Me too for OP’s issue. I dont use UPNP, and i’ve checked and my ports are all forwarded correctly - yet my family are getting ‘indirect connection’ only. I’ve read elsewhere that its an issue with v1.18 and i’m now looking to rollback to v1.17
Plex is junk. Try Air Video server. Sets up in seconds and works perfectly. I hade the huge mistake of buying Plex’s lifetime pass. How they can fool people into thinking this useless code can be accessed remotely is an accomplishment by them.