Ok, so I’ve read as much as I can stand… and I"m still a bit confused… I have a friend that is a long time Plex user and I guess he is grandfathered in to alot of what he uses Plex for… he has been suggesting I get a Home Plex Server and system up and running and I"m in the beginning of that task… .but as I look at this I just want a better understand of what is free and what is not.
From what I understand, Plex Server is Free to download and install and use on my home network internally… but then I use Minix Android boxes on each of my TV’s to watch my shows, movies and files off my NAS and other storage devices under Kodi and all that is a free service… Is that true with PLex or, do I have to pay $4.99 per month for the applications and use on my internal home network? I’d like to get a base line on what I can do with out a subscription until I figure out how I can and will use the service… Of course streaming my shows and movies would be nice with all the meta data…
I’m not sure if I am interested in streaming while outside the home, we don’t travel that much and we are retired… our RV has a system and a bunch of Hard drive I carry with a WD media player that works just fine for the few times a year we go out.
I’ve just installed a HDHomerun Quatro Tuner and currently have signed up to their DVR service and that is working fine… but I also see that Plex can work with the tuner but I would need to upgrade for that feature which at some point may be the way to go. I understand the DVR function is a part of Plex Pass for subscribers so does that mean that if I sign up for " Lifetime" of Plex I’d get that service from Plex for my Lifetime subscription?
I guess I"m what I/m asking is If I load up the Plex Server on my windows desktop and then scan my media will I be able to look at all this on my Home Network, Android Kodi boxes, Ruko Model 3 and tablets in my home over Wifi with out signing up for the monthly subscription yet… try that and then add to that along with a subscription once I get a better handle on what it can do for me.
Thanks for any suggestions you may have!.
Dave
@davidki said:
I guess I"m what I/m asking is If I load up the Plex Server on my windows desktop and then scan my media will I be able to look at all this on my Home Network, Android Kodi boxes, Ruko Model 3 and tablets in my home over Wifi with out signing up for the monthly subscription yet… try that and then add to that along with a subscription once I get a better handle on what it can do for me.
Yes, for doing what you are wanting in your post you will not need a Plex Pass at all. And actually, just so you know, you don’t need a Plex Pass for external access either. The Kodi Plugin for Plex I believe is still Plex Pass only (preview), but there are other 3rd party options if you want to stay inside of Kodi, otherwise there is an Android Plex client that you can download.
One thing in particular a Plex Pass gets you is that you don’t have to pay to download the apps that do cost money (some of the client apps, specifically mobile apps). There is no difference in features between monthly and lifetime, the only real difference is the lifetime is not a recurring payment like the monthly and yearly.
Here is a link to the break down of features that you get with a Plex Pass: Plex Pass Feature Overview
Normally, the Plex Android app is not free.
If your Android boxes don’t run an offically certified Android TV OS, you may have to pay to use the official Plex client on these boxes.
Thanks to both of you for your response… Don’t get me wrong I don’t expect to be a freeloader long term, I just want to know all the specifics on how I transition from my current set up of NAS and KODI boxes hooked up to each of my TV. I have the Minix U-1 box which seem to be very popular as media clients. I had looked at downloading Kodi on my tablet from the google play store and I thought they said I needed to pay a fee… but I may have hit the wrong button.
I have quite a bit of work to do to prepare for a change over, I’ve not been the best at file naming consistency in the past and I know that is something that can affect the Plex Experience. Also the way I have my drives set up is in “Shares” dividing up 1080p, 720p, blu-ray and other video folders, Under my TV shows, I have separate faster files for each show-season and episode on a different set of drives and finally I have my music inventory in separate files such as CD rips, FLAC, AAC and HD files. Under PLex do I have to put all the “Video Movie Flies” under One Library and " Music" Files under One Library or, can I continue using the Share type set up I am using?
Tonight my friend showed me a program “Filebot” that seems will help me square away my file name consistency and meta tagging a little easier than a one by one change… so at least I’m getting a better understanding. From what I read the current NAS systems I have do not offer trans-coding, so, that is why I will probably start using my Windows 10 desktop as a server as I know it’s powerful enough to handle any task I throw at it. Keeping in mind, I also have included the HDHOmerun quad digital tuner which Plex is suppose to incorporate as well…
I know the transition is going to take time, a lot of work but hopefully I will be able to get to the point where everything is moving smooth. If I see it is all responding and working I have no problem signing up with a Lifetime subscription and taking it to the next step.
Again, I do appreciate all the help folks can offer to point me in the right direction in making the transition as easy as possible.
Dave
@davidki said:
I had looked at downloading Kodi on my tablet from the google play store and I thought they said I needed to pay a fee… but I may have hit the wrong button.
AFAIK Kodi is free.
Just download it and give it a try.
Under PLex do I have to put all the “Video Movie Flies” under One Library and " Music" Files under One Library or, can I continue using the Share type set up I am using?
The organisation of your files by resolution is no big deal.
You can easily point a Plex library to several folders/shares at once
That way you have them stored separately, but access them via a unified library.
(Tip: keep your 4K and/or 3D content still in a separate library. If you are sharing your server, you don’t want to share that stuff by default.)
Tonight my friend showed me a program “Filebot” that seems will help me square away my file name consistency and meta tagging a little easier than a one by one change… so at least I’m getting a better understanding.
Yes, it’s such a tremendous help
see https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/191687/plex-naming-schemes-for-filebot
From what I read the current NAS systems I have do not offer trans-coding, so, that is why I will probably start using my Windows 10 desktop as a server as I know it’s powerful enough to handle any task I throw at it.
Good decision. A Plex server without the ability to transcode is a pain in the back.
Keeping in mind, I also have included the HDHOmerun quad digital tuner which Plex is suppose to incorporate as well…
This cannot be tested with a free account. It is one of the things that are Plex Pass-exclusive.
Thought I’d update my thread… yesterday I got a special Lifetime $74.99 offer and I figured I"d help support by buying the Lifetime… according to the offer it does include PlexTV and DVR service so lets see how it works… I"ve been working hard on getting my PLex Server up and running and I have to say, once I read the information and started to configure it the server is pretty easy to set up. All in all I"m really pleased with how things are working… I just found out though my Vizio TV probably doesn’t support PLEX on their App store because of the model… Crazy, the TV was purchased in Oct 2015
