Slow Login on WIFI | Speedy on VPN or Mobile Data

Plex Players Mobile Devices
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1

Server Version#: 1.32.8.7639 (linux)
Player Version#: 10.6.0.5141 (pixel 6);
10.6.0.5141(3aa3109) galaxy tab a
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled> no logs unless asked for.

Android- pixel 6 & galaxy tab a. & Firestick
Roku device works 100%.

I first noticed on 12/22. I could not log into plex, while it worked fine on 12/21.

What Happened: Splash screen, then nothing else. Force closed. Rebooted phone/tablet. Same issue.

What I noticed- phone worked fine on mobile & VPN. Not on local. Would eventually work on wifi if waited long enough. Roku device works fine. All devices wireless.

Here is the long of it:

What I did: tried again Waited longer- eventually slowly logged in (auto login enabled) about 2 minutes. Slowly will bring up screens & artwork. Like on 56k dialup. Video will play fine.

again tried: Restarted server, restarted network. Cleared cache, cleared data and re signed in. Deleted/reinstall app. rebooted phone. Disabled firewall. forgot network connection. reconnected to network, Restarted server, restarted network. Cleared cache, cleared data and re signed in. Deleted/reinstall app. rebooted phone. No change.

Checked if VPN active- it wasnā€™t. On a whim closed plex, turned on VPN and plex logged in and worked lightening fast. Reached out to eero support to verify VPN was working properly, as it seemed to me that should be slower login on VPN- eero confirm VPN is working as advertised. VPN is on only when I turn it on (on the pixel 6). Then I tried Mobile Data, and it worked (same as VPN). So it was only on local network (wifi) that the issue persists.

Restarted server, restarted network. Cleared cache, cleared data and re signed in. Deleted/reinstall app. rebooted phone. Checked other device- galaxy tab same issue (donā€™t have mobile or VPN on it), Checked server settings ā€œList of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without authā€ and the ip range matched my phone. 192.168.4.1/255.255.255.0 : phone is 192.168.4.157. tablet is ā€¦111

Reformatted phone. Only installed bit warden & plex. Neither would work. Found forum post about bit warden about only working on initial install using VPN (& related bug report from 12/14/2023 1 week prior to my issue)). Downloaded eero app. turned on VPN. Both now work.

Checked console (plex server) while on wifi and I open the app, nothing is seen on the console for a minute or so. If on VPN/Mobile 100ā€™s of lines in console immediately after opening plex app.

Edit:
tried an old firestick- slow and says user switching not available. takes >1 min to login then another min to load main screens. Other apps way faster
tried a Nvidia shield- same issue- sloooow - other apps (eg prime video )works fine
remembered I have 2nd roku in the kitchen- works fine.

Any Ideas on what I can do? Most of google services (like lens) do not work while im on VPN, and its a pain to keep switching on/off VPN. Also kinda hurts to wait a few minutes, when it used to be instant.
Thanks for reading.

2

Can you describe your network topology in detail? Please include VLAN details. Also, what DNS provider do your clients use (ISP, Google, CloudFlare, PiHole, AdGuard, etcā€¦)?

What you described sounds like your server and clients are on separate logical networks. This may cause them to fall back to remote access if there arenā€™t proper routes set up, or if DNS rebinding protection is causing clientsā€™ DNS lookups to fail. This could be exacerbated by double-NAT, if your Eero router is behind an ISP router.

3

Thanks for the reply
Yes, that makes sense, but likely not the case here. The network was functioning properly for over a year. Other apps work fine (eg amazon video)

I am unsure if there is a eero setting I can do to make sure they are always on same network. I looked at the IPs and that are all 192.168.4.xxx. Everything else is working (security cameras, laptops, smart home devices,ā€¦ etc) & other apps on the misbehaving devices are working e.g. I can stream amazon video on all devices, no problem.

