After updating to the latest version, 4.6.0, Plexamp cannot find my server when connected via WireGuard VPN. Regular Plex app for Android still connects no problem. Anyone else having this issue? I’m running PMS on a QNAP NAS, which can only be accessed remotely via WireGuard VPN
please post some Plexamp logs, there weren’t any changes in this area that i’m aware of.
Here are the logs.
121267689692331.zip (219.2 KB)
Dec 02, 2022 11:19:27.353 [Javascript] INFO - DEVICE: Finding best connection for RADON ac4da69e5639b107ffadef212a459f52b31fde44.
Dec 02, 2022 11:19:27.353 [Javascript] WARNING - DEVICE: Connection testing failed for RADON
It seems like you don’t have remote access enabled/working, can you check in the web app.
Oh wow, same. I just tried on my phone, and I can’t access my server with Plexamp 4.6.0 over the Wireguard VPN.
The regular Plex app still works fine, though.
@elan, I don’t have remote access enabled on my Plex setup either. No need. With my phone connecting back to my home network with Wireguard as soon as I leave my home WiFi, I (usually) can access my server exactly like if I was still at home.
But yeah, with Plexamp 4.6.0 it doesn’t seem to work anymore for some reason (but the regular Plex app still works fine). It wasn’t a problem with the previous version of Plexamp.
That’s weird, what changed on Plexamp side to stop this working?
That’s a huge issue for me… At least I was working from home this week.
I’m on macOS (server) and iOS (phone) if it makes a difference.
That’s the thing—absolutely nothing I know of in this area or related.
If your server isn’t publishing connection information to plex.tv (local or otherwise), Plexamp isn’t going to be able to find it.
I’m not sure I follow, what do you mean? I of course can access my server locally.
Before 4.6.0, when I was out of my house on another network (cell or WiFi) and connected back to my home network using Wireguard, as far as Plexamp was concerned it was like I was still on my local network. So I had access to my Plex server like if I was still at home.
It’s just not working anymore with Plexamp 4.6.0, the app doesn’t find the server anymore. BUT the other Plex apps (Plex and Plex Dash) still do.
Do you need logs? Please let me know if I can help in any way.
Thanks for looking into this.
That is correct. I have it disabled. I only allow local access, which is why I have to have my VPN on while accessing the server. Had no issues until the update, and the regular Plex app still has full access to my library via VPN while remote.
Any help is appreciated. I use PlexAmp all day at work.
When I am at home I access Plex web via plex.tv. Still no remote access is set-up in the server.
Again, something must have changed in PlexAmp because the regular Plex app still accesses my server away from home, over WireGuard VPN, with no issues.
This is my exact situation! Except sadly, I wasn’t working from home, so I had to fall back on the regular Plex app and Spotify.
Only difference is my server is on a QNAP NAS and I’m using the Android client.
Glad it isn’t just me though.
Greetings, I seem to be facing the same issue too, except I use ZeroTIer One instead of Wiregaurd. I can’t use Remote Access because of the limitations imposed by my ISP (CGNAT and all) so using a VPN is the only way I can use Plexamp while I’m away from home. Just like what the others have said, other Plex apps work just fine over the VPN, it’s just Plexamp which seems to be causing the issue.
Do let me know if I can provide any more information. 
It’s possible that it uses indirect routing (which is slower and worst for many reasons). It’s also possible that it finds the server via LAN detection, which Plexamp does not (and never has) done.
Even if you disable actual remote access, you need to publish local addresses to plex.tv for Plexamp to be able to find the server, so you need to be signed in. It’s possible behavior around address publishing changed on the server side, but it’s unlikely.
I made some testing this morning. A few observations.
But first, here is my setup. I think there might be some confusion about what the issue is about, I’ll try to describe my setup as clearly as possible.
-
I am logged into my Plex account on my server and on all the devices I’m using to stream content. Streaming locally works absolutely perfectly.
