Xfinity recently pushed me to ‘upgrade’ to a new router that will work so much better. Of course, the new router is not finding the Plex media server on my PC. I looked through the settings of the Plex server and Plex web app and didn’t see anything that allows me to switch a router address. I saw nothing on the router config page to enable a media server. I called Xfinity support; the tech person had never heard of Plex and didn’t seem to know what a media server is. (I didn’t make that up). I assume it’s something simple. Is there a setting somewhere on the media server?
Unless you are setting up remote access, there is nothing Plex specific to configure in a router. Also, Plex relies on the underlying OS - Windows, Linux, etc - for networking. There are no router settings in Plex (again, unless you’re setting up remote access).
Can you supply some additional information?
What version of PMS & what OS?
Can the system, not PMS, access the Internet (can a web browser access plex.tv, google.com, etc)?
How is the system connected to the router - wired Ethernet or wireless?
Does the system have a fixed or DHCP assigned address?
A total SWAG, but changing the router may have changed your network default gateway or maybe your network number. Most home networks use the 192.168.1.x or 192.168.0.x network with a default gateway of 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1. Some ISPs use 192.168.1.254 / 192.168.0.254. If the default changed, but your system is not aware of the change, it could communicate to other devices on your network, but not to the Internet. If the network number changed and the system is not aware of such, then it would have zero communications.
An easy way to check your default gateway is to use a PC that can communicate to the Internet. Open a command window and enter “ipconfig” at the prompt: c:\ipconfig then press enter. This will show the ip address and default gateway of your network. The first three octets of the IP address on your PMS server should match what is on the PC. The last number will be different (ex: PC has 192.168.1.20, PMS should have 192.168.1.x where x is not 20). The default gateway for both systems should be the same (ex: 192.168.1.1).
FordGuy61 - Thanks for your response. I appreciate it.
I’m on Windows 10, and my PMS version is 1.9.6.4429 (I believe both Windows and PMS are fully updated). My router is connected to the computer wirelessly. You asked me to check the IP address for the PMS server – I looked and the closest I could find to this in the PMS setting was DNLA Client Preference: 192.168.1.1.114. If that is not correct, where is it?
I’m not sure about the DHCP or fixed address for the computer. I called the IP config screen on my 4-year-old Acer (something I’ve never done on this unit), and this doesn’t like config screens I’ve seen in the past. It looks weird to me. I didn’t want to attach a screenshot of it out of security paranoia. So to summarize…
Near the top of the config screen is a heading – Wireless Lan adapter wi-fi.
Lines under this are:
Connection specific DNS Suffix – hsdl.mi.Comcast.net
IPV6 Address – 2601:405XXXXXXXXX
IPV6 Address – 2601:405XXXXXXXXX
Temporary IPV6 Address – 2601:405XXXXXXXXX
Link Local IPV6 address - fe80XXXXXXXXXX
IPV4 address - 10.0.0.131 (this is different from my new router IP address)
Subnet mask…255.255XXXXXX
Defeault Gateway – fe80::fe51XXXXXXXXXX 10.0.0.1 (this is my new router IP address)
Underneath this are two similar IVP6 addresses for "Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Interface.
Hopefully, some of this is useful. Noting the IPV6 addresses in the config screen, I clicked on IVP6 server support in the PMS menu, hoping that would correct the problem. It didn’t. One last note, Xfinity did not ask me to run an installation disk in setting up the new device – which is their combined modem/router, what they call a "Wireless Gateway. I don’t know if that makes any difference.
Any help you or anyone can provide would be much appreciated!
Thanks for the info.
No need to enable ipv6 in Plex. Leave it disabled for now. Don’t change any IPv6 settings in Windows. Plex will just ignore them.
Step 1: Let’s make sure the basic Windows networking is OK first, then worry about Plex.
On your PMS system, what is the IPv4 address? This is a Windows setting, not a Plex setting. Pull up a command window like you did on the Acer and issue the ipconfig command. You should see 10.0.0.something (different than the Acer) and a default gateway of 10.0.0.1 (your router address). Also, the subnet mask should be the same as on the Acer. It is usually, but not always, 255.255.255.0. Exact setting is not important. It is important that it matches other devices on your network. FYI, it is not a security risk to post local IPv4 address (10.x.x.x), default gateway, or subnet mask.
Also, can the PMS system get out to the Internet? Launch Chrome, Edge, etc. Can you pull up the Google home page, plex.tv page, etc. If not, check your wireless connection, make sure you’re connected to the router, have a decent signal, etc.
