Plex Media Server - Local Network Streaming Slow/Not Working

[zahncy]

Server Version#: 1.16.5.1488

Hi all,

I’m fairly new to the Plex community, but I’ve run into an issue. I’ve been looking through archived posts regarding this, and I’ve found some that seem similar; I’ve tried everything that they’ve recommended to no avail, so here I am.

I am running Plex Media Server on a Windows 10 computer. On my local network, everything is slow to load (the titles, the artwork, the descriptions, etc.). If and when it does load, it’s slow to access the media. The show or movie will sit there loading, and then it will say the file is unavailable. Sometimes it will play for a little while (seconds or minutes), then it’ll buffer and die (ie, say it’s unavailable). The kicker: When I’m off the local network and accessing my Plex server remotely - everything is perfect! A complete “WTF” situation. I don’t currently have logs, but I will explain the situation the best I can:

-The server computer is powerful and in good health.
-I have multiple devices to play Plex on (Roku, Android phone, iPad, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV). The Roku’s, Android and Apple devices (on the local network) work fine when they’re not on the same local network, but they ALL are slow and laggy when connected to the local WiFi.
-The Roku’s, etc. can all stream Netflix, Youtube, etc. perfectly fine.
-All the players are set to playback in “Original” quality.
-I’ve run WiFi speed tests and band frequency tests for my router - they are all strong and fine.
-It doesn’t matter if the media is transcoding or direct streaming (yes, I’ve mainly set it up for direct playback) - the slowness seems unrelated to the method of playback. The issue also happens before any files are accessed (it happens as early as the menu screens).
-I’ve uninstalled Plex and reinstalled previous versions - all the way back to 1.8. I’ve tried 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.12, 1.13, 1.14, and 1.15 (as well as the most up to date one), but the same situation persists.
-All my settings are the same as a few friends who also run Plex (but have never had trouble on their local network), so I don’t believe the issue is in the settings at this point.
-I’ve gone into Device Manager and disabled Large Send Offload v2 for both IPv4 and IPv6 (some thread suggested that).
-My router has a Port Forwarding for the server (so it can be accessed remotely).
-I’ve gone through the Support Articles (https://support.plex.tv/articles/201575036-why-is-my-video-stream-buffering/) with no resolution.
-I’ve plugged the Roku and AppleTV directly into the router (ethernet), and it streams perfectly fine - there are no slow issues.
-Streaming on the server itself is also fine, there are no issues. The menus and videos (in the browser) load fast and smoothly.

Again, I don’t think it’s the computer itself, or Plex even, since they stream fine via remote access. I believe it has something to do with how Plex is being accessed over my WiFi router - but again, the signals are fine (no interference), and the speed is fine as well (100 Mbps download, 10 Mbps upload from all around the house).

Some similar threads I’ve looked at and reviewed, but also unable to resolve this issue:

Streaming in Local Network is very slow

Hi there! I have had a Plex Media Server for about a year now, and it worked fine! I am running it on a Synology ds916+ at my parents house, and mostly stream to my own apartment in another city. I normally stream in 1080p, without any buffering, and no problems at all. Now I am at their home, and thought it might be even better, since I am now in the LAN of the NAS, but streaming is very slow. I can barely stream at 720p, and it buffers a lot. How is that possible? I tested on several Devic…

Local Network Streaming Slow

Hi I am new to plex and the forums so sorry if this has already been answered, I couldn't find anything with a quick search.    I having trouble playing back video without stuttering/buffering when played over my local network. If i watch the upload speed from my server it peeks around 700 KB/s and then settles in around 150 KB/s. This is obviously not fast enough to stream anything in HD.    It seems like it is not using the local network but actually going through my ISP. I have Comcast 25…

Plex slow load times on local network?!

solved my own issue. i had to change the playback settings (on each device that wasn’t working) to “original” quality, followed by restarting each app, and things took off and were back to normal. note that devices that never had changes to playback quality never had any issues playing video. something buggy in the new plex apps for iphone? good luck everyone hope this helps someone !

Slow LAN Access

Server Version#: 1.13.8.5395 Player Version#: Web Client 3.67.1 / Plex Android App / Windows 10 App I am having issues connecting to my Plex server from within the LAN aswell as remotely. This is my setup: Plex running on Windows 10 PC, testing with Laptop on same network. When I open a browser on the server, running http://127.0.0.1:32400/web/ is running as espected, performance is good, ui responsive - streaming works fine. Using the Windows 10 app works aswell. Opening http://[server I…

https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/7jdsis/plex_streaming_on_my_local_network_is_slow_for/

Any help would be most appreciated! Let me know if I can provide any information or specific logs. Thanks!

[cbe]

I solved my issue by removing network adapters created by the windows virtualization system (can’t remember how they were called). Removing them solved my issue.
Try checking your network adapters, maybe it will help.

[OttoKerner]

It sounds like direct access is not possible in the local network.
If there are no virtual network adapters in your system, you might have some issues with your router/DNS server/firewall.

1. change the DNS server for your local network to use one of Google’s (8.8.8.8 and/or 8.8.4.4) [this is in your router’s config menu]
   The reason for this is that the DNS servers which are assigned to your connection be default are sometimes poorly supporting the .direct TLD.
2. Look for a setting called ‘DNS rebinding protection’ in your router/firewall/dns server. Define an exception from this protection for the domain plex.direct
3. in Plex’s web app
   Settings - Server - Network - ‘Show Advanced’ - “Treat WAN IP As LAN Bandwidth”

[zahncy]

Hi all,

When I got home I went into Device Manager and uninstalled all of the network and virtual network items. I then rebooted my computer and it automatically “added” the network card again. I then rebooted Plex and everything seems to be running smooth.

I believe OttoKerner was correct in that I may have had a VPN installed at one time and it didn’t remove those devices/adapters when it was removed. It is weird, however, that this issue just began occurring out of the blue rather than being triggered by something. The system was working fine until one day it just wasn’t (without any system or hardware changes). It could have been a Plex update that triggered it? Not sure. Either way, for now - it seems to be resolved! I’ll monitor it and if I run into any issues…I’ll be back!

Thanks so much!