Plex apps unable to access PMS local media over VLAN

Plex Media Server
, ,
1

Server Version#: 1.41.3.9314-a0bfb8370 (on TrueNAS Scale 24.10.1)
Player Version#: Latest on AppleTV and Roku
Plex Pass: No

Hello all.
My PMS is running on a separate VLAN than my Plex players (on AppleTV and Roku). My PMS is configured with additional storage to serve the local media stored on my NAS. As I want the players to connect locally, I do not have Remote Access enabled. I thought I had my firewall (pfsense) rules configured correctly as I can access PMS and my local media via the web GUI from multiple VLANs. However, when I try connect to the NAS media with the Plex apps on AppleTV and Roku, each app gives me the same error “… is Currently Unavailable”.

As a test, I enabled Remote Access and found that AppleTV can connect to my local media. However that is not how I want to operate.

How configured:

Plex Network settings:

  • Secured Connections: Preferred
  • Enable local network discovery (GDM): yes
  • List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth: 192.168.10.0/24,192.168.12.0/24 (.10 hosts PMS; .12 hosts AppleTV and Roku)

Firewall Rules
Note:
plex_gdm = ports 32410, 32412, 32413, 32414
plex_server = port 32400

  • PMS VLAN
    image
  • AppleTV/Roku VLAN:
    image

Does anyone have any ideas?

Best regards,
John

2

I solved the problem another way. I came to the realization that GDM broadcast will never cross VLANs. Another option was to manually configure the server’s IP address on the Plex player. Lo and behold, you cannot do this on Apple TV’s Plex player. As this can be done (and I did on my other) on Roku’s, I purchased another Roku, manually configured the server’s IP, and problem solved.

3

I suspect what you are experiencing here is an issue with DNS-rebinding protection. It’s a feature of some DNS servers (including ones built into routers) which prevents them from returning private IP addresses for DNS queries (this is an over-simplification).

Depending on your router you may be able to disable this feature, or create an exemption for the *.plex.direct domain. There’s some additional information about it in this support article:

https://support.plex.tv/articles/206225077-how-to-use-secure-server-connections/

Manual connections should not be necessary and if you’d like to use your Apple TV again have a look at the info above and see if you can find a way to configure your router to either disable DNS-rebinding protection or create an exemption.