PlexConnect between 2 Subnets

[pvalenza]

I managed to have PlexConnect working great when I had one network only. But I live in China and often require a VPN with a US IP address. So I run two networks in my house. The computer I have with PMS is not on the VPN but on the a local Chinese IP address. I have 3 ATV's that run on my VPN network. 

 

Is it possible to get PlexConnet working on my ATV's if they are on a different subnet with my US IP address VPN?

 

I will map it out once again:

 

192.168.5.1 is my router without a VPN - Chinese IP

192.168.1.1 is my router with a VPN - US IP

 

Apple TV's are wired to my 192.168.1.1 VPN router

My PMS and PlexConnect are on a computer that's on my 192.168.5.1 Chinese IP router

 

Anyone have ideas how to set this up? Thanks in advance!

[f00b4r]

Yes it is possible but you will need to do the following:

- Manually configure the PMS IP in settings.cfg AND disable GDM auto discovery

This should enable PlexConnect to see your server but you will get issues with missing artwork and playback of media due to PMS getting confused over authentication (due to the separate subnet setup), you can get round this:

- On your PMS (ensure show advanced settings is checked): server > settings > network

Make sure you enable allow without authorisation the subnet for your ATV's (in the IP/netmask format)

[pvalenza]

Thanks for the reply. I am going to try this! 

So to verify,

• I enable plexgdm = True to False
• Change my PMS IP to my computer PMS is running (I do not need to change the 32400 port? or should that be 27307, which my UPnP is using instead?) 
• And my IP plexconnect will also be my PMS computer correct?
• Change advanced settings in PMS

What about the DNS on my ATV? Because they are on a different network? Is that my PMS IP address as well... same as what I above?

[f00b4r]

Change the PMS port in settings.cfg if running a non standard port, ie not 32400.

The IP PlexConnect will be the same as the device that you are running PlexConnect on, but you should not have to change this as PlexConnect should be able to detect its own IP (if it can’t you will see it in the log pretty quickly).

The DNS on your ATV is the PlexConnect IP so it will send all DNS requests through PlexConnect; these will either get passed onto an external DNS server or redirected in the case of the trailers app to PMS.

You may also want to change the 8.8.8.8 DNS master to your ISPs DNS server as 8.8.8.8 is google’s DNS server and may be blocked in China

[pvalenza]

I really appreciate your help but I wasn't able to get it working. Just so we are on the same page, I thought I would share some screenshots. Maybe this will help someone else out who is trying a similar setup.





Here is what the Setting.cfg has in it:

[PlexConnect]

enable_plexgdm = False

ip_pms = 192.168.5.105

port_pms = 27307

enable_dnsserver = True

port_dnsserver = 53

ip_dnsmaster = 8.8.8.8             (by the way China does not block Google DNS - although I did try my ISP here as well. No go)

prevent_atv_update = True

enable_plexconnect_autodetect = False

ip_plexconnect = 192.168.5.105

hosttointercept = www.icloud.com

port_webserver = 80

enable_webserver_ssl = True

port_ssl = 443

certfile = ./assets/certificates/trailers.pem

loglevel = Normal

logpath = .

 


Here are the setting on my ATV:


[f00b4r]

Can you set log level ‘High’ (note the capital H) on PlexConnect and share the log here?

[pvalenza]

Strange. I can't get plexconnect to generate a new log. I have followed the instructions here as to how to create a log file properly. Considering I have plexconnect set to launch daemons, I restarted my computer. I also used the terminal command sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.plex.plexconnect.bash.plist and sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.plex.plexconnect.bash.plist to stop it. Still no new plexconnect.log file has been generated.

[f00b4r]

if you unload the plist and start it from the command line what shows in the terminal window?

[pvalenza]

When I do the unload command in terminal it simply asks for my password and then shows the name of my computer. Same for the load. Just to make sure I was suppose to "delete" the log file and it should generate a new one correct? Not just empty the content from it?

[f00b4r]

Sorry I meant starting it using “sudo ./plexconnect.py” - this should generate output in the terminal window (you then use CTRL+C to shut it down - don’t just shut the terminal)

[jaydenaphillips]

You will need a way to route between the subnets.  If you are running two separate routers you probably aren't setup for that.

[f00b4r]

You will need a way to route between the subnets. If you are running two separate routers you probably aren't setup for that.

Yeah macman64 has probably hit the nail on the head, I had assumed that you had something in place to do this but maybe not.

[pvalenza]

Curious, what would be the appropriate setup to do this? Is it a peice of hardware? I might be willing to buy something if it’s needed.

[f00b4r]

The easiest thing might be to put the PMS on the same network as the ATV’s or is this not an option?