Another question for you. Is the server wireless or wired?
@rts58 Looking deeper into your issue. Using the Echo for music playback from PMS requires Remote Access and therefore NAT hairpinning. NAT hairpinning is a known limitation with VZ FIOS routers. I chatted with the dev and he is going to look at this thread and if possible help.
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Please see this post:
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Thanks for the link to the update. Iām not technical enough to understand the communication challenges between Plex and Alexa. I have noticed though that I donāt think Pandora tries to hear back from Alexa. I know that If I am listening to something through Pandora the stream continues even though I ask Alexa to do something else. I have to tell Alexa to stop playing Pandora.
Looks like some real challenges to get Plex working properly with Alexa and it will be even harder because of FIOS.
The server is wired.
I tried setting secured connections to disabled but still no success.
Thanks!
For now disabling that does not help
Iāve just tried connecting to PMS through my laptop. Iām unable to play media via VLC. If I log in to the Plex web app I can play music. But it flashes up a message something about not being connected. I guess it is using relay?
I then disabled remote access. I went back to VLC and it now shows the PMS name, but still does not play media.
Not sure why, but with remote access still disabled I was able to play media via the Plex web app on my laptop.
What is the most basic way for me to make sure the PMS is installed and running correctly within my network? Iām thinking this should take port forwarding, and FIOS out of the equation.
I thought I could do this by disabling remote access and attempting to connect to the server from VLC on another machine on the network. But even this did not work.
Go to http://[your server's local ip]:32400/web
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Thank you @cetteup, that helps. I was able to access the server, from inside the network using the IP:port/web from my laptop. It should have also worked through VLC. Since it didnāt I upgraded the VLC client and it is working fine now.
Iām happy the server is okay, now I can focus on remote, and then I guess Alexa.
Ok, I had the exact same issue. Here is what I had to do in order to get remote access working. You donāt mention what router you are using from Fios, so adjust accordingly. I am using the Fios G1100
1 - Go under advanced - Port fowarding and remove the port forwarding you setup for Plex. If you have more than one, remove them all.
2 - Go under your firewall tab and setup a new rule
3 - Select the IP address your Plex server is running on in first drop down box under āCreate New Port Forwarding Rule:ā Make sure this is a static IP address.
4: Under the second drop box select āCustom Portsā
5 - Select Advanced setting right under the āCustom Portsā
6 - A new drop down series will show up.
7 - Protocal: TCP
8 - Source Ports: Any
9 - Destination Ports: 32400
10 - Forward to Port: Same as Incoming Port
11 - Schedule: Always
12 - Click the Add button
Again, you didnāt mention which version of the router you are using. But the big thing for me was removing the āport forwardā I created under the āadvanced-port forwardā section and then creating and having only the one rule under the firewall.
This is the thread I was pointed to: can't see my library from outside network
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Thank you @rhett7660. How to you have PWS routing set up? Does your router forwarding rule look like mine?
I also have the Fios G1100. I did not have any port forwarding rules set up under advanced. When I first connected to myfiosgateway, it also was not showing any rule under port forwarding. So I set up the rule you suggested. I then opened up the web client and it still was showing no remote access. However when I went back to myfiosgateway it was now showing an additional port forwarding rule.
I believe this is because I had not manually specified the external port in PWS, so it added it to the router via UPnP. Without changing anything I then went back to PWS.
It started working!!?!
Not willing to leave well enough alone, I tried to disable the UPnP rule, but it wouldnāt let me. Then I tried disabling the rule I added. For some reason I lost connectivity to the router. This also disabled remote access. Once I was able to get back into the router I enabled the rule, and remote access seems to be working again. Somewhere during this process the public port changed from 29481 to 21298. I am able to connect via the browser on my phone with wifi off and it is not showing as indirect.
canyouseeme.org is still showing 32400 and 21298 as closed.
yougetsignal.com, however, is showing these both open.
If I manually set the public port in PWS to 21298, I loose remote access.
If I manually set the public port in PWS to 32400, I can get remote access indirectly.
The remote access it currently red, but working with both UPnP and 32400 rule in the router.
Thank you, I am now one step closer to success. I just need Alexa to be able to access the server.
I only have the two rules setup on mine. The Verizon one and then my Plex one. I will post a screen shot when I get home. I do not have the UPnP one. I donāt know if that is something else or related to Plex. But I know I do not have it.
I left the 32400 as my Manually specific public port. I would get false positives, meaning it was showing green, but I couldnāt see the port and plex wouldnāt work via cellular. So I knew something was still wrong.
Thanks, the screen shot will help. If I set mine to manual external port of 32400, this causes the UPnP forwarding to be removed. However remote access stops working. Iām wondering if your forwarding rule on the router is slightly different than mine. Does is show :32400 after your IP, like my UPnP rule?
I donāt remember off the top of my head, sorry.
I got it working with one rule. The difference is the source port is ANY, the distination port is 21298 (or whatever is set as the manual public port in PWS), and the Forward to port is 32400.
Now just Alexa, thanks!
I am glad you got it to work. That screen shot looks different than what I see, but either way as long as you got it working!!
Although, I can now access Plex remotely and within my network, It is not accessible through Alexa. I still get the message from Alexa that my Plex server is on but either remote access is not available or the server is taking too long to respond. The Plex Web server page continues to show that Plex is not available outside my network. @Achilles had mentioned this could be an issue with Verizon and NAT hairpinning. Iām hoping the developer is still watching.
In summary, I think my original install worked fine. I didnāt realize it because the server remote access page is either incorrect, or is having issue with my Verizon router. Plex needs remote access for Alexa, and so this issue with the Verizon router caused it to fail. I used VLC to test in network, but this didnāt work because I had an old version of VLC. I tried to work around all this by setting up manual port forwarding and a static IP for the server.
I found another media server that works, but Iād rather stick with Plex, help!
I am getting a similar error when I ask Alexa to play something via Plex. Strange, everything else works but not Alexa.
Be interesting to know if anyone has Alexa access to Plex with FIOS.
That is a good question, I wonder if it is a setting within the FIOS router orā¦ I can use Sonos with Plex, while spoty, I can still do it. It has to also have outside access enabled. So I am assuming they are using the same or similar paths on accessing the content.
