Hello all, so I have a few Nvidia Shield TV Pros set up throughout my home and office and recently started my free trial for the Remote Watch Pass. I set up one of the home Shield TV Pros as my Plex server. I noticed that even though I can access my home server while I am away from my house (either through the Shield TV Pro at my office or on my iPhone), the streaking quality is HORRIFIC (likely due to the fact that I have a relay connection allowing me to remotely access my server and I understand that streaming is limited to 2 mb per second). I use a Mac for accessing Plex on the Internet, I have Nord VPN running on both the Mac and my home Shield TV Pro Plex server, and I have the Nord Meshnet enabled on both devices (and it shows my Shield TV Pro server is connected to the Meshnet).
I just spent FOUR HOURS reading up on remote access, port forwarding, setting up remote access through the Meshnet, etc. and no matter what I do, I simply cannot enable remote access under settings to allow me to bypass the Relay. I properly followed the Nord VPN Meshnet website for Plex remote access to theoretically link the devices and enable the “custom server access URLs” in the Plex network settings, but I still can’t get the Remote Access going. I keep getting the “not available outside your network” message and thus 'I’m forced to continue to use the Relay function so I can get SOME streaming capability on my iPhone and office Shield TV Pro.
Any ideas on what I may be missing or if there’s another way to enable Remote Access so I can stream my HD content properly? I’m at a loss and very frustrated…I’d appreciate any help!
I am bumping this as I am no longer able to remotely access my Nvidia Shield TV Pro Plex Server AT ALL (not even with the relay connection), and I have ensured my Internet and server are still up and running. This is EXTREMELY frustrating, I’d appreciate any input before I give up on this and look for another media server solution…
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I’d say the lack of responses here are more than likely due to a lack of familiarity with NordVPN MeshNet among fellow forum users. While I’d heard of it, I’ve never used it as I employ TailScale for this purpose.
Having said that, a good start would be understanding why you’re relying on a mesh VPN solution and/or relay to begin with. Does your ISP use CG-NAT (which will cause a double-NAT configuration)?
Also, for what it’s worth, the “remote access” feature, and custom server URLs, are two different ways of accomplishing the remote access task. That is, one doesn’t rely on the other. However, Plex Relay does rely on the remote access feature being enabled.
All that to say, it would be very helpful to know a lot more about your network topology (LAN and ISP/WAN) and your current remote access and custom server URL settings.
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Yeah, so I only relied on the Meshnet feature as some links from the Plex support page on remote access led to an article about a potential “meshnet” solution for Nord VPN users. I tried using those meshnet instructions to no avail. Then I went in my Spectrum router settings to enable the UPnP setting, and still no luck…I then set up a manual 32400 port without luck, then spent 20 minutes on the phone with Spectrum support without luck. I disabled Nord both on the Shield TV Pro and my computer, retried the remote access, and again no luck.
I guess the remote feature just won’t work for me outside of the relay, I’m at a complete loss as to what else I can do.
Here’s a document that may help: The Basics of Remote Access Troubleshooting
Here's some things to check (many mentioned in above document):
IP Addressing
Just to verify, are you using RFC-1918 addressing on the network? The IP addresses should be 192.168.x.y, 172.16.x.y to 172.31.x.y, or 10.x.y.z. The Spectrum router will use those by default, but some people change things.
DNS Settings
If possible, configure the Spectrum router to use a public DNS server such as 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare), 9.9.9.9 (Quad9), or 8.8.8.8 (Google).
Alternately, configure the Shield running Plex Media Server to use one of those DNS servers (Shield network settings, not a Plex setting).
Local Playback
Disable the VPN on the Plex Media Server, then restart the Shield Pro. Is local playback OK?
Stream something locally, monitor it via Plex Dashboard → Now Playing + Expanded View, and verify the connection is Local. If the connection is Remote or Indirect, then something is wonky.
Local Network
Besides the Spectrum router, are there any other routers, piHoles (ad blocker), etc. on the network?
Port Forward
Can you attach a screenshot of the port forward statement in the Spectrum router?
Just want to make sure it is correctly configured. The field names vary by manufacturer. Here’s the config from an Asus router:
- Name: Plex (or anything, doesn’t matter)
- External Port: 32400 (default, can change if desired)
- Internal Port: 32400 (always)
- Internal IP Address: The IP address of the Plex Media Server
- Protocol: TCP
- Source IP: blank/any/all. You do not want to specify a public IP address. You want to admit all public addresses, since you will not know the IP address of the client.
Plex Media Server Settings → Remote Access
- Is there any mention of Double NAT?
- Ensure the Private IP Address matches the Port Forward Internal IP Address
- Ensure the manually specified port matches the Port Forward External Port.
- Ensure the checkbox to manually specify public port is checked, even if you are using 32400.
- From a device on the same network, go to whatismyipaddress.com (or any similar site). Ensure the address matches the Public IP Address in Settings → Remote Access.
If remote access is still not working:
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In Settings → server_name → General + Show Advanced, ensure Plex Media Server is configured for debug server logs. Do not enable verbose logs.
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Reboot (rolls the log files). Wait 2 - 3 minutes for the server to fully start & log the startup sequence.
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Go to Settings → Remote Access and try to enable remote access.
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If it fails, pull the server log files (settings → troubleshooting), and attach to the thread.
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Thank you, this is very helpful info! Here is the crazy thing…I had pretty much given up on ever successfully setting up the remote access after spending multiple hours on it this past Friday. I have NO clue what I did (other than pray for a solution LOL) and when I decided to try again Saturday morning, the remote access was green across the board. NO MORE ISSUES and the access was perfectly fine! 
It was UNCANNY as the only thing I had really done was set my router UPnP to “on” and even though it hadn’t worked earlier, things just apparently clicked.
Needless to say, everything is working well and I’m able to remote access my content without issues. I will NEVER mess with those settings again LOL! 
Again, thank you for your help and the great info!