I find it odd its only the android devices. I installed a new roku this afternoon- and it works fine. Installed an old fire stick and it does not work on plex properly. Says user switching not available etcā€¦& very slow

I looked at the playstore and the app update was ā€œrolled out slowly starting 12/20ā€ Which puts me to believe its a plex android app update issue. I wish I could find a way to go back to the old version to see.

thanks

4

Just did more troubleshooting. same devices- galaxy tab & pixel 6- used Firefox and chrome using local networkIP:32400/web- all devices that have a browser connected immediately. App still super slow. like over a minute to connect. Connects immediately over VPN or Mobile.

5

Eero 6 router/mesh. Vlan: pretty straightforward:

Plex server wired using static IP. Everything else is wireless.

I have disabled eero ad blocking & advanced security and tried connecting with no change so I re-enabled them. (I have been using them for 2 + years- never an issue). I do not have any parental controls or blocked sites (other that what eero blocks behind the scenes as malicious)

I use Blue Ridge Cable (DHCP)- and they do not block anything.

All devices have private mac turned off while on local network. No antivirus.

DNS provider is by ISP-

v4: 204.186.110.114 / 216.144.187.199.

v6: 2606:9400:0:12:204:186:110:114 / 2606:9400:0:d:204:186:80:251

Everything worked for years until 12/22. Same equipment since 2020.

6

Regret to inform.

  • Yes, they do block
    (Success with the VPN active is confirmation)

  • Yes, they throttle anything which might remotely tax their network

  • A Plex server SENDS data into their network. (youā€™re not a read-only customer).

My solution was to switch to Comcast.

Not sure what your options are out your way (Iā€™m a former Tunkhannock guy)
Fiber ?

7

Thanks Chuck for the info, however I dont think they are blocking, I feel this is a local problem, eg. wifi within my own home. So switching ISP may not fix this issue. Even if it did, I have no other ISP in the area unless DSL, Dial or satellite.

The issue:

I can connect remotely from outside my home with and without a VPN. So I donā€™t think this is a ISP issue. I can also connect on mobile and VPN from within my home.

I can not connect to plex by WiFi within my home [with andorid devices]. If I wait long enough (like a solid minute or 2) it will connect lie on dial-up- the connection will be super slow, like a relay or something (relay is off in the server settings!)

Note:

  1. I can load plex in a browser on the affected devices - runs fine- The official App does not.
  2. Only android devices (shield/firestick/ galaxy tablet/phones) are affected w/ plex not logging in or slow login.
  3. Eventually plex will load if I wait more that a solid minute or 2- then it works like on dial up.
  4. Roku works fine. I tried a new out of box roku and it works fine.
  5. Reformatted phone and only installed plex- still not working right (as above)
  6. All other streaming services work on all devices, albeit they are not self hosted.

I think its an app update issue. I looked at the app store and they started rolling release on 12/20. 2 days later it all stopped working for me.

  1. Is there a list of ā€˜whitelistedā€™ sites necessary for plex to work?
  2. Is there a way to revert to an older android version?

Thanks
JOhn Kilbert

8

John,

If you look in your ā€œPlex Media Server.logā€ , with DEBUG logging enabled, captured about 3 minutes AFTER restarting, youā€™ll find the regional Plex server(s) which you use.

You can search for MyPlex in the logs and find the block of info.

Other issues to watch out for:

  1. DNS Rebinding ā€“ (modem/router gets a firmware update and then starts preventing plex.direct DNS from working. This will slow it down terribly and, in many cases, will make it fail.
    The answer here is to create a rule in the modem/router to ALLOW Private Domain plex.direct.

  2. Old, dead, servers to still on your account as well as shared servers ā€“ The apps will ping them. This will slow startup. It will do a full timeout if it has to deal with a dead server. (Settings - Authorized Devices - Server (dropdown) ā€“ make sure thereā€™s nothing ā€˜deadā€™ in there)

9

What are the private IPs of the client devices when:

  1. Not connected to your VPN?
  2. Connected to your VPN?

What is the private IP of your Plex server? Is it connected to your Eero network? If so, does its IP address change when not connected?

These should be private IP addresses so it should be safe to post them here.

As I mentioned (and @ChuckPa reiterated) DNS rebinding protection can cause problems. It creates a situation where DNS names cannot be resolved to private IP addresses forcing the public IP to be used. Depending on how the router(s) involved handle NAT hair pinning (or donā€™t) this can be problematic.

