Plex doesn't use my full upload speed.

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
1

Hey,

i recently noticed, my plex server does not use my 10mbit/s upload bandwidth anymore. It is only able to use about 3 mbit/s or so.
Is there any reason for that? As far as I know, there are no limitating settings in my Synology NAS configured for the PMS.
Synologys Video Station or even the file station can take advantage of the full speed.
I only can stream videos at a maximum of 720p / 3mbit/s :frowning:
The NAS CPU is definitely not the problem.

Any idea? :slight_smile:

Regards

Julian

Info:
Synology Diskstation DS415+ on DSM 6.0.2-8451 Update 1
PMS 1.1.4.2757

3

Hello Andy,

I am not sure what yo mean with this relay thing, but my plex server tells me it is fully accessible from outside my network. It should be a direct connection. I’ve choosen a custom port for plex.

The settings of the web player are not the problem. Yes it is stuttering a lot if I set the quality to > 720p/3Mbit/s
Also the device doesn’t matter. I tried it on my phone, the web player from different computers and a LG Smart TV.

Regards

Julian

4

Take a look at your Preferences.xml file and see if there is a value set for WanPerStreamMaxUploadRate
If so, either set it to 0 or remove the line entirely

REF: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201105343-Advanced-Server-Settings

6

@Paul: Unfortunately there is no WanPerStreamMaxUploadRate in my Preferences.xml.

I will grab the logs tomorrow because I have to be outside of my network :slight_smile:

It’s not one specific file. It happens with all of them. To me it looks like a general upload limitation.
Here is the output of MediaInfo:

! > General
! > Format : Matroska
! > Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
! > File size : 17.7 GiB
! > Duration : 2 h 23 min
! > Overall bit rate : 17.6 Mb/s
! > Encoded date : UTC 2016-09-11 14:55:44
! > Writing application : mkvmerge v8.2.0 (‘World of Adventure’) 32bit
! > Writing library : libebml v1.3.1 + libmatroska v1.4.2
! >
! > Video
! > ID : 1
! > Format : AVC
! > Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
! > Format profile : High@L4.1
! > Format settings, CABAC : Yes
! > Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
! > Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
! > Duration : 2 h 23 min
! > Bit rate : 15.1 Mb/s
! > Width : 1 920 pixels
! > Height : 800 pixels
! > Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
! > Frame rate mode : Constant
! > Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
! > Color space : YUV
! > Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
! > Bit depth : 8 bits
! > Scan type : Progressive
! > Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.410
! > Stream size : 14.9 GiB (84%)
! > Title : 15 Mbps AVC MPEG-4
! > Writing library : x264 core 148 r2665kMod a01e339
! > Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / fade_compensate=0.00 / psy_rd=0.80:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=32 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / fgo=0 / bframes=5 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=120 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=15093 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.80 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
! > Language : English
! > Default : Yes
! > Forced : No
! >
! > Audio #1
! > ID : 2
! > Format : DTS
! > Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
! > Mode : 16
! > Format settings, Endianness : Big
! > Codec ID : A_DTS
! > Duration : 2 h 23 min
! > Bit rate mode : Constant
! > Bit rate : 768 kb/s
! > Channel(s) : 6 channels
! > Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
! > Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
! > Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 spf)
! > Bit depth : 24 bits
! > Compression mode : Lossy
! > Stream size : 791 MiB (4%)
! > Title : 5.1 DTS @ 755 kbps
! > Language : German
! > Default : Yes
! > Forced : Yes
! >
! > Audio #2
! > ID : 3
! > Format : DTS
! > Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
! > Format profile : ES Matrix / Core
! > Mode : 16
! > Format settings, Endianness : Big
! > Codec ID : A_DTS
! > Duration : 2 h 23 min
! > Bit rate mode : Constant
! > Bit rate : 1 509 kb/s
! > Channel(s) : 7 channels / 6 channels
! > Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, Back: C, LFE / Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
! > Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
! > Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 spf)
! > Bit depth : 24 bits
! > Compression mode : Lossy
! > Stream size : 1.52 GiB (9%)
! > Title : 5.1 DTS-ES @ 1510 kbps
! > Language : English
! > Default : No
! > Forced : No

Thank you for this link. I definitely have a direct connection.

7

@vo5tr0 there was actually two settings to look for and I forgot to include the other one.
Do you see this setting in your Preferences.xml, WanTotalMaxUploadRate.

Does that one have a value?

8

This is the complete Preferences.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Preferences MachineIdentifier="XXX" 
OldestPreviousVersion="1.0.0.2261-a17e99e" 
ProcessedMachineIdentifier="XXX" 
AnonymousMachineIdentifier="XXX" 
MetricsEpoch="1" 
AcceptedEULA="1" 
PublishServerOnPlexOnlineKey="1" 
PlexOnlineToken="XXX" 
PlexOnlineUsername="XXX" 
PlexOnlineMail="XXX" 
PlexOnlineHome="1" 
DlnaEnabled="0" 
CertificateVersion="2" 
LastAutomaticMappedPort="19366" 
PubSubServerPing="65" 
FriendlyName="" 
LanguageInCloud="1" 
ManualPortMappingMode="1" 
CinemaTrailersFromBluRay="1" 
CinemaTrailersFromLibrary="0" 
CinemaTrailersFromTheater="1" 
CloudSyncNeedsUpdate="0" 
GracenoteUser="XXX" 
ManualPortMappingPort="32400" 
FSEventLibraryUpdatesEnabled="1" 
GenerateBIFBehavior="scheduled" 
ScheduledLibraryUpdateInterval="86400" 
ScheduledLibraryUpdatesEnabled="1" 
ButlerUpdateChannel="16" 
PubSubServer="82.XXX.XXX.14"/>
10

I have no problem to transcode the files in my local network.
The funny thing is it already worked with a previous version. Something changed in the last months. I don’t know whether it was something on my NAS or a new plex version.

