I am still getting this incredibly frustrating issue out of nowhere and am at my wits end to fix this as nothing seems to help and everything I read is so confusing and doesn’t fix the issue.
I got a warning on my TV saying “indirect playback you are not connected directly to this server so streaming quality may be limited” and then the quality on my TV is just awful. Then on my app on my PC it has the issue of “not available outside your network” and won’t connect even if I click on the manual section. It then apparently is just laggy on my TV to even remotely play anything! It was working completely fine until only a couple of days ago and I’ve done nothing to my internet, PC or files or TV apps etc to change this!
Is this a plex issue? Are other people having the same issues??! I’m really getting very frustrated and nothing seems to be working to fix this
Those warnings refer to remote access issues.
The primary question will be if you experience those warnings with actual remote connections or even inside your own home network.
If you see this inside your home network, you’ve probably some kind of network segregation in place (client and server being located on different subnets) or there’s some kind of security app/tool that might be preventing the two from talking directly to each other.
The most common use case for that are multiple network components that each create their own subnet (e.g. a wireless access point connected to your router). Unless you specifically want that segmentation, the secondary devices should usually be configured in „bridge mode“ (meaning: they should extend the main router’s network, not create a new one).
If this is an actual remote connection… there’s something wrong with the remote access configuration of the server you’re trying to access. Did you already have a look at the related troubleshooting support article?
There’s also a guide with some more details on how to troubleshoot a remote access issue — even if it might not fix things for you, the findings from the different steps should help pin down what’s causing the issue.
This is happening from within my house. The server is on my PC. I am trying to watch the files on my TV through WIFI on the same network. Nothing has changed on any settings since I installed Plex and this has just started happening in the last couple of days. I have read through half of those guides and are way too confusing and the things I have tried haven’t fixed it
Nope. Just a simple modem with wireless. I’m not very technically savvy and this just literally happened overnight and through all these fixes and help in creating a separate port for 32400 and everything nothing has fixed it
You tagged the thread as remote access, which is used for streaming to remote locations. That is why you were getting advice regarding troubleshooting remote access.
Playing locally does not depend on having remote access to the server. Opening ports in the router is not necessary for local playback.
Seeing the “Indirect playback” message when playing locally is an indication of local network problems.
What version of Plex Media Server is installed, 1.32.7 (current release)?
This is displayed in Settings → Server_Name → General.
How is the server connected to the network - wired Ethernet or wireless?
On the server, check the if the network interface is public or private.
In Windows 10: Settings → Network & Internet → Properties.
If it is set to Public, change it to Private then reboot the PC.
Sorry mate I’m not the least bit tech savvy so have no clue on half of these things or where to post this correctly. Also basing it on the issues of getting that ‘indirect playback’ message which is also the same as getting the remote access ’ Not available outside your network’ message, which I have never noticed before getting this message a few days ago and now having these playback issues.
To answer your questions:
I am running 1.32.7.7621 according to the server (says ‘up to date’ next to it)
It is connected via Ethernet
It is public
I will change it to private and see if that fixes the issue
So far so good. Looks like it’s working as of now! Touch wood it stays that way. Too bad I deleted my server and uninstalled it as saw that was an option to try, but hey, small price to pay if it means I can get this working again. Will keep you posted if it drops out. Thanks so much!
You can monitor playback via Plex Dashboard → Now Playing + Expanded View.
It should show the connection as Local, not Remote or Indirect.
Regarding public/private:
When set to Public, Windows isolates the computer from the rest of the network. It can reach the Internet, but no other devices on the same network. This is good when using a laptop at a coffee shop, but not so good when running Plex Media Server.
For Plex, this means that local devices, such as your TV, cannot reach the server directly. The stream is routed over the Internet, to a server at Plex, then back to the TV. Plex calls this an Indirect connection. It is also limited to 1 Mbps, which is why it looks so bad.
Now that you’ve changed it to Private, the setting should stay that way unless you get a new router, change ISPs, etc. Still, it is possible that a Windows update, crash, etc could cause it to switch back to Public.
Nothing to lose sleep over. Just something to be aware of in case you have trouble streaming locally.
Seriously mate, thankyou. This has been doing my head in all weekend. So I really appreciate it. And the fact it was something so damn simple! But seriously, thankyou