Furthermore, if your network topology isnā€™t ā€œflatā€ (as in one single logical network) you can run into routing issues, such that even if DNS rebinding protection isnā€™t an issue you could have routing which is not optimal.

My experience with Eero mesh networks and routers is that they generally are configured to create their own private network. And if connected behind an ISP router or other home router you end up with a tiered local network where the Eero network is ā€œbehindā€ that of the first router (the one connected to the ISP network).

So, what is immediately upstream of your Eero router (what is it cabled to)? What is its public IP address (the Eero router)? (Donā€™t post if public.)

Also as Chuck mentioned, unreachable servers can cause a connection delay as the client attempts to connect to each configured server. Iā€™d expect this to cause problems even when on VPN though, so Iā€™m not sure how likely this one is.

In short, the more information we have about the topology of your network the better we can help you.

Looking back through your posts, you mentioned your wireless devices using 192.168.4.x IP addresses. Is your server using this address range as well?

10

I whtelisted plex.direct

no change

I dont have any old servers (just one old device - my phone prior to reformatting) Only server in list is my current server.

Again- it shows devices by type- only android devices listed as such are not working.
thanks

11

What is the private IP of your Plex server?

192.168.4.2

Is it connected to your Eero network?

yes

If so, does its IP address change when not connected?

No static.

Furthermore, if your network topology isnā€™t ā€œflatā€ (as in one single logical network) you can run into routing issues, such that even if DNS rebinding protection isnā€™t an issue you could have routing which is not optimal.

All devices are 192.168.4.xxx

So, what is immediately upstream of your Eero router (what is it cabled to)? What is its public IP address (the Eero router)? (Donā€™t post if public.)

70.4x.xxx.1x

ISP Modem > eero router -switch to plex server & (desktop wired static IP) all other devices wireless.

Also as Chuck mentioned, unreachable servers can cause a connection delay as the client attempts to connect to each configured server. Iā€™d expect this to cause problems even when on VPN though, so Iā€™m not sure how likely this one is.

No other servers. (ever) Only one server in the list.

In short, the more information we have about the topology of your network the better we can help you.

Looking back through your posts, you mentioned your wireless devices using 192.168.4.x IP addresses. Is your server using this address range as well?

Yes

thanks
John

12

Thanks for all the detail! At this point, I think the best path forward would be to provide client logs from a device experiencing the issue. This article describes how to collect them (see Network Logging).

You may want to send these by private message as I donā€™t think theyā€™re quite as well-scrubbed as server logs are (an e-mail or IP address might be present). Iā€™m not sure if Chuck would like to see these as well; if so, heā€™ll have to message you first.

13

I would like to see the client logs and the matching server logs so I can compare side-by-side

14

thanks, I believe I have to logs requested, how do I send them?

15

I believe I have to logs requested, how do I send them?
thanks

16

@kilbert

Use the PM I opened to you.

17

If youā€™d like to send them to me as well, you can just click my avatar and then the ā€œMessageā€ button.

18

Thanks for looking @pshanew @chuckpa. Happy new year guys.

19

@kilbert

This wifi is slow / network subnets arenā€™t right ā€¦ something with that.

