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Just a general question…what are the thoughts on using Relay vs. a direct connection via port forwarding. It seems to me, that 1 advantage of Relay is security? It would seem that using Relay would be more secure than having a port opened on your firewall for a direct connection. Thoughts/comments?
Others can provide the security info. Just note that Plex Relay is limited to 2 Mbps max (1 Mbps w/o a Plex Pass). Anyone connecting to your server would be limited to 480p resolution.
No, it isn’t more secure.
Interesting. Why is that? I would have thought configuring the port forwarding to allow direct access would cause potentially more of a hole in security.
Simple statistics.
By putting an additional software product (i.e. a relay/proxy) inbetween the WAN and Plex server, you have to deal with the (potential) vulnerabilties of Plex Server but also of the proxy software.
The more parts a system has, the more likely is a failure of the whole system.
Besides, so far the Plex Server hasn’t been exploited, with the exposed port being the attack vector.
Thank you for the explanation. I’ve been really trying to get educated on all things security related and adjusting my network. Let me ask you this…do you recommend going with a different port number other than the default of 32400? And if so, does making it a higher value or lower value matter?
For the public port, I recommend using a random port number somewhere in the range between 20000 and 50000.
It’s not so much security-related but it can help overcoming some blocking attempts by local WiFi operators (Hotels, public hotspots etc.).
