Server Version#: PlexMediaServer-1.28.1.6092-87136b92b-x86
Player Version#: Plex-1.51.1.3185-700af1eb-x86_64 & PlexHTPC-1.23.2.3194-7787f5be-x86_64
When I first tried Verizon Home LTE Internet service, I returned it because I couldn’t manually configure ports on the router.
Soon after, I HAD to transition to Verizon Home LTE Internet, and remote access worked right out of the box; maybe through “relay”.
For the last many months, I have been been playing tunes on the road through PlexAmp and accessing content with no issues on my Android Phone, Web Pages, etc.
Yesterday, 16Aug2022, when the last cached song played in PlexAmp, I discovered that I can’t access any of my content through Plex anymore.
I reinstalled the server, the player, and the HTPC player. I rebooted the Internet router and the PC.
I have “Remote Access” enabled and “Enable Relay” is checked.
Under “Remote Access” it may say “fully accessible outside your network” briefly before reverting back to “not available…”.
I didn’t make any changes and confused why I can’t access any content.
The interface shows my categories, but no content.
With remote access, it’s not just about your own server and router configuration but also your ISP. So even if you didn’t change anything, there can be some change along the chain of communication that’s now impacting your setup.
I generally recommend to have a look at this troubleshooting guide to identify what might be going on (and some potential fixes). In some situations, there’s nothing you can do but go to your ISP and asking them nicely for… well… that kind of depends on what they did
The service uses CG-NAT, which is incompatible with Plex remote access. It places your Plex server in a double NAT situation (same with T-Mobile & others that use the mobile network for fixed Internet service).
Plex Relay, which tunnels the stream through servers at Plex, should work, but streams are limited to 2 Mbps (1 Mbps w/o a Plex Pass). I do not use PlexAmp and do not know if it works with Plex Relay.
Contact Verizion support. Ask if they can supply a unique, public IPv4 address that permits port forwarding. Technically, it does not have to be a static IPv4 address, but must be unique to your service, and ISPs seem to use use static IP addresses for such purposes.
There are workarounds for CG-NAT, such as using a VPN service that supports fixed IP addresses & port forwarding. I’ve never had to use such and do not know their ease/difficulty to implement, reliability, etc.
I believe Plex had been using Plex Relay with no issues for the past many months. I LIVE in Plex and can no longer access anything through Plex locally or remotely, so I was wondering if it was a bigger issue. I have double-checked that the media is still in the same place and all drives are visible in Window’s File Explorer…so the media is in place. I KNOW I have not “monkied” with port forwarding in the past or acquired anything special from my ISP.
I had actually read through that resource before adding my post. That I haven’t monkied with port forwarding or special “extras” from my ISP, I assumed I had been using the “Relay” service all this time and curious why THAT stopped working. I can’t find a way to force my media through the “Relay” anymore.
That needs to be fixed first, before worrying about remote access.
Does your server have a monitor & keyboard attached (i.e. not “headless”). If so, can you play your media using Plex Web, via http://127.0.0.1:32400/web?
From your response, it seems my issues go deeper. I have the Plex server installed on my Win10 machine. This is my daily-use desktop computer (not headless), that serves double-duty as my Plex server too. I can still access all the media with other applications (MusicBee, Windows Photo Gallery, VLC, etc.). I can’t access my media through the address you provided or Plex HTPC.
I can still stream non-local, web-based content through Plex.
I can confirm Plex Media Server is running and appears in my Windows System Tray. (Run at startup.)
I checked my Plex Libraries, and everything is still good there.
Are you asking for any specific logs? (When I zipped up the logs folder, it was over the 30Mb forum limit.)
#1 Database is corrupt (Repair a Corrupted Database | Plex Support) #2 You have an Ethernet and a WiFi adapter competing for control, disable the wifi. #3 Probably because of the wifi contention the external traffic is not forwarded on the port/ip.
Not sure this works well on Windows but under Server Settings “Preferred Network Interface” , set that to the Ethernet.
I got frustrated trying to FIX my corrupted database using instructions in the #1 link…so I uninstalled everything and started adding things back slowly. As inferred, when local was fixed, remote automatically started working again. This was NOT a remote access issue at all (as originally thought).
#2: I disabled WiFi on my desktop PC…I forgot to do that when I hooked it up to the router with Ethernet.
I did set my Preferred Network Interface to Ethernet.
Your port forward for remote access isn’t working.
Minor issue to be fixed in a later release is that the HW transcoder intermittently fails. Last good version is 1.28.0.5999, you could roll back or just wait for the fix to be released. The impact is that intro detection could fail so you would have to decide how critical it is.
Since I switched to Verizon Home Internet LTE, I can’t modify router settings for port forwarding setup. I have been relying on Plex’s “Enable Relay” capability for remote access for nearly a year with great success.
I’m open to any easy options to get true remote access. Every solution I’ve considered and partially setup involved Docker, Chocolately, SQLite, etc… Nothing has worked or been easy in my Win10 environment.
