Remote access stopped working - relay only

Plex Media Server Remote Access
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Server Version#: 1.21.1.3876
Player Version#: All

I have tried to fix this myself and have read all related topics that I can find. I will explain my setup, the problem and my attempted fixes.

I run a Plex media server on a Raspberry Pi 3. It is wired into my router with an Ethernet cable. It is attached to a USB disk which contains the media.

I have manually forwarded external port 32400 TCP to port 32400 on my server’s internal IP of 192.168.100.20. This is a reserved IP address in my router, and confirmed as I use port forwarding for lots of other applications on the Pi. My router is a Huawei HG8245Q supplied by my ISP. UPnP is also enabled.

As the Pi has no CPU ‘grunt’, I do not transcode video at all on the Pi, but most of my media is 1080p or higher. Inside the LAN, this is fine. Outside of the LAN, it is vital that I can establish a Remote connection.

My download speed is 330mbs, Upload is 60mbps. No WiFi issues as it is hardwired.

For the last 2 years or so, Plex has worked perfectly. I could remotely use my phone, iPad, fire stick, TV - anything - while I am travelling and push media to myself at full 1080p / 4K quality. 8-13 Mbps upload was no issue.

Suddenly, about a week ago I ran into trouble. Constant buffering and problems. Logging in to my server showed my that my upload was being capped at 2 Mbps. I thought I had connection issues etc, but soon realised that the 2 Mbps cap was due to using ‘Relay’ and being a Plex Pass member.

Checking the ‘Remote Access’ is strange. When I hit ‘apply’ next to the manual port of 32400, everything goes green and says ‘Full access’. A few seconds later, a Red Cross appears between internet and public IP address.

Since then I have been on a journey trying to fix this. I have tried (with no success):

  1. Updated the plexmediaserver on the Raspbian system on my Pi.
  2. Changed the port from 32400 to another few random numbers, and forwarded those instead.
  3. Tried to confirm I am not on a GNAT - my ‘whatismyIP’ response is the same as that indicated on my gateway.
  4. Removed manual port forwarding and tried to let UPnP pick it up instead.
  5. Removed IPv6 support.
  6. Removed Local Network Discovery
  7. Changed my password in Plex and logged out of all devices to reset any ‘Token’ issues.
  8. Booted up a different PC on the LAN (Windows 10) on static IP 192.168.100.2. Installed Plex media server (latest version). Pointed it at the shared USB disk for media. Selected a different port to forward. Added port forwarding in the router. Exactly the same result - temporary fix for me now as the CPU on that machine can transcode down to <2MBps to squeeze out the media via Relay.
  9. Rebooted the router. Rebooted the PC server. Rebooted the Raspberry Pi server. All repeatedly.

Port forwarding for other devices works fine as I access my Pi using port forwarding for SSH, Deluge, VNC Viewer, a web server and a Calibre Server too.

The only port forwarding that fails to establish a direct connection is anything I use for Plex.

I’m actually away from home logging in via VNC and TeamViewer trying to fix this, and have absolutely run out of ideas / IT skill with ideas now.

Any help gratefully received.

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Another 24 hours of tinkering and I have fixed the issue. For reference for anyone else reading this, here is my solution… I think…

Firstly, I disabled the ‘manually select a port’ option in the Network settings of PMS. It was previously some random number in the 23000-24000 range I had selected to forward to my PMS device IP.

I then hit retry. When I got the ‘server not reachable error’, even though I had not specified a manual port, it was still showing as the previously selected 23000-24000 range port.

Back into my router, and I confirmed the port was forwarded correctly. I also have an option to set the external source port range that will be forwarded and this is normal set to nothing. This time I set that range from 0 to 32400. Haven’t done this before, don’t think it has an effect, but what the hell.

I also went an enabled uPnP as well as the manual port forwarding. Previously I had been trying one or the other, but this time I tried both together.

I disabled the option for ‘relay’ to cut out a step of diagnosis - if it wasn’t working, I didn’t want to connect at all.

Boom. Now it works.

Not only that, I went over to my PC server also on the same LAN and followed the same steps - disabling the manual port, allowing it to ‘automatically’ select the port I had previously chosen manually, confirm the TDP port was forwarded correctly AND had uPNP enabled in the router. That one is working as well.

Both servers now reachable direct from outside the network with no relay issues.

Also found a fun solution to my lack of transcoding on the Pi while I was at it… I have poor internet speeds where I am now and though I want to use direct play generally, I actually struggle here. However, now I have pointed my PC at the shared USB drive, if I ever find myself with poor internet speeds, I can remotely (WOL from my Raspberry Pi) boot up my PC, bring that server online and have it transcode the media down to circa 2mbps before pushing it out to me. This will always be handy in the future when slow internet / internet caps are a problem - like using a FireStick on crappy hotel WiFi etc, or saving my mobile data when watching a film on my phone. For all other times, the Raspberry Pi can be an always on device, using 2-3 Watts instead of my PC using 200Watts+.

Summary - managed to fix a problem that came out of nowhere. In the process, discovered another solution to a problem I didn’t previously know I needed.

The cost - 2 days of my life on TeamViewer and VNC staring at my router and server setups.

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