Step 2: Once the PC can communicate to the Internet, get Plex working.
Make sure PMS is running on the system. You should see the icon in the taskbar in bottom right corner of your screen.
On the PC running PMS, point Chrome or Firefox at http://127.0.0.1:32400/web/index.html.
You should see the Plex login screen (or Plex Web if already logged in). Login and see if you can play a movie/tv show/etc locally, using a web browser or Plex Media Player running on the PMS system itself.
I know you pulled up Plex settings, so seems this is already working OK. However, if you changed anything in Windows networking, need to double check this still works.
Once that is working, try one of your clients. Make sure the client is successfully connected to the Internet via the new router (play a YouTube video, pull up a web page, etc). Then launch the Plex app and login/authenticate if needed. You should see your PMS server and be able to play a movie, song, etc.
FYI, the Default Gateway is networking speak for “how do I get to the Internet?” For you, me, and most home users, it is your wireless router. In more complex networks there can be multiple gateways, but that’s nothing you have to worry about.
Also, every device on your network must have a unique IP address. The address assignment is handled by your router. The Acer is 10.0.0.131. The PC running PMS will be 10.0.0.x, where ‘x’ is something beside 131 (the Acer) and 1 (the router).
Thanks FordGuy.
I should have said earlier that my new router is speaking to all my devices, so subnet mask is not a problem for these. My Ipv address is 10.0.0.131. I confirmed that I can play stored Plex content through a Plex PC web app on Chrome. Still cant broadcast out Plex to Apple TV or
You say each device must have a unique IP address, but the fact that the PMS sever is talking to the PC’s web means the two are using unique IPs, correct?
is there an IP setting I need to check on Plex? (Probably a dumb question)
Since you say the config settings don’t pose a security risk, I’ve attached a photo. If it is a security problem, are you able to remove it? Thanks.
Correction: My IPv4 address is 10.0.0.131.
OK, so PMS system address is 10.0.0.131.
Check the Network settings in PMS. Select Show Advanced if you haven’t already.
- IPv6 not selected
- Secure Connections = Disabled or Preferred. You only need “Required” if streaming to remote location.
- Custom certificate, encryption key, certificate domain boxes should all blank.
- Check Enable local network discovery
- Remote streams - doesn’t matter, since not streaming remotely
- LAN Networks, Custom URLs, and List of IP address boxes should all be blank.
- Check enable HTTP pipelining (doesn’t matter for your issues, but good to select)
- Webhooks - doesn’t matter.
A couple more things to try:
Login to the PMS server. Go to Settings -> Devices. Delete the AppleTV (click on the red X). Now launch Plex on the Apple TV. You should have to re-authenticate with the Plex servers. After re-authentication, you should see your PMS system listed in the AppleTV Plex app.
From another PC (i.e., not the PMS system), point a browser directly at your PMS system, https://10.0.0.131:32400/ (or http://… if secure connections = disabled). You should receive the login screen from PMS. Login and you should see your libraries, be able to play a movie, etc.
Restart your PMS server, wait for it to come back online, then restart your AppleTV. This really shouldn’t matter, but sometimes a restart can clear up issues.
Things should work. You have the PMS PC online and the clients online. You’ve played a video on the PMS system itself, and if above worked, from a separate PC.
Only other thing that springs to mine would be a router setting for “AP Isolation.” It is almost always disabled by default. It prevents the clients on the wireless LAN from talking to each other, they can only communicate to the Internet. If it were enabled, it would prevent the AppleTV from seeing the PMS. Also, you would not be able to play a video from another PC.
Here’s how it looks in my ASUS router: 
Some clients have a configuration option to directly enter the PMS server address. You shouldn’t have to do that, but you might give it a try if things are still not working.
That’s all I can think of right now. Let me know how things work out.
I tried everything you recommended, and it didn’t seem to work. So then I threw in the towel and hooked up my old modem to the new modem/router using a bridge mode. That allowed me to get Plex on my iPad, but not Apple TV. Wasn’t reaunthenticating. So I finally deleted the Plex app in Apple TV and reinstalled, which then had me put in a code to relink. I didn’t realize that was part of the reauthenication process. Anyway, it’s working now, so hooray!
Thanks for your patient and thorough guidance through this process.
Sorry. I just reread my last post and realized it didn’t make sense. I hooked up my old router – not my old modem. Anyway, problem solved.
