My setup is a QNAP NAS storing the media content (which is connected to an router via wire) / a Nvidia Shield Android TV box hosting the Plex Server App for Android TV (which is connected via wifi) / alternatively I have a regular PC hosting the Plex Server App (which is connected via wifi) / an Android Phone using the Plex Client App for Android. The router forwards port WAN 32400 (TCP) to LAN 32400 (TCP) of the Nvidia Shield. (Remote access of the Shield only)
The Nvidia Shield acts as a client and is connected to a TV and the phone streams via Google Chromecast to another TV.
There was always the issue, that I had to reboot the Nvidia Shield on a regular basis, but I think that is a known and separate issue. To my real problem:
For quite a while my PC in the network couldn’t connect to the Plex Web App anymore. I cannot even log into my accounter on https://www.plex.tv/, but I have no issue connecting to plex.tv from outside the network though. (Nothing changed in the network settings on my side) I didn’t care too much, it was a minor inconvenience.
In an attempt to fix the issue with the reboot mentioned above I logged out of the Plex App on my Nvidia Shield. When trying to log back in again, the blurry screen that is supposed to show me the 4 digits looks like usual, with the exception that the 4 digits don’t show up. I cannot log in again. For some time I could still stream media from the Nvidia Shield to my Android phone. Now the Nvidia Shield just doesn’t appear in the Plex App anymore.
I could continue streaming media from my PC to my phone until some issue came up (I don’t remember what exactly ). So I deinstalled the Plex App and when I wanted to download the new executable on https://www.plex.tv/downloads/ and pressed the “Download” button, the menu for choosing the OS doesn’t appear (just a loading circle). From outside the network I can download without any issues.
I feel it has to be a network issue, but I didn’t change anything in my setup. Also it seems so odd, that I cannot even sign in on the regular https://www.plex.tv/ site, since only port 32400 is forwarded to the IP of the Nvidia Shield. Even if the internal network changed, that’s not an expected behaviour, is it? I love the Plex App, it’s easy to use, beautiful and just perfect for my media consumption, but as the title says, nothing works anymore
I would deeply appreciate any help you could give me.
First I want to make sure that I understand your setup:
My understanding is that you have two device that can act as a server, (a Nvidia Shield Android TV box hosting the Plex Server) and (regular PC hosting the Plex Server App) is that correct?
Second, regardless of which server you are using you can connect remotely but not locally, is this also correct?
The first part is correct. For the second part, I cannot connect locally and remotely to my server. The setup worked fine for a few months. I could connect locally onto both servers and with a port forward could connect remotely to my Nvidia Shield (upnp is disabled).
I can add, that everything seems to boil down to the problem of not being able to connect to the plex servers from inside my network. In between posting and now I got an error message in the login procedure of the Shield saying it cannot connect to the plex server and I assume that’s why no digits show up.
I have a basic understanding of networking, but the problems with signing into plex.tv from my local network go over my head. Especially the login problems from my regular PC make me scratch my head. The regular plex.tv site (not the web app) shouldn’t be dependant on port 32400, should it?
My best guess or first guess is that something is interfering with the certificate from plex. One method of testing this would be to sign in to plex.tv from another network, such a family member or friends house. If you can sign in from there then, we can reasonably narrow it down to your network.
Also what kind of router are you using?
You may also want to check out this page, as it has some pretty good information and steps:
Sadly I couldn’t answer you over the weekend, since I cannot log in from home I can login to plex.tv from work without trouble though. The problem is definitely contained to my home network.
I use the ASUS RT-AC88U router. I removed the port forwarding of port 32400 just to make sure that didn’t interfere and as expected that didn’t help.
I checked out the site you posted. My issue seems to be a bit more extreme, since I cannot even log into the regular plex.tv site from my computer (but websites not related to Plex work totally fine). I’m not using VPN or a proxy, but I am using Kaspersky, which it says on the site can be a problem. Some things that make me doubt it’s Kaspersky though:
I always used the Kaspersky Internet Security software and didn’t have issues in the beginning.
I have Kaspersky installed on a PC at my parents place and from there I can log into plex.tv.
The Nvidia Shield doesn’t have Kaspersky installed and still can’t connect to plex.tv (at least I think it can’t).
It’s not just the Plex web app that doesn’t work, but the regular webpage, which seems odd to be influenced by Kaspersky.
Still, I will uninstall Kaspersky tonight and try to connect to plex.tv.
I turned off the PC in my network with Kaspersky installed and tried to login to plex.tv from my phone. As on the computer I always get “Sorry we are having problems connecting to our servers. Please try again.” As soon as I try it over cellular it works like a charm.
Is it possible that my IP got blocked by Plex? I have an almost static IP, so this wouldn’t resolve by itself. How likely would it be, that they blocked my IP and would that give me a different error message then the quite generic “Sorry we are having problems connecting to our servers. Please try again.”?
I am not aware of plex blocking ip addresses but that is a possibility.
you may want to check your router and make sure the firewall in the router is off, I think there is a chance that your router maybe blocking plex, especially if it does any kind of packet inspection. Just for testing i would turn the firewall off (if it on) and see what happens.
You were on the right track. It was the DNS. My router probably did some DNS caching (strange that this persisted for weeks). Now it works again. Thank you so much for your inputs, they were very helpful.
). So I deinstalled the Plex App and when I wanted to download the new executable on https://www.plex.tv/downloads/ and pressed the “Download” button, the menu for choosing the OS doesn’t appear (just a loading circle). From outside the network I can download without any issues.