I have a server running at my home and a number of remote and local users. Only one remote user is having trouble connecting, getting a “cannot connect securely” error.
But when I log in on my account from Chrome on their computer, Plex connects fine. When I log in to their account in Chrome from my computer, Plex connects fine. I installed the Plex viewing app on their computer and it will connect on my home network, but only when I switch it to the browser view and click “allow insecure connection.” I’m not yet sure if the app will connect from their home network, but I suspect not. Safari on their computer won’t connect to app.plex.tv at all, but I suspect that is because their laptop is a rather elderly MacBook.
To make this more confusing, they could connect just fine for the first couple weeks after I invited them to my server.
I don’t even know how to troubleshoot this beyond doing what I’ve described above (plus the usual making sure things are up-to-date and turning everything off and back on again).
I had a similar problem with one of my users recently. I tried troubleshooting and gathering information to debug it when suddenly the user reported that it all started working. She is not the most detailed of people and really didn’t provide any information about what things changed that got it to suddenly work. I also had a similar problem with another remote user in which a re-install of the Plex app on their side fixed it.
I’d like to point out that your problem description could use a little work. You started by saying that one remote user could not connect securely but you left out important details like what device she was using (Macbook, Windows, Cell phone, Android, TV app?), what application was running (app on iPhone, Safari browser, Chrome on Window/IOS/LInux), etc. These are important details.
You mention that you installed “the Plex viewing app on their computer”. What is this “Plex viewing app” you speak of? And are you saying you had their computer in your house on your network and it worked?
Things to try (look at):
Focus on the computer/OS and app being used. Try different combinations, like MacBook/Safari/Plex web, MacBook/Chrome/Plex web, iPhone/Plex app, Windows/Firefox/Plex web, TV/Plex app. Also, on their network, perhaps on your cell phone using cellular data (i.e. not on their network), on your home network. Sounds like you’re doing that. Keep good records of what’s working and what’s not working.
While on their network, go to https://canyouseeme.org/. Can you see port 32400 (or whatever you configured for your Plex port)?
This one fixed it for another remote user of mine - uninstall and reinstall the app. Be it on a cell phone or TV.
If #3 doesn’t work, try deleting them as a user on your server and re-adding them. Note I think they will lose their “place” as to which things they’ve watched in the past but it may get them going again.
Sorry but computers are deterministic, therefore they should not suddenly stop working due solely to age. They may be slower because the software now demands more resources, but they shouldn’t break. If they do, then the developer has failed somewhere in the code.
'Tis far more likely that Safari has some acquired some messed up configuration over the years than it just stopped working because the hardware is old. Again, computers are deterministic machines and thus don’t change behavior with age.
This is one of the most incorrect things I have ever read. Computers at their hardware level have limitations that cannot be changed, that inability to change as time moves forward means that computers can absolutely just “break”. When updates to software are made for tons of reasons old computers may find themselves incapable of dealing with those changes for no other reason then the hardware in the machine lacks the compatibility to interact with that new software (Windows 11). This is not a developer failure either, maintaining compatibility with aging hardware is not an easy task and often times becomes impossible for various reasons. Computers are way more complex then just throw code at them. They need to be able to understand and interact with that code and eventually primarily because of hardware limitations they can’t do that anymore, causing them to “break”, whether that is because they slow to the point that doing what you ask of them causes them to crash (everyone who has ever had a computer has seen that behavior), or because they straight up can’t interact with the software being thrown at them because of hardware limitations.
Pretty much why I said, “they should not suddenly stop working due solely to age”. Since even you state “It’s not the age per se” we are essentially totally in agreement right?
And your example is totally off base. Yes, certificates expire. In fact, I just renewed one of my LE certs the other day so I am familiar with how certs work. But having an expired certification doesn’t mean a website won’t work, in fact, most browsers allow you to push past the problem if you want. If you don’t want to because you are worried that does not equate to “it doesn’t work”. If Safari doesn’t allow you to then perhaps you should install a better browser.
Nor does the fact that an old timeshare system will never do a GUI interface because it was never designed to. It does not mean it is broke - it simply means it’s not capable.
Another poor example. Most of the “Windows 11 won’t run on your computer” claims are bogus. In fact, there are now registry settings one can add to allow just about all Windows 10 machines to upgrade to Windows 11. Compare that to Apple and OS/X which was running just fine in a VM for me on my Linux desktop when I decided to try updating to Monterey and it just totally crapped out. According to the VirtualBox’s forum apparently, Apple finally got around to screwing over anybody who attempts to run OS/X on non-Apple hardware. How nice of them (not)! It’s one of many reasons I replaced OS/X on my physical Macbook with Ubuntu.
That may be true but it’s more often the case that a piece of software that relies on another library whose owners have determined they do not want to continue to support the older OS or app. But there are thousands of examples where some people take up the charge and update the library which then causes the app to run just fine showing that the breakage was really more an end of support type of thing.
Having been in the business for some 42 years now building software systems from compliers to full-blown OSes, I’m quite familiar with this.
While occasionally a hardware limitation may cause the software to no longer work it is by far much more common that a software incompatibility will cause a problem. My point is that the failure does not happen due to age rather than due to a software bug that was introduced to perhaps an older machine that the developers didn’t consider or didn’t have the hardware themselves to adequately test on. But it doesn’t stop working simply because it’s a day, month, or year older.
And I must say I have never had a computer crash just because it was slow. If you’re patient it will finish. But I have had computers crash when they are being slow precisely because they are consuming resources (which is why they are becoming slow) and thus reaching the design limits of the software. This too is not solely because they were slow but rather because they were consuming all resources (which exhibited itself as slowness).
