We can’t figure out what’s going on with our remote access. Our remote access works for some and not others, as we share our library with our out of state family. Since the new update, our remote access says it isn’t working, but yet works…at least for 2 others we share with. The other 4 can’t access the server. Is this something we can fix on our end or is this a setting on their end? It isn’t making much sense to us why it works for some and not others… We’ve made sure they’ve updated any apps, had them log in and out and even re-added them to our list of shared users.
When your Plex Media Server is available from outside your network, the configuration on your end should be fine (ignore the remote status indicator switching back to “not available” if it’s actually available).
In the first year after I setup my Plex server I’ve run into some trouble during a vacation. The place where we stayed offered a free WIFI – however for some reason the access was limited and I couldn’t access my server (while access via my mobile data plan worked just fine).
My take: There’s a lot of potential pitfalls along the way you cannot overcome even with a network degree (not that I have one ). The challenge is you’ll need to troubleshoot the connection one component at a time as the issue can be pretty much anywhere – regional/national restrictions (such as the great Chinese Firewall), limitations implied by their ISP, limitations implied by their router (e.g. blocking the port your Plex Media Server is using as its public port).
In my vacation situation from above, the culprit turned out to be the holiday home’s WIFI which only offered a limited “Guest Network” access. One feature of the guest network was not to allow anything beyond the most basic web ports for web surfing and mailing (namely: blocking my Plex access).
I too, have not been able to login remotly to my server. Only whithin the network. I’m running a double NAT and dont know hot to connect to Plex Media Server outside the network. It was working just fine before. Thank You in advance for your help and assistance.
If the server is behind double NAT your clients cannot connect directly to it, you’re depending on the Plex Relay tunnelling service which is bandwidth limited and isn’t super reliable.
There are all kinds of workarounds but in the end putting your server at a location which allows incoming IPv4 connections makes your life easiest.
Yes I have ran the basic troubleshooting and it is still not working. I’m running a double NAT since my Internet provider does not have a modem only option w/out private IP address. Also, my Apple TIme Capsule/Router does not support UPnP or NAT-PMP. Finally, as far as I know Apple does not put Firewalls by default since they depend on software updates for privacy and protection. Thank You for your help in getting this resolved.
I ran the basic troubleshooting and it is still not working. I’m running a double NAT since my Internet provider does not have a modem only option w/out private IP address. Also, my Apple TIme Capsule/Router does not support UPnP or NAT-PMP. How can I put my server in a location which allows incoming IPv4? This is a screenshot of my server settings as of right now. Thank You for your help.
Your NAT situation in your home router isn’t so much the problem really, even Apple routers allow for manul port forwarding, but if your ISP also does Carrier-Grade NAT (which you can’t control), that doesn’t help.
For your server to be accessible from the outside you’ll either need to switch to an ISP that gives you a non-NATted connection, or you run your server on another physical location: place the server at a friend’s house (and manage it remotely), or you rent a VPS (virtual private server), which is the same concept but as a commercial business.
There are other workarounds like setting up an encrypted tunnel between your server and a third party VPN server (which in turn does accept incoming connections, and routes that traffic on towards your server), but these solutions are complex too.
). The challenge is you’ll need to troubleshoot the connection one component at a time as the issue can be pretty much anywhere – regional/national restrictions (such as the great Chinese Firewall), limitations implied by their ISP, limitations implied by their router (e.g. blocking the port your Plex Media Server is using as its public port).