Look at the time delays here ā€¦

12-31 10:49:43.878  i: Fetching [method:GET] https://discover.provider.plex.tv/?includePreferences=1&X-Plex-Token=...SDW3&X-Plex-Language=en-us
12-31 10:49:43.879  i: Fetching [method:GET] https://music.provider.plex.tv/?includePreferences=1&X-Plex-Token=...SDW3&X-Plex-Language=en-us
12-31 10:49:43.879  i: Fetching [method:GET] https://vod.provider.plex.tv/?includePreferences=1&X-Plex-Token=...SDW3&X-Plex-Language=en-us
12-31 10:49:43.881  i: Fetching [method:GET] https://192.168.4.2:32400/media/providers?includePreferences=1&X-Plex-Token=...SDW3&X-Plex-Language=en-us
12-31 10:49:43.907  e: Presenter not found! Type: unknown, Subtype: unknown
12-31 10:49:43.929  i: Fetching [method:GET] https://70-44-114-4.88506d8781f84e60b2b39fb3e476f3a6.plex.direct:32400/media/providers?includePreferences=1&X-Plex-Token=...SDW3&X-Plex-Language=en-us
12-31 10:49:43.965  i: [Sonos] Checking state of player tv.plex.sonos
12-31 10:49:43.966  i: Fetching [method:GET] https://sonos.plex.tv/resources?X-Plex-Token=...SDW3&X-Plex-Client-Identifier=2b0fc9d215f1fe62-com-plexapp-android&X-Plex-Language=en-us
12-31 10:49:44.055  i: [SourceManagerFetcher:5408] Starting to process sources for provider MediaProviderSourceProvider.
12-31 10:49:44.056  i: [SourceManagerFetcher:5408] Processing 18 sections.
12-31 10:49:44.056  i: [[ServerSectionPrunePredicate]] Ignoring item Cartoon Movies (Galactica) because its content source is not reachable
12-31 10:49:44.056  i: [[ServerSectionPrunePredicate]] Ignoring item Comedy - standup (Galactica) because its content source is not reachable
12-31 10:49:44.057  i: [PlexDevice] Galactica Setting https://192-168-4-2.88506d8781f84e60b2b39fb3e476f3a6.plex.direct:32400 token:...ion.
12-31 10:49:44.057  i: [[ServerSectionPrunePredicate]] Ignoring item Concerts (Galactica) because its content source is not reachable
12-31 10:49:44.058  i: [[ServerSectionPrunePredicate]] Ignoring item Documentary Movies (Galactica) because its content source is not reachable
12-31 10:49:44.058  i: [[ServerSectionPrunePredicate]] Ignoring item Exercise Videos (Galactica) because its content source is not reachable
12-31 10:49:44.058  i: [[ServerSectionPrunePredicate]] Ignoring item Movies (Galactica) because its content source is not reachable
12-31 10:49:44.058  i: [[ServerSectionPrunePredicate]] Ignoring item Movies - Xmas (Galactica) because its content source is not reachable
12-31 10:49:44.058  i: [WebSocketApplicationBehaviour] Connecting to: Galactica
12-31 10:49:44.059  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/12) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.059  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/15) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.059  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/16) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.060  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/10) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.060  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/17) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.060  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/4) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.061  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/6) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.061  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/13) because it was pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.061  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/5) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.061  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/11) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.061  i: [PlexPlayerServerBrowser] Server added (Galactica), querying known 'clients'
12-31 10:49:44.062  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/2) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.062  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/1) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.062  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/8) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.062  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/18) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.062  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/21) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.063  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/19) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.063  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/14) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.063  i: [SourceManager] Ignoring source (server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/playlists) because it is pinned.
12-31 10:49:44.063  i: Fetching [method:GET] https://192.168.4.2:32400/clients?X-Plex-Token=...SDW3&X-Plex-Language=en-us
12-31 10:49:44.073  i: [WatchTogetherRepository] All rooms fetched with result: Success(result=WTRoomsResponseBody(rooms=[]), headers={access-control-allow-origin=[*], content-length=[12], content-type=[application/json; charset=utf-8], cross-origin-resource-policy=[cross-origin], date=[Sun, 31 Dec 2023 15:49:45 GMT], etag=[W/"c-3s3wvZKRCwxfzAuaR0KvWAvDvxc"], origin-agent-cluster=[?1], referrer-policy=[no-referrer], strict-transport-security=[max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload], x-content-type-options=[nosniff], x-dns-prefetch-control=[off], x-download-options=[noopen], x-frame-options=[SAMEORIGIN], x-permitted-cross-domain-policies=[none], x-plex-version=[4b35a7feed635486948e9652e28d0698dde4d844], x-xss-protection=[1; mode=block]})
12-31 10:49:44.159  i: Fetching [method:PUT] http://127.0.0.1:32500/media/providers/server%3A%2F%2Fca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a%2Fcom.plexapp.plugins.library/connection?auth_token=...SDW3&connectionType=local&url=https%3A%2F%2F192-168-4-2.88506d8781f84e60b2b39fb3e476f3a6.plex.direct%3A32400&X-Plex-Language=en-us
12-31 10:49:44.165  i: [HttpServer] /127.0.0.1:41328 - PUT /media/providers/server://ca7fb3336679d21a41078357f2a037f04a172b0a/com.plexapp.plugins.library/connection
12-31 10:49:45.076  i: [SourceManagerStorage] Correctly saved 26 sources (25 pinned) (26 previously pinned).
12-31 10:49:45.224  i: [DownloadServiceHandler] No downloads found. Stopping service
12-31 10:49:45.225  i: [DownloadServiceHandler] New state is Idle
12-31 10:49:47.275  i: [UserAction] Select menu item: Up.
12-31 10:49:48.746  w: [Sonos] Nearby discovery socket timed out, probably because there aren't devices nearby
12-31 10:50:09.821  i: [SourceManagerFetcher:5408] Starting to process sources for provider MediaProviderSourceProvider.
12-31 10:50:09.825  i: [SourceManagerFetcher:5408] Processing 19 sections.
12-31 10:50:09.826  i: [ServerTests] Scheduling job to test Metadata. Reason: queue (tests manager is idle).

