Remote access keeps disconnecting

Plex Media Server Remote Access
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Server Version#: 1.18.5.2309-f5213a238
Player Version#: NA

G’day everyone!

I have a Lifetime Plex Pass, and I’m serving media from a Synology NAS.

I started sharing my library with 2 friends (outside my home) a couple of weeks ago, and until a couple of days ago, this was working fine. Then it just stopped working.

Remote access stopped working too, so I’m assuming that’s the cause.

When my friends try to watch a show or I try to watch something when not connected to my wifi, we get a frame of the video, then the video freezes, and the audio continues.

The weird thing is Plex is telling me remote access isn’t working at all, but it obviously is a little. Enough for the audio to get through. Plex says:

Not available outside your network
Your server is signed in to Plex, but is not reachable from outside your network. Learn more
Tip: It looks like your server may be connected to the internet through multiple routers or other network devices. Try connecting it directly to your primary device, or visit our support site for more information about troubleshooting this “Double-NAT” scenario.

I have manual port forwarding set up, and there’s a red cross between the internet and my NAS’s public IP. And when I click RETRY, it momentarily tells me remote access is working. Then it flicks back to the above.

I didn’t change anything in my setup to trigger this failure. Not that I know of, anyway.

Since discovering the problem, I’ve checked my port forwarding, restarted the Plex server on my NAS, rolled back to the previous version of the server (so, as you can see above, I’m no longer running the latest version, but the latest version had the same problem), restarted the NAS itself, and restarted my router.

I have a vague suspicion that this is something to do with the static IP thing. The NAS doesn’t have a static public IP, but I believe it still has a static local IP.

I’ve checked my logs and nothing jumps out at me. But I don’t really know what I’m looking for. I can share them, but I’m nervous about what I’m sharing. I haven’t read every line, so I don’t know if there’s anything private in there.

Any suggestions? Warning: I’m reasonably technical, but not a coder or engineer, and I always find networking confusing. :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks in advance!

Cheers
Glenn

2

First thing check your port forwarding by going to canyouseeme.org and test your port forwarding for success.

Do this from any PC or phone on the same subnet as your Plex server.

1 Like
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Thanks! I ran the port check and it said:

Error: I could not see your service on xxxxxxxxxxxxx on port (32400)
Reason: Connection timed out

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Is it a privacy/security risk to disclose the IP address and port combo?

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Yeah I wouldn’t post your public IP on this or any other forum.

So that error means your port forwarding isn’t working.

Can you post your port forwarding screen shots?
Nothing that has your public IP just the internal IP or config.

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Thanks! Much appreciated.

Sure! See attached. :slight_smile:

LAN

WAN
WAN1149×216 15.9 KB
Plex
Plex1043×229 170 KB

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That all looks right…

Any firewall on your PC?

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I’m not actually using a PC to access the media or for the server.

The server’s on a NAS, and the firewall is not enabled. The Plex user on the NAS is an admin.

For viewing the media remotely (off the network), I’m using an Android phone. My friend is using a smart TV.

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Oh yeah I forgot you said this was on a Synology.

Does the IP on canyouseeme.org match the IP that is in your router on its WAN?

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Hmmm. I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t think so.

You mean this, right?:

WAN IP
WAN IP862×580 22.8 KB

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Yeah that is the public IP that you get from your ISP.
Does that IP match what canyouseeme.org shows?

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Nope. :-\

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That would usually indicate you are in a CGNat situation.

Does the IP above start with something between 100.64 and 100.127?

Most likely you will need to contact your ISP and request a static IP. ISPs can put you into CGNat without asking and make the change after hours and don’t notify the end users.

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Sure does!

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So yeah that 100.x space is part of RFC1918

And ISPs have been moving users to that to conserve IPv4 space.

Call your ISP and request a private IP they usually charge a monthly fee for this.

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Thanks. Yeah, just spoke to my ISP and they want an extra $8 per month for this. On top of the $110 I’m already paying. I’m not really keen to pay $8 a month share movies with my friends! lol.

I’m going to ask Synology if there’s something I can do on my NAS. You don’t happen to know anything about that do you?

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Well Plex does have a relay service that should take care of this issue but limits your end users to a limited amount of bandwidth to stream with.

Since you are having issues I’d suggest maybe restarting Plex maybe even sign out and back in to restart things and see if your remote users are able to connect. Or maybe your Synology isn’t powerful enough to convert the video stream since bandwidth is limited with the relay and I would assume requires transcoding.

@ChuckPa is the Synology guy so he might be able to answer or provide additional insight.

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Thanks mate.

Yeah, I think the download speed limitations on streaming (1Mbps for free users) is a showstopper.

Also, yep, I’ve signed out of Plex, and that didn’t help.

@ChuckPa I’d be very keen to hear your thoughts.

Thanks again, @nokdim

19

Hi Nokdim, piggybacking here. I believe I’m in a similar situation with my QNAP nas.
My IP displayed on canyouseeme does not match the WAN IP displayed by my Google Wifi. However, the IP does not start with something between 100.64 and 100.127. The canyouseeme IP is below that range, and the Google WIFI WAN IP is above it. Does that change anything?

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@GreasenUSA ISPs are supposed to use that range for CGNat but some don’t. If your wan IP doesn’t match what canyouseeme shows you are most likely in CGNat and will need to work with your ISP.

If you want to start your own forum post we can check the details and confirm.