Hi,
A little while ago I migrated my Plex server from my windows PC to my NAS. Everything seemed to be going smoothly except the Plex windows 10 app will just buffer 10+ minutes of anything (if it plays at all and doesn’t give me a vague couldn’t open file message) despite the NAS/Plex server being on the same local network. The Nas is connected to a separate router, extending the signal (wired) from my homes main modem/router, if that makes any difference.
Plex For win10 works perfectly fine for anyone else using my server remotely, and every other device locally works just fine. The deprecated Plex Media Player program even works fine, however its got a weird pixilation even in direct play that the source files don’t present but that’s a whole different issue.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’ve only seen one similar post, Windows Plex App Won't Play, and it ended unresolved.
I’ve tried everything suggested in any forum topic even somewhat related to the issue I’m having. Disabling LSO, disabling and reenabling direct play (side note: it seems to play somewhat normally if I tell it to transcode, but I’d much rather direct play for no quality loss.), uninstalling and reinstalling the Plex Player. Plex player and Server have both been updated a few times since the issue began as well, so I don’t have super high hopes it will just be fixed one day with a patch.
I’m not quite sure what else I can do, thanks in advance.
Server Version#: 1.20.2.3402
Player Version#: 4.34.4
This could potentially make a huge difference.
I recommend you to plug the NAS into the same router where your clients are attached.
Always use wired connections for the server, as well as for large-screen clients.
If you need to extend your wireless coverage:
- attach secondary wireless access points (AP’s) per wire to the primary router.
Don’t try to use wireless for this. It might work for web surfing and occasional youtube videos, but for high-bitrate video streaming it is simply too unreliable. Particularly if you have other people’s WiFi networks in the vicinity or use a rather large number of wireless devices in general. - put these AP routers into “AP mode”, which means their WAN port and the NAT, and DHCP server within them are disabled.
Otherwise you could segregate parts of your local network from each other. Which causes the Plex data to travel out of your network to one of Plex’s “relay servers” on the internet and then back into your home network. This is not only limited to 1 mbps bandwidth, but requires also transcoding on the server.
Thanks for the prompt response.
I edited my original message to reflect an omission. The second router acting as a range extender is in AP mode, and wired via ethernet through the wall to the main modem/router (upstairs/downstairs situation). My desktop I’m attempting to use Plex app with is wired directly to the main modem/router. I’m confused as to why other devices I know are connected (wirelessly) to the same modem/router my Desktop is connected to can play their respective plex apps fine (android phone, laptop, ps4), and why the plex media player app on the very same Desktop has no such issues. Totally isolated to the Plex app direct playing on my specific windows 10 computer, apparently.
I would much rather keep the Nas connected to the secondary router as otherwise I’d have to swap out ports as required on the main modem/router and that is far more hassle than its worth.
As long as you don’t use the WAN port on the secondary router, all should be good.
I apologize but I find that to be an unacceptable outcome. If the old depreciated Plex Media Center app can work just fine with my network configuration, I see no reason as to why I should just accept the continually developed and improved main Plex app cannot. If I was having this issue throughout the household, regardless of device, I would be left with no choice as it must be the cause. But I find it hard to believe there’s nothing else that can be done, considering no similar issues present with playback on any other device or program (or browser direct play for that matter). As I have said, moving the NAS to connect to my main router would prove more of an inconvenience than it would be worth just to have the Plex app functioning, as I would have to unplug it at least once a day for other devices. If you can provide some reasoning as to why the Plex Player, and no other plex apps might have this issue, I can try my best to understand. But at this time I do find it hard to believe there’s absolutely no other way to fix it.
Please tell me which type of Plex app actually shows the issue.
Is it the web app https://app.plex.tv
or is it Plex Player for Windows
or is it Plex Media Player
As these are all different.
Plex Player for Windows presents the issue. Plex Media Player and the website both function as intended.
What is puzzling to me is why would the issue occur while playing from the NAS, but not while playing from the Windows server?
Could you copy the contents (not the URL) of the Plex XML info of a file which exhibits the issue?
All files, regardless of codec or media type (music, videos) present the issue. Because music files are small it buffers the whole thing reasonably quickly, but bigger files like a 1gb movie will take upwards of 2+ minutes before its buffered the 10+ minutes ahead it needs before it begins.
Attached is a text document of the XML contents from three example files I just attempted to play. Different codecs for variety.
Plex Media XML.txt (9.6 KB)
As to why it wasn’t buffering on the windows server, I would suspect that was due to the server and player being the same device, my desktop.
If even a small mp3 file is buffering for a seemingly endless time, I assume something is very wrong with the NAS itself.
Unfortunately I have no experience with any devices of that type.
Does the Plex app warn you about an “indirect” connection?
The NAS itself is performing up to standards. Opening any of those files over the network with VLC or the like results in perfect playback, and responsive scrubbing, as it does with other Plex apps. I max out the 1gbps LAN interface when moving files to and from the NAS. I have a direct connection, it actually suffered more from incorrectly forwarded ports (so indirect connections with remote sessions) when it was hosted on my Desktop. I have no idea what could possibly be causing the Plex Player for Windows specifically to need to buffer so far ahead (or at all really, considering the local nature, and the Plex logs recognizing I’m signed in from a local IP.) I’ve checked every category of settings in the Plex Player for anything that seems it could be potentially connected, to no avail. If Plex thought I was steaming remotely and thus restricted by my internet speed, my internet would be too slow to buffer that much of a movie that quickly remotely, and it would be too fast for a song to take that long to buffer the whole thing.
I also now realize this topic is potentially in the wrong forum category, my apologies it’s my first time using the forums.
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