I hope you figure it out - I’m curious what it turns out to be, and what you discover as you go.
Update: I’ve narrowed it down a bit more. I installed bluestacks on my PC, and voila:
Instant direct play, no arguments. No bandwidth limitations. The same IP. The same network connection.
I also took the liberty of trying to play something on a completely different Windows PC (vLAN 10) and… got the same results on Plex for Windows. I then went to Plex Web, same results. I switched profiles to the family profile, and VOILA! Full streaming capabilities. I then switched profiles on Plex for Windows, played the same file… limited. To make sure it wasn’t a fluke, I tried again on Plex Web. Success. I then went back to my personal PC, switched to the family profile, fail…
So, to recap…
- I am bandwidth limited on my PC, despite which vLAN I’m on, and despite which profile or client I’m on.
- However, if I emulate the plex android app via bluestacks, I can direct play with no limitations.
- On another completely separate PC, I am bandwidth limited on all profiles on Plex for Windows.
- However on the family profile on Plex Web, I am not limited. This PC is on vLAN 10 as well. Ethernet.
- Despite that, on my PC, the family profile doesn’t grant magical non-limits.
Plex logs of the whole ordeal: (File removed)
UPDATE: A different user profile allows no limits on my PC via Plex Web!!
I copied it’s settings 1:1 with my main profile, but my main and family profiles both seem to be limited.
What?!
I’m still enjoying reading along.
When you say profile - do you mean a managed user?
What’s your theory - that there are problematic client playback settings, preferences, that have been saved in your main & family profiles, and that aren’t present in a new & clean profile?
Yep, I do mean a managed user (in-home). At this point I honestly have no idea. I’m at a loss. The family profile has never been used on Plex for Windows I’m fairly confident, which makes me think settings aren’t it. Plus, I copied a working profile’s settings 1:1 to the best of my ability with no luck.
Hopefully a plex staffer can chime in after their holiday.
Bump. Happy post-holidays. Unfortunately, I’m still experiencing this issue.
I’ve just hit this too. I couldn’t work out why 4K was playing up on my LG BX, turns out I was transcoding. PMS is on my wired 192.168.1.0/24 network and my TV was on my wireless 10.0.0.024 net. Both are entered into the settings of PMS which is being ignored. I can’t be bothered to look at it tonight so changed remote quality to original on my TV and that band-aid fix will work for now. But now I guess it’s transcoding all wireless streams in the house, which is a pain 
I SOLVED IT! I spent so long trying many different solutions. I did two things:
Set ‘Secure connections’ to ‘Required’ (was on preferred before)- Turned off 'Enable Relay’
I’m not sure which one of these did it, but I can now direct stream with my profile! Let’s hope it lasts. So weird.
Edit: It was the relay setting. Tested it. Relay is buggy for me.
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If Plex is preferring the relayed connection over the local one, it has usually to do with “secure connections” and/or DNS.
Make sure you are not enforcing secure connections on the server side.
Some clients have also preferences to allow the fallback to unsecure connections in local networks.
Make sure your DNS resolver doesn’t perform “DNS rebinding protection” for the domain plex.direct.
The use of vlan’s makes this more complicated. The FQDN of your server on the plex.direct domain must resolve to the local IP of your server, no matter in which of your vlan’s the client is sitting.
If Plex is preferring the relayed connection over the local one, it has usually to do with “secure connections” and/or DNS.
I’m not sure if it’s actually using a relay or not. The client says it’s connecting directly and locally, and so does plex. No “insecure connection available” or “no direct connection available” popup that you’d typically see. However when the relay setting is on, it limits to 2Mbps on Windows clients only - and only for some user profiles.
Make sure you are not enforcing secure connections on the server side.
Some clients have also preferences to allow the fallback to unsecure connections in local networks.
I had it on “prefer” previous to fixing it. “Required” also works, but I use prefer for some other applications.
Make sure your DNS resolver doesn’t perform “DNS rebinding protection” for the domain plex.direct.
Yep, I’ve done that. Made a specific firewall rule for it.
The use of vlan’s makes this more complicated.
I eliminated that as a variable by switching my computer onto the same vlan as the server, no dice.
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