-
I have a Wireguard VPN server on a local machine (the same one I’m also using to run a Pi-hole) that I use to connect back to my network with my phone (or any other portable devices) when I’m outside my home.
-
It allows me to connect to all my local machines when I’m on the road, use my Pi-hole to filter DNS requests like if I was still at home, and before this week it also allowed me to connect to my Plex server and use it like if my phone was at home.
-
When I’m using a Plex app this way, in the Plex dashboard it’s like I’m streaming music/movies/TV shows from the machine on which the Wireguard server is running, it’s showing me the local IP address of this machine. As far as the Plex server is concerned, the requests are coming from that local machine.
-
Basically: iPhone on external network → Wireguard VPN tunnel → local Wireguard server → local Plex server.
-
I would like to highlight the fact that the Plex app and Plex Dash are still working absolutely correctly and at full speed using this setup. And Plexamp was also working correctly and at full speed before release 4.6.0.
Now, like mentioned, I did some experiments this morning. Here is what I found out.
-
The only way I could make Plexamp 4.6.0 to connect to my Plex server using the setup described above was by enabling Remote Access. Without enabling Remote Access, Plexamp just don’t see the Plex server (as also described by the people in this thread).
-
I configured my router, configured Plex, etc., the Remote Access is working fine. I tested by switching my phone to the cell network. When streaming music from Plexamp this way, in the Plex dashboard the bandwidth is classified as “Remote”, which is as expected.
-
Staying on the cell network, if I then connect my phone to the Wireguard VPN tunnel (as described above), the bandwidth type now switches to “Local”. It means that for some reason Plexamp is now happy with the traffic coming from the local Wireguard server.
-
BUT the IP address I see in the Plex dashboard isn’t the one of the local Wireguard server like expected, it’s the one from the router. So something definitely changed here.
-
Once again, please let me highlight the fact that both the Plex app and Plex Dash still works as they did before (for example, if I begin streaming some music or a movie from the Plex app, I see the traffic is coming from the local Wireguard VPN server, not from the router).
I hope the above was somewhat useful to better explain what the issue is and maybe give some ideas about how to fix it.
I personally really don’t want to keep Remote Access enabled. I’m not sharing my Plex server with anyone outside my home, the content on the server is just for me. So keeping a port open and everything that comes with this isn’t something I would like to do when the solution of using a VPN is working perfectly fine for my needs.
Please let me know if I can be of any help.
appreciate the detailed explanation. some Plexamp logs might be illuminating. i’m still puzzled as nothing in this area has changed, so the odds that it’s related to a server update, or an iOS update, or something else is somewhat high.
(and to clarify one thing, Plex uses a totally different networking stack, Plex Dash uses an older version of the stack Plexamp uses)
Thanks! I’ll send you the logs by PM in a few seconds.
So Remote Access is still enabled on my system like I described in my post above.
What I did:
- Connected my phone to the cell network and then connected the Wireguard VPN tunnel.
- Opened Plexamp.
- Played some music for a few seconds.
- Confirmed on the dashboard that the traffic was classified as Local. The IP address was the one of my router.
- Stopped the music, closed the player, and exported the logs.
Do you also need a set of logs with Remote Access disabled to show how Plexamp just won’t connect? Just let me know.
It’s only trying this connection:
Dec 03, 2022 12:52:48.463 [Javascript] INFO - DEVICE: Finding best connection for PL Server xxx.
Dec 03, 2022 12:52:48.463 [0x6be03000] DEBUG - Networking: Create request 44: (GET https://yyy [WAN ADDRESS.plex.direct:YYYY).
Note there is no LAN connection it’s trying. This is mysterious and probably the cause of the issue.
Actually, I think I know what the issue is. We made an optimization to not try LAN addresses when on cellular, because when would those ever work, right?
Apparently sometimes.
Will fix for next release.
2 Likes
Ah! Amazing! Thanks so much! 
Great, thanks for looking into the issue!
