Pixelation and stuttering when pulling files from NAS

Plex Media Server
1

I’ll try to keep this brief but detailed in the hopes someone has advice. I’ve been running a Plex server installed on my Synology NAS for the last few years. Like a lot of others, I started experiencing issues once I upgraded to DSM7. Pixelated video and stuttering videos, buffering, etc. So over the past few weeks I’ve been trying to upgrade my server and NAS drive and it frustratingly has not solved the issue.

I ended up buying a Mini PC running an Intel 2.0 celeron processor and 16GB of RAM to use as a server. My ideal set up is that computer (or one like it) running a Plex server accessing media files on the NAS drive. That way I can keep everything hardwired on a shelf next to my router. It seems like a simple enough set up, however for some reason I get pixelation and stuttering with every configuration I’ve tried.

I tried the new PC running Plex accessing files from the Synology NAS drive but still experience pixelation so I figured maybe the drive was going bad or the Synology is just too outdated. So I purchased WD MyCloud EX2, set it up as the Plex library source and got the same result. everything hardwired through CAT6 including the mini pc. I also have Plex servers on a MacBook Pro and gaming PC purely for testing purposes, but they all yield the same results when trying to stream videos stored on the NAS drive. All different video files (H264 and H265).

The only way I can solve the stuttering and pixelation is if I store the file locally on the mini PC or other computer and don’t use the NAS. It doesn’t seem like Plex servers can properly access files on a NAS (at least the two I’ve tried) and transcode them properly, unless there is some special trick to get it to work. I know it’s not my network speed due to being able to run files stored locally on the MacBook Pro or Mini PC no problem. For reference I’m using an Apple TV 4K as the client.

Any advice is very welcome and appreciated.

2

While I don’t know what’s happening, it should absolutely be possible to make this work – I and many others here keep our media files on a NAS, including a Synology. Though to be fair, mine is still on DSM 6.

If you do a raw file copy of a media file from the NAS to the PMS machine, do you get the expected speed?

Are there any hardware bits in common that are between the NAS and the Plex server, like switches or cables? I once had a cheap network switch that would get slow and mess up everything that passed through it unless it was rebooted frequently. (ick!)

3

What happens if you try pull the video direct of the NAS to another client? VLC player or something?

Can it keep up? What are the NAS stats like at idle and file read?