

I’m experiencing a quiet odd situation. Let me explain my set-up.

I have a Synology NAS running on DSM6 with Plex Server installed (and a Plex Pass account) for more than a year now in France.
I used it with my Android TV locally without any issue. I can easily manage my server remotely, and add or edit contents on the road.

For 3 weeks now, I have a fiber connection (2Gb/s down et 1Gb/s up, tested with a speedtest), so I was happy to enjoy my favorite content remotely (I’m living in Canada). And it works great.

I set all streaming settings on “maximum” quality (server side and client side) to avoid CPU usage on my NAS. Actually, I can watch in Canada from France 4K HEVC 10 bits contents without any issue. I tested it with these devices :

• Firestick 4K Max
• Web app on PC (Firefox)(HEVC is converted, but H264 is played fine in original quality)
• Android 10 smartphone.

However, my friends can’t enjoy my contents when I shared with them my libraries : it’s limited at 2Mb/s (Plex Pass) or 1Mb/s (Free account). All of my friends devices are shown as “indirect” connection. The devices tested are :

• Firestick 4K
• Webb app on PC (Firefox)
• Roku TV

–

I guess is a problem on my side for two reasons :

1. I can play content from a friend library on “original quality” on all my devices
2. My remote access indicator is shown red, but it’s working fine (I can watch and manage my libraries on all my devices connected with my Plex account).

So, here is what I already did/tried :

• Enable a direct forwarding port on an random port (not used) greater than 20 000
• Disable UPnP
• Disable and re-enable remote access, with different WAN ports.
• Update Plex server and update DSM, restart DSM
• Check my firewall (everything looks OK)
• Changing NAS default DNS
• All my friends settings are set on maximal quality on all their devices

The problem persist, no matter what.

But there is the very weird situation

No matter on which side I manage my server configuration (webb app or NAS app through a reverse proxy), when I enable remote access or hit the button “try again”, the connection is established during 5sec then turns red. However, even when it’s red, I can access remotely to my libraries, and my friends too. And I can’t figure it out why.
I’m wondering then, if this issue is linked with my “indirect” connection issue on my friends devices.

I hope my problem is clear and some big brains here will be able to help me is this case.
Thank you.

Thibault

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Server Version#: 1.25.3.5409
Player Version#: web app

[ThD]

Hello, I found the problem.

One of my friend is located in Belgium and my firewall on the Synology wasn’t configure to allow Belgium IPs.
So that was one of the problem.

My other friends are located in Canada, same town as me, and couldn’t access to my NAS. It was also my Synology firewall. I don’t know why, but some IPs that match the country listed in my firewall (like IPs located in Canada or France or IPs from NordVPN for example) was denied no matter what rules were created.
So I open my custom Plex port to the world and the problem solved.

At the same time, my weird situation about remote access that appears disconnected but working fine, seams to be fixed as well…
So I don’t understand why my firewall denied IP from the right country or why Plex showed disconnected but wasn’t … but now it’s working fine.

Morality : check your firewall before writing on the forum.

[Volts]

@ThD

I don’t understand why my firewall denied IP from the right country

IP address geolocation is a dark and unreliable art. There’s a market for IP addresses, so they move around a lot. ISPs use a variety of techniques to backhaul IPs to other places. Some VPN providers actively try to evade geo identification.

But wait a minute, are you saying Canada is … real?