You have Sonos selection happening in your logs but nothing is found

Here is permission denied (Prohibited).

12-31 10:50:21.219  e: Error fetching https://sonos.plex.tv/resources?X-Plex-Token=...SDW3&X-Plex-Client-Identifier=2b0fc9d215f1fe62-com-plexapp-android:
Forbidden
12-31 10:50:21.221  i: [SonosDeviceManager] Received state 403 for player tv.plex.sonos
12-31 10:50:21.221  i: [Sonos] Updating selected player
12-31 10:50:21.222  i: [Sonos] Using cloud environment tv.plex.sonos
12-31 10:50:21.222  w: [Sonos] Non ready player tv.plex.sonos cannot be added as no nearby speakers have been found
12-31 10:50:24.094  e: Error fetching https://sonos.plex.tv/resources?X-Plex-Token=...SDW3&X-Plex-Client-Identifier=2b0fc9d215f1fe62-com-plexapp-android:
Forbidden
12-31 10:50:24.095  i: [SonosDeviceManager] Received state 403 for player tv.plex.sonos
12-31 10:50:24.095  i: [Sonos] Updating selected player
12-31 10:50:24.096  i: [Sonos] Using cloud environment tv.plex.sonos
12-31 10:50:24.096  w: [Sonos] Non ready player tv.plex.sonos cannot be added as no nearby speakers have been found
12-31 10:50:24.178  i: [Crashlytics] Enabling crash reporting.
12-31 10:50:24.196  i: [VideoUtils] MediaCodec found (c2.dolby.eac3.decoder) for audio/ac3
12-31 10:50:24.196  i: [VideoUtils] MediaCodec found (c2.dolby.eac3.decoder) for audio/eac3
12-31 10:50:24.197  i: [VideoUtilities] Recommended H264 profile determined as Level52 / ConstrainedHigh.

Is everything logged into the same account?

When you go VPN, it knows not to look locally

20

Just saw the logs. Iā€™ve not looked in-depth yet, but an initial peek shows that thereā€™s another network subnet in play: 192.168.7.x:

12-31 10:38:08.624  i: [GDM] Sending packet via /192.168.7.255
12-31 10:38:08.639  i: [GDM] Got browse reply from: /192.168.4.95
12-31 10:38:50.006  i: [GDM] Sending packet via /192.168.7.255
12-31 10:38:50.007  i: [GDM] Sending packet via /192.168.7.255
12-31 10:38:50.013  i: [GDM] Got browse reply from: /192.168.4.2
12-31 10:38:50.025  i: [GDM] Got browse reply from: /192.168.4.95

This looks like the client is on 192.168.7.x and the server discovery reply is coming from 192.168.4.x (with 192.168.4.2 being your server?)ā€¦

Can you identify the 192.168.7.x network your Android client is sending from?