My brother has Plex installed on Chromecast with Google TV (the white one) but when he plays a video, it states something about the quality may not be same as it is on the remote server, sure enough the quality is a bit pixelated.
However, the internet speed on both ends are plenty for 4K, certainly HD.
What could be the problem or rather which end? What is the first settings I need to check?
Thanks very much and hope you can help.
Are you considering the upload or download bandwidth of your homeās internet access?
Many ISPs still offer an asymmetrical upload/download, usually with a significantly lower upload bandwidth.
In addition, itāll be worth to take a look at your serverās activities/dashboard while your brother is streaming from his home. Specifically to see if the connection is listed as Remote or Indirect (an indirect connection implies thereās some issue with your remote access setup, causing the connection to run through a Plex Relay server ā those connections are limited to 2 Mbps for Plex Pass members, 1 Mbps for others).
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200871837-status-and-dashboard/
Thanks very much for your help.
The upload and download speeds arenāt the issue. The server has 1Gbps up & down.
Iāve noticed under the āRemote Accessā section it keeps switching off (see screeenshots) but regardless, the maximum it streams is just 0.7mbps/328p.
Does the other screenshot suggest the codec is being converted and is that the reason why the resolution is low, because it doesnāt explain why the remote access service keeps getting flicked off so to speak. Could it be router and/or the codec issue?
Thanks again I really appreciate this. I never had this issue before and I get it across all platforms.
Look at the third line of the second screen shot.
It says that the connection between server and client is āIndirectā.
Which means Plex Relay is used, in absence of a usable direct connection.
And Plex relay is restricted to max 1 mbps for users without Plex Pass.
In most cases this means that your server cannot be reached directly from outside the boundaries of your Home network.
Have you ever accessed your own Plex server while out&about?
I access my Plex server via TeamViewer.
Iām looking into all these Plex subscriptions now as I canāt remember which one I recently purchased.
That is not a cure. Even Plex Pass owners only get 2 mbps for relay connections.
Just to make it more confusing now, when I play a video on my Android phone, the quality is much better and Plex states itās running at original quality @ 3Mbps, meanwhile playing a video on my laptop (using the app, not a browser) is still @ 0.7Mbps/320p.
Both are using the same account.
The dashboard clearly shows that both clients are indirectly connected and both get a transcoded video stream. Only the phone is getting a slightly higher bitrate.
Are these two clients within your own local network?
Yes, but the laptop is streaming at just 0.7Mbps/328p while the phone is streaming at 3Mbps/1080p, thatās a big difference in quality. Both are on the same Local Network, not local to the server though.
I donāt get it and there is no option to increase the resolution in Plex on the laptop, apart from decreasing it.
The Dashboard says something different.
You need to investigate and remove the reason for the indirect connection. Anything else is just a red herring.
Yes, in the āRemote Accessā tab of the Plex server, it can say itās fully accessible with a green tick but then quickly flips to āNot available outside your networkā.
Regardless, the Android phone still streams at 3Mbps while the laptop at just 0.7Mbps along with all the other platforms such as my brotherās TV.
Itās frustrating especially as I donāt understand whatās going on. I wonder if itās anything to do with my my router but the fact that my Android phone can play āOriginalā quality as stated in settings makes it bizarre.
Do Plex have IT guys that can login remotely to check the settings whether it be for a fee or not?
BTW, thank you very much, I really appreciate it.
That means it was never remotely accessible in the first place.
Have you ever streamed remotely from your own server with your own devices?
Where are you reading 3Mbps? In your screenshot, Iām seeing 635Kbps.
Sorry, Im not sure what you mean. Iām streaming from Plex apps on all sorts of devices that are connecting to the server remotely.
If it works for you, but not for your brother, it probably has to do with DNS.
In order for remote devices to find your server, they ask a DNS server for the actual IP of your serverās domain name.
Now, if the ISP of your brother is not updating the DNS cache frequent enough, it can fail to resolve your serverās IP. (Some ISPs even try to actively suppress Plex traffic, either out of fear of litigation, or by trying to āmanageā the bandwidth of their networks).
Measure 1): use a random port number on the WAN side of your router. If you have created a port forwarding in the settings of your router and have used the well-known Plex port 32400 for the WAN side, change that to something else. ISPs or public WiFi hotspot operators may actively suppress traffic on port 32400.
Measure 2): Tell your brother to set the DNS server 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 in the settings of their router. (Sometimes it is also possible to just set the DNS server in the network settings of the playback device). These DNS server are operated by Cloudflare and Google and are known to update their caches timely and not filter any addresses related to Plex.
Thanks very much, Iāll try to give it a go.
I guess the big issue is why the serverās not allowing direct access, which is annoying.
Thanks again.
I suspect you are looking at the wrong values, possible settings and your set parameter, not the figure the video is actually playing at, regardless of your setting. You can provide your preferred setting but the video will still play at the possible quality. Look at it as the maximum possible quality. To see the actual value, click on the 3 dots on the screen showing your video playing and select info, not settings. That should also give a reason why the video is being downgraded. As an example, this is what I see on an iPhone.
Thanks, unfortunately I canāt see an option that says āinfoā apart from the details of the original file. That said, after flicking back and forth between 3Mbps/1080p and 0.7Mbps/320p I can visibly see the difference in quality.
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