Server Limiting Most Clients To 4-5mbps

[Levyon]

Server Version#: 1.31.6868-28fc46b27
Player Version#: Various

I recently upgraded my server with a new CPU, motherboard, and GPU. I installed Plex on a fresh copy on Window 10 Pro 64-Bit with the 64-bit version of PMS, just like the previous installation.
Everything went smooth until some users reported heavy buffering. When I took a look at the PMS Dashboard, everyone was streaming via Direct Play, but the server seemed to be limiting each stream to 4-5mbps.

Server is available outside the local network and remote streams are secure.
Upload Bandwidth is set to 500mbps, Multiple speed tests show upload speed between 200-350mbps.
Remote Bitrate is set to Original(No Limit)
Relay is not being used, all connections are secure.
I’ve reinstalled PMS, NIC drivers, restarted server OS multiple times

All remote clients(Roku, Fire Stick, Web clients, Windows HTPC/Desktop, Android, various TV clients) are having this issue, beside one anomaly. I tried streaming at work with my work laptop, and I can play multiple direct play/direct stream videos without issue. I then tried my Pixel 6 on the same network, and it had the buffering issue, seemingly capped at 4-5mbps despite settings allowing maximum remote quality.

Prior to the upgrade, this was not an issue and could have several direct play streams running simultaneously with no issues.

Other programs on the server computer aren’t having bandwidth issues. Things like Dropbox are uploading at 100mbps+.

I don’t live where my server is, so I haven’t been able to test local streams yet, but I’m planning on doing so after work today.
I’ve uploaded the server logs, but since I’ve reinstalled PMS, it may not have a lot of info.
The fist Dashboard picture is when I tested using my work laptop where it was streaming fine.

Plex Media Server Logs_2023-03-30_10-45-06.zip (3.2 MB)

[anon18523487]

Your bandwidth graphs look appropriate. They show averages much higher than the 3-4 Mbps you say. What makes you think the bandwidth is being limited?

[Levyon]

The first dashboard screenshot is the anomaly where my work laptop didn’t have any issues.
The second dashboard screenshot is after I stopped those streams and just my phone is streaming. The stream is less than 11mbps, yet the video is 18mbps, so it’s constantly buffering.
The third dashboard screenshot is similar where the video is 12mbps, but the upload won’t go about 8mbps, and is frequently buffering.

All but one client is having that issue, an issue that I’ve never had before. The server location has 1Gbps symmetrical fiber and the clients all have adequate download speeds.

[Levyon]

Here are some images that show the limited transmission. Roughly 5-10 mbps.

This image is from my work laptop streaming, which doesn’t have any issues. It’s allowing data transmission well about 10mbps.

[anon18523487]

The number shown after the IP is the bandwidth that PMS has reserved for the stream. It is not the bitrate of the file. It’s also not a limit, its used to track total bandwidth for all streams incase it needs to start applying limits. This is well below the upload limit you have of 500 Mbps, so there are no limits being applied by the server.

So for that first image of Detective Pikachu, PMS has reserved 18 Mbps and is transmitting it to the client at +/- 9 Mbps.

2 and 3 do look slow but it’s not due to any limits from PMS.

Have you checked the download speed for your phone? Is your laptop using the same WiFi network as the phone during these tests. Can you play one of these again on your phone and get me the android log? The bottleneck maybe there.

[Levyon]

The phone is on the same wifi network as the laptop.
Here is its speed test-

Here is the log from the phone-
plex-log-Levyon.zip (340.7 KB)

[Levyon]

Well, now it’s happening to my work laptop as well. Buffering every 5 seconds for a few seconds. upload sitting below 10mbps where as when it was working it was uploading at 15-25mbps.

[Levyon]

I physically went to the servers location and playback is fine when playing on the local network.
I put in a second NIC, but switching to it didn’t fix the issue with remote playback.

[Levyon]

So, I think I fixed it. I uninstalled PMS, totally removed all Plex data and deleted the registry data.
I then restarted the computer, created a new server, added a library, tested a remote stream(that worked flawlessly), signed out, restarted the computer, added my backed up server data and registry file, started PMS, signed in. Now, all my remote streams seem to be uploading at normal rates and no buffering. Other remote users also report they are no longer having buffering issues.

Doing an uninstall as per the Plex Support Article and then reinstalling didn’t work. I tried that several times to no avail. Not sure why creating a new server and then adding my files back fixed it, but it did.

[anon18523487]

Glad to hear things are working well for you. I’m not sure what changed. It’s possible there was some server setting that was causing an issue. Making a new server would have reset all the settings.

@Levyon

The server location has 1Gbps symmetrical fiber and the clients all have adequate download speeds.

Keep in mind that this is not the best indicator of how things will work. Speed tests and internet plans are all based on your home to the ISP’s nearest node or to a speedtest server. These are always the shortest, fastest routes. Going from your home server to a remote location is a different story. For testing, you need to do direct data transfers between these locations. Pings and traceroutes are basic thing you can also check.