Remote 4K streaming buffering and a question about AT&T Fiber setup

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#: 1.24.5.5173
Player Version#: misc
OS: Debian 11

I recently upgraded to AT&T 1 gig fiber. I was given the BGW-320. It took me a bit to finally get remote access working and just wanted to see if this was correct:

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… because it seemed doing anything else would cause connections to use indirect play and limit streamers to 2Mbps. If you have this ONT and Plex, does this mirror your settings?

Second question … in Plex, I have my Upload speeds entered as 900Mbps and told everyone to change their remote streaming option from 720p 4Mbps to ‘Original’. Everyone agrees that the picture quality is sharper but for a few friends that are streaming some 4K content… they often will get buffering issues.

When people are streaming 4K, I’ll monitor the network connection and notice that Plex is sending (on average) 50Mbps worth of data per 4K stream and I see spikes in the 90/100Mbps range. Server CPU usage is really nothing. It will bounce between 15-50% but usually sits around 25% on average when a 4K stream is going on.

Is the buffer on their side because they can’t download it quick enough or is the server causing this? One friend did a speedtest with his TV (it was connected to wi-fi) and was getting about 30Mbps down so I’m thinking his problem is just crappy wifi. ANOTHER friend has his TV hardwired and his speedtest app clocks in at 100Mbps. Again, just slow network performance on his side too and not being able to cope with the 105/107Mbps spikes?

I’m uploading some logs for examination. First friend has pauses with Avatar around 5:17pm, 5:23pm and 5:25pm. 2nd friend was watching Avengers and around 9pm…9:05? got some buffer issues.

Thanks

Plex Media Server Logs_2021-11-01_21-23-15.zip (4.4 MB)

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I don’t use 32400, but looks correct.

If the file is 50 Mbps and their download speed is 30 Mbps, the buffering is on their end since they can’t download the data fast enough.

Very likely.

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The wired Ethernet port on most TVs is 100 Mbps. It may be the limiting factor when streaming 4K HDR movies.

If possible, connect the TV via 5GHz WiFi 5 or WiFi 6 (802.11ac or 802.11ax).

The WiFi connection in many TVs is faster than the wired Ethernet connection. With a solid WiFi 5 or 6 signal, you can stream 4K HDR movies.

Note: This only helps with the local, in-house connection. Streaming high bandwidth media across the Internet is still problematic, since there is no quality control across the Internet. Even if you have 1 Gbps upstream and your remote users have 1 Gbps downstream, there is no guarantee you’ll have consistent throughput between the locations.

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