Plex streaming differently to same model device

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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Server Version#: 1.16.0.1226
Player Version#: 6.3.11.5782-c36cd4b12
NAS: DS218+
Setup: Sonarr, Radarr, Plex

Hello all!

I’ve been having issues for months now with streaming from my Plex server.

Very frequently, the player will begin buffering, and usually get stuck at 33%, and get back to playing after about 20 seconds. This will happen about once a minute 3 or 4 times before the player stops and says “The network was not fast enough to playback this content” or something along those lines.

Now, I am able to play the video just fine over the WiFi to my laptop with HDMI to the same TV, so I know it is not a network issue. It also shows very little CPU or bandwidth activity in the Plex Dashboard.

I have two of the same exact Rokus. One for my bedroom, and one for my living room. The living room one has been having issues. We don’t use the bedroom one very often so I haven’t noticed the issue on it.

I finally decided to test it and the bedroom didn’t seem to have any issues. I checked to see what the dashboard said about the transcoding for each, and while playing the same exact file on both simultaneously.

One of the Rokus (the one with the issue) says it is “Direct Stream” for the video (720p H264), and “EAC3 Stereo -> AAC Transcode”

The other Roku says “Direct Play” for both the video and audio streams.

They have the same exact settings in the client, they are the same exact device (even ordered at the same time from Amazon), and are running the same exact client version off the same server on the same network.

Below is a picture of the issue:
PlexFailing

What might be going wrong that one is able to Direct Play while the other has to transcode? I’ve noticed that it often has to transcode audio for other files as well, almost as if the Roku doesn’t have audio codecs installed or something. They are also both running the same version of the Roku software.

They are both Roku Premiere+ 4630X devices, running 9.1.0 build 4111-29; and they are both connecting to the same 5GHz wireless connection in our small 1 bedroom apartment.

Does anyone have any ideas what might be causing the buffering?

Thank you.

4

While something is playing on your living room Roku, bring up the on screen controls, select settings icon on the far right. Go to stream Info and it should have info on why it is transcoding.

Can your living room TV process EAC3? or do you have it connected to a receiver?

1 Like
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Both Rokus are connected directly to the TV via HDMI. One of the Rokus says it is transcoding because it couldn’t direct play the audio. I find this strange since the other Roku with the same software and same hardware CAN direct play and does NOT say it is transcoding on the same exact file.

Is it dependent on the actual TV itself to process the audio?

6

yes…

but, I would not expect audio transcoding to cause much buffering issues.

if you are in an apartment, I would more expect wifi congestion (too many ppl with wifi nearby) to be a factor.

7

I understand that you are connect directly to the TV, but does one of the TV have an audio system connected to it. In that case it will pass-through the audio for the receiver to process. If it doesn’t then Plex has to transcode that same audio before sending it to the tv.

8

As for the original issue…
is the settings for “Video> Direct Play” set to Force ?
I’ve been having similar issue and the only work around is to set it to Auto or Disable.

I say work around because it only affect TV shows, Movies Direct Play with no problem. Also because this only happens with the Roku players, all other players work fine with the same exact setup and files.

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