Thanks for the information.
Regarding VPN software:
Leave the VPN software off/disabled on your Plex Media Server. Plex and VPNs do not always play nice together, so best to leave it disabled while troubleshooting.
The VPN software on the other computer will not affect your Plex Media Server.
Regarding Port Forwarding:
You need to set up what is called a “Port forwarding rule” in your router. This tells the router to send Plex traffic from systems on the Internet (phones, TVs, PCs, etc) to your Plex server.
I use an Asus router. This is my port forwarding rule:
How the rule appears varies from router to router, but the information is the same.
Leave both the internal and external ports at 32400, the Plex default. This will make troubleshooting easier. You should also use port 32400 in your Plex Media Server remote access settings (see my earlier post for a screenshot).
The Internal IP Address is the address of the Plex Media Server.
Source IP is blank. Depending on the router it may say “All” or something similar. On some routers there may not be an entry for Source IP.
This thread has an example of somebody using AT&T service. The information appears slightly differently than in the Asus router, but is essentially the same (it uses “Device” instead of “Internal IP Address”). Note that the person in the referenced thread forwarded both TCP and UPD traffic. Only TCP port 32400 is required.
Regarding canyouseeme.org:
This is an alternate way to test if remote access is working.
The status shown in Settings -> Remote Access is sometimes unreliable.
Once you have things configured, using a device (pc, phone, etc) on your home network (not the mobile network, not at Starbucks, etc), using a browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc), go to https://canyouseeme.org/. Where it says “Port to check,” replace 80 with 32400 and click on “Check Port.” The website will try to contact your Plex Server. It will either say Success or Fail.
