Server Version#: 1.23.6.4881
Player Version#: Latest clients on iOS/tvOS
Hi Folks. I absolutely love Plex, been a subscriber forever, and use it a ton.
However I frequently want to stream remotely, and I’m having issues. I can connect to the server no problem.
I have 500mbit up/down internet at home, and my Plex server is on a Core i7-4770 @3.4 GHz, Windows 10 machine, 16GB ram. The media is on a Synology NAS, and they are all connected via a small-biz-grade gigabit switch. Its sole purpose is to be a Plex server.
Now when I try to stream from friends houses or on my phone, etc, I frequently can’t stream at more than like 1mbps without hitting frequent pausing and such. Also I’ve occasionally had “server isn’t fast enough” prompts, but that may have been while more than one client was connected to my server, and it hasn’t happened often.
I just want to know where the issues are. Is it the connection over the internet? Is it my computer? The NAS? Is there any way to definitively determine my issues?
I would LOVE to see some utils in Plex to test 1. speed to server 2. video encode speed, etc, that would allow me to confidently upgrade/replace/tourbleshoot my setup.
Sounds like there’s some issue with your remote access setup that will cause it to occasionally go through a relay server (indirect connection). Those are limited to 2-3 Mbps (1 Mbps for non-Plex Pass members).
You can certainly prevent Plex from using the relay (settings > network)… but that’s not fixing your remote access issue. So whenever Plex wants to fallback to the indirect/relayed connection, it’ll simply fail to connect at all.
Have you already been through the remote access troubleshooting or can you reproduce under which circumstances your clients fail to connect „properly“.
I have the port forwarding setup from years ago, and as a test I just turned off Relay on the server settings. I then tested connecting to my server using LTE on my phone, and it worked fine. I was trying LTE last night from a different location and I was having the issues that FEEL like it was going through relay, but I don’t know how to tell from the client if it’s using Relay or not.
Is it possible Relay was being engaged even when it wasn’t required? Is there a way to tell in my client apps if I’m running through Relay or not?
Look at the Plex Relay document. Notice the server list. If the Plex client/app connects to a server via Plex Relay it has a yellow exclamation point and says “direct connection unavailable.”
Other ways to monitor remote access:
You can monitor streams via Plex Dashboard → Now Playing (expand to see details).
Plex Relay streams are displayed as Indirect (versus Local or Remote).
You can pull up Plex Dashboard using a mobile browser. It is still the desktop layout, so you’ll have to zoom in, but it can be done.
You can test remote access from a system on the same network as your Plex server. Go to canyouseeme.org and put in your remote access port. A successful test means it can see your server (not just that the port forward is open).
You can use Uptime Robot to continuously monitor remote access. It works like canyouseeme.org, but runs every 5 minutes. It will send you an e-mail if it cannot reach your server. The free service works great for monitoring a Plex installation.
