Does the VPN apply to the Plex Server’s connections?
Yes, I think so. But as I said, I’ve run this configuration for more than a year without any issues. The connection has only become intermittent over the last week or so, in which time I have made no changes to anything. It just worked one day, didn’t work the next, then come back for no obvious or repeatable reason, then goes down again. It COULD be the VPN that’s doing it, but turning the VPN off doesn’t fix the problem, and turning the VPN back on doesn’t cause the connection to drop when it’s back up again.
I could only briefly look at your logs.
There’s definitely something fishy:
- Plex identifies your public IP and attempts to verify the mapping but that keeps failing – some seem to be timing out, some get a HTTP/422 error code (“unprocessable entity”)
- There’s a number of network errors when Plex attempts to communicate with its backend (e.g. failing to connect to
plex.tv) and the local network (e.g. “not supported by gateway” error messages)
Have you checked any firewalls or other content blockers / security tools that might interfere? Maybe some DNS rebind protection for which you need to establish an exception for plex.direct?
I think we might have a winner!
QNAP implemented a security suite in its most recent OS update, which includes a firewall enabled by default. I had completely forgotten about that because it’s a new feature. The instant I disabled it through the QNAP Security Platform panel, the Remote Connection went green. That’s the first direct cause-and-effect relationship I have encountered.
Assuming the connection stays up (not a given, since it’s been up and down all week), this isolates the problem as one with the QNAP firewall specifically, not Plex, not the router, the IP or the VPN. I don’t know enough about how firewalls work to understand why the blocking is intermittent, but it seems more likely that this is the problem than anything else.
Thanks for your patience. I hope I’m done with this, and I hope that other folks who use Plex with a QNAP NAS (I know you’re out there!) take note of this.
Can’t agree more! Remote access has never been “robust” over the 10 years I have been using Plex, but I was previously able to figure out and fix. Now, it is completely MIA. I am getting abuse from the family on ‘why doesn’t Plex ever work when I want it’ …
Is that a rant or request for help?
If properly configured and not impacted by some ISP restrictions, I find it to be very robust. Then again… there’s a lot of parties involved when it comes to remote access which can make it tricky at times.
In case you’re looking for a way to fix your particular issue… let’s start here and share your findings → The Basics of Remote Access Troubleshooting
right now, its a rant. I am seeking help, tho. Will look through the guide you just supplied. The last comment by “robsalk” is intriguing tho. My current issues mirror “robsalks” issues to a T.
Don’t know QNAP, but here’s what I’m running:
Optiplex 3020 PC, CAT5 direct connect to CenturyLink router
Windows 10
Plex 1.26.2.5797
Been Plex user for >10yrs.
Recent change: moved Plex media files onto Seagate 5TB portable HDD. (stupid Q: is QNAP a security software on external/portable HDD’s?
Will go thru guide and come back with update/Q;'s
Thanks very much.
QNAP is a NAS vendor / platform.
Changing your HDDs has no impact on the remote access setup.
Thanks Tom! Have gone thru diags after being out of house for a week. For some unknown reason, my port forwarding rule got deleted. Don’t know how, but simple fix for now. Re-instituted port forwarding in router setup. Sorry for the rants, but appears fixed for now.
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