Remote Access has stopped working - only change is Plex Server Updates

Server Version#: Version 1.32.1.6999
Player Version#: Version 4.100.1
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>

I am using a manual port forward in my router. It was working. Then I went on 2 weeks of holidays and it was not. (Of course)

Plex says:
Not available outside your network
Your server is signed in to Plex, but is not reachable from outside your network.

I’ve tried restarting Plex, the machine, rebooting the router; nothing works. Any ideas what may have happened?

There’s lots of stuff that can have changed inside or outside of your control that might impact your remote access setup. Have you already verified that the manual port forward is still active and accessible from outside your home network?

Thanks tom80H…

The Manual port is still active:

However, it no longer seems to work. I tried CanYouSeeMe.org - and it says the following:

Error: I could not see your service on 24.226.96.22 on port (58720 )
Reason: Connection timed out

This used to work and I tested it just before I went on holidays. So – not sure what else could have changed…

I note that the SERVER has its IP address reserved to 192.168.1.6 as shown above.

Interestingly Plex just pushed another software update… after the install, I went to remote access and pushed “Retry” and it was all green for about 10 seconds… then it went back to the red" Not available outside your network".

I also checked my firewall settings:

Seems all good… I’m not sure where else to look…

That’s based on how Plex behaves while it’s still checking if your server is remotely available. While performing that check, Plex will display it as „available“.

You could test if your ISP is only blocking that port and change it to some other port. Alternatively you can contact your ISP to ask them if they’re blocking the port / if they’re able/willing to unblock it for you.

Thanks for the behavior explanations

I had contacted the ISP yesterday and they stated that they did not block any ports. You might note that on the router I had forwarded a public range of 58720:58725. I had tested 3 different address in that range. When I change it in the Remote Access page, it works momentarily; and the on a page refresh it gets blocked.

Seems to me the ISP is sniffing ports and then shutting them down; but I don’t know enough about ISP processes…

Can I test anything else?

Hmmm… I tested a fourth address: 58725.

That seemed to work. I’ve refreshed multiple times and its still showing green.

Strangely, I went back to CanYouSeeMe.org - and it still says the following:

Error: I could not see your service on 24.226.96.22 on port (58725 )
Reason: Connection timed out

OK - server is green - but I just turned off wifi on my Android phone and tried to play music via cellular network: it just spins trying to load one album under an artist.

So - not sure if its working. Actually, I would say that it is not.

Just as a test I would change the external port range back to the standard 32400 and make the protocol TCP instead of both

Reflect that change on the Plex remote access page and try it again

Do you have a VPN?

@JaysPlex : The external (public) port range is 58720:58725. 32400 refers to the internal port.

I changed the router to be TCP only - rather than “both”:

I went back to 58720 on the Plex server - and that seems to be working according to Plex Server.

But the only thing I can test at the moment, is my Android cell when Wi-Fi is off… Right now PlexAmp is saying: “Unable to Load Data. This makes me sad.”

I’ve add that my server has no VPN on it… and my router does not either.

Hi, I’m having the same issue. Everything was working fine, and then this morning it all stopped. no changes on my end except a recent update to plex. Tried different ports, restarting plex and the synology it’s on, no love. Nothing new to add except I am also having this issue.

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Yes, the default and only option for the internal port is 32400, I just meant to change the external port to 32400 also

Since the range you had was getting odd results with one number working and not the others, I thought to eliminate that part of the equation as a test

Got exactly the same issue. external 32400 internal 32400. I tried both TCP/UDP and TCP by itself. I have been using these settings for years and it is recently the external connection works once. Yes, only once and 3 seconds later it goes red again

I’ve tried 32400. It simply no longer works.

I’ll add that numerous folks in this community had it working and now it does not. This is an issue that has not been fixed over multiple versions so now I wonder where the priorities are.

Stop working on features and fix the basic functionality that you advertise.

I recommend you actually check what has been broken / no longer works as before. There’s various players and configurations involved when it comes to remote access. Most frequently there’s changes on the ISP side you won’t even notice (unless it’s impacting/blocking your remote access).

Beyond block ports?

First question I asked my ISP.

I’ll add that unless all these other folks that had their remote access fail recently, changed their ISP; is that really the most frequent scenario?

You don’t need to change ISPs for an ISP to change their backend config or how they connect their users to the internet.

I’m a bit cautious with “all these other folks” references. The internet is a horrible echo chamber and while you’ll quickly find a lot of “me too” posts that claim to have the same issue, it’s often similar symptoms but completely different circumstances.

I’m talking about this site. Actually, just look up 5 posts on this thread.

ISP config: Beyond a blocked port, what kind of “change to the backend config” are you referring to? Can you be more specific so I can make additional queries beyond “did you change something”?

Thanks Tom…

From the top of my head…

  • they can shift from assigning you a dynamic publicly routable IPv4 address to a CGNAT or a mix of a publicly routable IPv6 address and a private, not publicly routable IPv4 address.
  • they can certain types of traffic (not just ports)

If you follow the troubleshooting guide you should be able to pin things down a bit further. That’ll also give you an indication on the root cause of your remote access issue.

OK - just got off the phone with my ISP. (Cogeco in Burlington, Canada.) The technician had to got to a supervisor to check some items. They have made the following statements:

  • They do not block any ports.
  • They do not perform filtering based on specific traffic.
  • They provide me a publicly routable IPV4 address.

Not sure where to go now…

Can you verify the public port seen by Plex (e.g. Settings > [Server Name] > Remote Access) is actually the WAN port assigned to your router by your ISP (e.g. the IP address canyouseeme.org will see)