It will depend on what the original file is (resolution/bitrate/etc.)… easy way is to drop down to say 480p for playback.
As has been stated several times, the error message is somewhat of a catch-all message that can be caused by many issues. Unfortunately it implies network, but there are many other possible causes.
I would recommend opening a separate item and posting your servers logs and client logs.
Troubles? Read here to learn how to provide great logs.
There has been a new Android TV beta release posted here:
It may fix SOME of the causes of the playback issues, but I don’t believe has the new caching enhancements yet.
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Does this mean that my Android phone should automatically upgrade to this version? I don’t see it auto detecting the upgrade.
You could try checking though in the Play Store to see if you have an update available just to be safe.
I don’t have an android phone, but did you setup your google account for access to the Plex Beta app?
If not, then no it won’t show an update as this is a beta build.
No update in Play Store.
Ahh, that makes sense. I don’t remember setting up my Google account for Plex Pass/Plex Beta. Do you have a quick how-to for that?
It doesn’t fix the problem. I don’t get the server messages anymore but it still will pause and hang
Then the next step would be posting logs.
I have the same issues with my shield TV and plex, something with that latest update. Plex on my Samsung TV no issues, Plex on XBox fine, Plex on Fire TV no problem, Plex on Apple TV no problem, and Plex on Shield TV cannot play a stinking movie. Was my favorite player and now we wait for an update. This is the reason I paid for Plex pass, I understand things happen but it’s pretty disappointing that this isn’t sorted out yet.
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Same here although the odd thing is I played a few 4K Bluray rips (remuxed not re-coded) that worked fine, but trying to play a re-coded Bluray rip tonight failed every 15-30 minutes or so.
A different 4K title tonight (though after the latest OS update) IS failing though, so I will have to check those that worked before.
Having the issue as well, since around a couple weeks ago.
Using Nvidia Shield as client, and a dedicated server, through Gigabit Ethernet.
It usually happens only once, in the middle of a movie being direct played.
Nothing unusual in the logs.
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The wierd thing, is if I use plex-addon in Kodi on the same Nvidia Shield, it works perfectly. The only con about this, is that plex is kinda ugly in the addon 
Some progress:
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Hope this one gets sorted out soon. Plex is basically useless at this point 
How is this still an issue? My setup sounds virtually identical to the OP’s (Synology DS918+ as the Plex server, full Ubiquiti/UniFi network), and the two new Shields that I swore to my wife would be much better than the Rokus they’re supposed to replace have been garbage when it comes to the Plex client app. Same random “connection to the server” error as everyone else here. Wife refuses to use the Shields (not that I can blame her) and rolls her eyes when I flip over from the Rokus, even if only to see if there’s been an update for the Roku app. Everything else on the Shields is brilliant, and similarly the Plex app is brilliant on the Rokus. It’s not the server, and it’s not the network.
/rant
I posted this in another forum as well:
I can confirm the fix for slower connection on the shield is in the works. Prior to the fix on a high latency connection it would max around 50Mbps, with the fix it now reaches around 250Mbps. The receive window calculation was incorrect which caused slower connection. It should also help with a steady connection to your content. The shieldtv support forum folks have been excellent and nothing but praise for them.
If the issue is with out of sync packets between audio and video, perhaps they need to look at what the Plex for Firefox OS developers are doing. My Panasonic TV can play the same content without any issues and that has less resources than my nVidia Shield.
I believe they use different players. The Shield uses Exoplayer v2 and Firefox OS uses whatever it uses. This is the same reason that Kodi works on the Shield even using the same video files, because it doesn’t use Exoplayer v2 either. Plex is now using MPV as the player on AppleTV and PMP, so maybe it will come to the various Android devices at some point as well.
Same: “not fast enough.” NVIDIA Shield used to be great with Plex server. Now it’s useless crap. Totally un-recommendable. This is BS. How can I roll back the version?!