11

Hate to revive an old thread, but I have the same problem, and there are no solutions to be found.

I have a 16 core xeon IBM x3690 x5 with 48gb of ddr1333 running unraid with the plex docker from linuxserver.
It’s on a gbit fiber connection from golightspeed.com
ALL BY ITSELF on a gbit line. Once in a while, a guy plays playstation on the same line… but other than that, it’s dedicated to my plex/sonarr/couchpotato server. That’s how much bandwidth I have!
It’s faster than my hard drives. Faster than my server can utilize. Lets just say ~300Mbps USABLE bandwidth.
Add to that 2x 8-core xeon x7560’s for transcoding.
It has the muscle, for both transcoding and bandwidth.

On the client side: Comcast 50mbit business package @ work, 30mbit home package @ home. Both working fine.

I can only stream 4mbps 720p. Anything higher buffers constantly.
A look at my router’s traffic monitor shows no more than 5mbit, even if I put it on “direct stream” with a high quality 1080p movie ~ 16GB/1:45 minutes
How can I download from my server at my maximum ISP advertised speeds, but only stream plex @ 4mbit?!?!?!

12

@castanza128 I am currently having the same issue. While my plex server running on a synology ds415+ is connected to a 1gb upload/download connection but I can only stream at maximum 2MB/s (16mbit) from the outside.

I have the feeling that my plex server is kinda throttling it down but I have yet to find a setting for that.

Any help would be great.

14

@georgeamerica said:
I am also having this problem on a freenas system, with direct play it’s not using enough bandwidth to maintain a solid stream. I’m very certain it’s not the hardware. Can’t really pinpoint what the problem is but if I have to take a wild guess I think it has to do with plex deep analysis and setting an incorrect bitrate bandwidth for a video file… Idk

Kindly ask in the FreeNAS / FreeBSD forum? It’s a completely different machine

15

I am having this problem as well :frowning: Even a fresh reinstall didn’t help

16

When “Remote Access” shows the green indicator (network ports are open), and
there are no limits in Settings - Server - Network

Plex will stream videos at full bit rate unless requested at a lower speed by the player.

17

I have exactly the same issue with a fresh new build system. I can’t stream on a local network more than 1Mbps but I’m more than sure that my local network can support easily at least 600Mbps. I am running on Synology DS918+ on DSM 6.2.2-24922 and PLM 1.15.6.1079. While streaming on Plex, the CPU is hammered at 99% utilization (INTEL Celeron J3455) and it struggles at lot. Video Station from Synology works perfect with no issues, no buffering, full resolution. However I prefer Plex UI but I can’t make it work.

19

I also have this issue. 35 Mbit/s up, 100 Mbit/s down at the client side. Streaming depends on the time of day (sometimes 5 Mbit/s is too much). Downloading always works at a full 35 Mbit/s for some reason.

20

Run iperf3 (one site setup as server) between both locations to measure true point-point bandwidth.

run mtr to see per-hop latency and any lost packets.

Achilles has 45 Mbps up, I have 40 Mbps down, yet the fastest raw transfer between us is 6 Mbps due to the hops and peering points between ISPs and backbone.

21

I can’t really do anything to fix this, right? Sometimes it’s as slow as 1 mbit/s.

22

The root problem is everything from point A to point B. If it’s all on your LAN, where you control it, it’s fine. None of us can control the internet latency, so, in a word “no”. You’re at the mercy of the service between you and the recipient.

23

Ok so I haven’t done the testing using the programs yet but I have a Plex pass now and I looked at the bandwidth usage when streaming from my friends house.

3-6 Mbit (VBR) Videos seem to use about 4-5 Mbit/s of Upload and 15-30 Mbit (VBR) actually use 20 Mbit/s of Upload on the blue graph. Every video usually makes the graph spike to 20 Mbit/s when loading for the first time but then comes down to slightly above the average bitrate. Why isn’t it always using the full upload speed? I read somewhere that Plex automatically adjusts upload bandwidth according to the bitrate and will only saturate the upload speed to 90% (I have 35 Mbit/s Upload). My current assumption is that this doesn’t work properly. If this feature does limit bandwidth based on the videos bitrate then we should have the option to turn it off.

I could be completely wrong on this but I couldn’t otherwise explain why the used bandwidth would so heavily depend on the videos bitrate. Please enlighten me. I transcoded everything to h265 to make it load faster and it still doesn’t always work.

24

The remote player doesn’t always consume data at that max upload rate.

It will send as fast as possible until the player’s buffers are full.

Once the player’s buffer is full, it will back down on the flow rate. It will even pause at times until needed. Unless I’m misunderstanding; Think about it. What should the player do with the extra data if its playback buffer is full ?

25

The problem is that it goes down to the videos bitrate too soon and it starts buffering like 5 seconds after the video starts. The bandwidth stays low even when skipping to a different part of the video. Higher bitrates videos also have this issue but the bandwidth usage is much higher for some reason. It seems like Plex loads the videos too slow on purpose and I’m starting to think that it’s less of a connection bottleneck. Downloads from the server work at full speed.