Server Version#:1.13.8.5395
Player Version#: Roku:5.3 build 10 IOS:5.5.1 Panasonic: .3.13.21
All the above players have no Direct Local Wi-Fi connection, I have been using Plex for years and never had this issue, I have tried reinstalls with no luck. I’m getting either Offline, unreachable or Relayed connection.
I am getting connected directly with the one player (Panasonic TV) that is hard wired to the router. The Roku is a Relayed connection as is one of my IOS devices other in my household are Offline and I’m getting unreachable on one of my Panasonic TV’s
The really strange thing is that on my IOS devise (iPhone) when I’m on a remote connection either another Wi-Fi network or just on Data (4G) I get a direct remote connection
I have had trouble with starting the server also but have found by turning off my firewall it will now start up successfully (this hasn’t happened before either) - I have tried reinstalling the Server to earlier versions with no joy and I’ve tried looking at my Firewall settings but none of these have changed and I have tried changing the network settings in PMS but all have made no difference
Has anyone else had this issue or know what I’m missing (I assume it could be something simple)
Thanks for any ideas
#4
Open a command prompt (CMD on Windows/Terminal on Mac)
#5
Type nslookup followed by a space. Paste your server’s domain. Your complete command should look like nslookup [local-ip-address].[server-domain].plex.direct. Once it does, hit enter to run the command.
Sorry it taken me so long to get back with results (work gets in the way), I get this result from the above tests please see below, can I also say thank you for all your help so far.
Server: bthub
Address: .**.. (I have not posted the actual address)
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
Request to bthub timed-out
I’m guessing this is the root of the issue but I’m not sure what to do now
Hi, I have rerun this with Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and get
Server: one.one.one.one
Address: 1.1.1.1
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: ***---,server-domain.plex.direct (Server domain long list of numbers and letters)
Address: ***...
I’m really at a loss, If its as you say a DNS rebinding issue - why has it just started to happen it’s been the same router and PC for a couple of years?
Hello, Cetteup, thanks for all your help so far, as I said in my previous post I’m not sure what to do now and having spent a few hours trying to read about DNS rebinding (I have a BT Smart Hub 6) ‘not that smart as it turns out’ with no answers being found
So if you can give anymore help I would grateful - I have made another discovery this morning that if I turn off remote access on the server I suddenly get a direct local connection - I don’t know if that changes anything
You can see the results of the last test using Cloudflare above
There are a few ways of working around DNS rebind protection.
#1 Tell your devices to use a different DNS server.
Your devices will simply ask 1.1.1.1 (or any other public DNS) for addresses instead of asking your router. This is somewhat of a pain, since you have to set this up separately on every single device (and each device will be different).
#2 Set the Plex connection up manually
Any Plex app lets you set up manual connection. Simply enter your server’s IP address (which should be static anyways) and you’re good to go. I’m not entirely sure how mobile devices handle this, since they they need to use the manual connection locally but the standard one when connecting remotely. This would easy enough to test, however. Either way, you need to set your home network in PMS under Settings > Network > List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth. If your local IP addresses are all 192.168.0.x, enter 192.168.0.0/24. This will allow any device on your network to use your PMS without having to sign in.
#3 Add a custom access URL using your server’s hostname
This would require some testing, but many routers resolve DNS lookups for local hostnames. What does that mean? If your computer asks your router “Under which IP address can I find plex.local?”, your router would respond with the IP address of the device called “plex”. In order to test whether your router does this, find out the hostname of your PMS by opening a command prompt on the PMS and typing hostname. Then (on a different computer if possible) open a command prompt and enter nslookup [hostname] or nslookup [hostname].local. If either returns the IP address of your PMS, just enter the address that worked under Settings > Network > Custom server access URLs. Remember to include the port and protocol, e.g. use http://plex.local:32400.
#4 Get an aftermarket router
Most ISPs let you use your own router. I don’t know if BT does, but that shouldn’t be too hard to find out. Aftermarket router usually have a lot more features and let you access more settings than the ISP ones. And, as far as I know, most of them don’t use DNS rebinding protection (or let you disable it). In case your ISPs DNS servers use DNS rebinding protection, just use a different one. The BT hubs won’t let you change this according to “the internet” - any half-decent aftermarket model will.
#5 Use a different device as your local DHCP and DNS server
A quick online search led me to believe that you can disable DHCP on the BT hubs. So you could run your own. Your devices would shout “Who can give me an IP address?” and your custom device would answer - instead of your BT hub. Your DHCP server would also tell your devices which DNS server to use (itself, for example). The difficulty of setting something like this varies. It’s “easyish” with something like a Synology NAS but gets far more difficult if you have to set it up using the console.
There might be more solutions, but I can’t think of any right now. #3 would be the easiest to implement - if your router behaves as described. My personal preference would be #4, because I passionately hate ISP provided routers (for what should be obvious reasons).
Hi,
I am having exactly this same behaviour. Although the discussion here is very helpful, I wonder whether Plex have any comment on the proposed solutions.
I am a little reluctant to start with any of them as I might end up making the problem more complex to diagnose (especially if I make a mistake) than it previously was.
What I can confirm however, was that it used to work once the external access was established.
Could we expect a view from them do you think? My impression is that ist is impairing performance, and in the case of external connections, making the video server inaccessible (while the audio server is accessible to external users. Both are indirect though)
Best
Nick
