OK. So in theory that means there should be nothing on your PMS system preventing access. Good to confirm at least.
Is there something else on there that you can use to test port forwarding? Eg. Qbit or even just a custom RDP port.
And can you also test port forwarding to something on the other PC.
Ooh, not sure how to test anything else. I donât use any other apps that use port mapping and I donât know how to do the RDP port. My home server and PMS are both headless so I have RDP setup for them on my pc but that is the extent of the understanding I have 
Just to confirm: PMS is running on a headless W10 system?
We definitely wonât touch your RDP then.
I would suggest install something like Qbittorrent or a VNC then (eg. Ultra or Tight are both free and configurable IIRC), on both your PMS system and your PC. (I prefer Qbit because it also gives you an easy visual indication of when it is connected properly.) Configure them to use a unique giant random port. Port forward to them and see what works.
Based on the results it will hopefully narrow down where to focus.
I see you have port 5000 set. Looking at your settings you need change the âExternal end portâ to 5000. What happens if you change it in plex and manually specific the public port to 32400.
If you havenât already, install Python 3 from the Windows Store. You can then run something like the following on the command-line:
python3 -m http.server 32400
Do this with Plex Media Server not running.
This will run a simple HTTP server which will respond to any requests on TCP 32400; be careful to run this in a directory with nothing important in it (or an empty one) as the server will serve any files in that directory and will list them in a directory listing. You can replace 32400 with whatever port youâve forwarded on your router.
Then, try canyouseeme.org again using whatever port is appropriate. This will allow you to remove Plex from the equation and see if the problem is with it, or your port forward.
OK, so I:
installed python 3.10
Created and saved a file with your script into an empty desktop folder
shut down PMS
Ran the script
Tested for forwarded port - still no good same error
I repeated this on both my own desktop and the PMS pc - same
did I do this right?
No script is required; just run the command above from a Windows command-line prompt; navigate to an empty directory on your system first. You should see output similar to the following (I ran this using port 50000, it will show whatever port you specify):
Serving HTTP on 0.0.0.0 port 50000 (http://0.0.0.0:50000/) ...
The âServing HTTP on 0.0.00âŠâ part means itâs listening on all interfaces. You can press Ctrl-C to exit.
I canât stress enough how important it is for you to run the command from an empty directory, or one with nothing of import in it.
If you want to test that itâs working, you can open a browser on the local system and browse to http://localhost:50000. Again, replace 50000 with whatever port you specified. It should show a listing of all the files in the directory from which you ran it.
Assuming all that worked, perform the external test with canyouseeme.org and/or try to browse to your public IP address/port combo to see if it works.
OK, that made more sense 
Created a folder on c:
added a file to serve so I can see it if it works
using http://localhost:32400, I saw this.
On cayouseeme.com, I still had nothing
This was done on the PMS machine though, is that right?
Yep, that was right. Based on this I think you may still have either a port forward configuration error or Windowsâ firewall may be causing problems. Have you tried completely disabling it, just as a test? Also, is there an accurate online manual for your router?
I saw someone with the same router say they saw an error message that said this
âThe external port cannot be 7547, 514, 68, 53, 546, 500, 1701, 8443, 8080, 990, 5060, 28090, 50000-50020.â
I would change it and make your internal and external both 32400 just to test it
If it works then you can play around with other ports that may work if you want to change it
Also, Iâm seeing some significant differences in the ip for the https://canyouseeme.org/ tests. Is there a VPN involved?
Even with your port forwarding and Plex configured correctly your port will show closed and youâll get the indirect connection you were seeing on your phone if the VPN is on
It will still say Plex is not available outside your network which is only partially true.
I donât know if anyone mentioned it but the green âavailable outside your networkâ happens when Plex is testing your connection. If it turns red shortly after that, it was never working properly. I know itâs misleading
I had changed my port from the op to the one you and others suggested - 32400. Both internal and external are the same.
Thanks for explaining the momentary green state too - it was confusing, but now makes sense.
Now, drum rollâŠI use NordVPN on the PMSâŠturning it off gives me this:
I thought that the open setting (no IP entered) in the port forward excluded ALL ip addresses so I didnât think it would be an issue.
I have now found and changed the vpn to ignore the PMS app as well as MS Edge on the machine and it is working fine now.
Thanks for bringing the vpn up - it is definitely the cause of the current issue, however it doesnât explain why I was getting all green prior to a few weeks ago. I made no changes, so perhaps NordVPN did change with an update?
To all of you who responded - thank you so much! I really appreciate the genuinely useful help without being made to feel useless. I learned a big lesson today as a result of your guidance and it shows this community to be a truly great place to safely ask questions!
Much gratitude.
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