Hi folks, I’m looking at new apts and one of the buildings I like has Spectrum community solutions internet, where everyone gets the same login and password and is shared with the whole building. Really not ideal, but it’s a nice building, that’s affordable, in a good area. The internet speed is gig down, but I’m not sure if this is shared across 50 something units? It seems to be the case from what I’m reading.
My question is, with this type of set-up am I still able to direct play? I want to make sure I can still stream my ripped 4K remux blurays. And I also reading that I’ll likely not be able to remote into my Plex server while traveling, since I can’t make any changes to router/port forwarding, etc.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if I cannot direct play my remux bluerays in the original quality, I don’t think I can take this apt…
On local network should be no problem assuming all devices are on same network subnet. if you cannot set up port forwarding for remote access and it cannot get a direct route it will try to use our relay which is limited tom 2mb/s when remote from server https://support.plex.tv/articles/216766168-accessing-a-server-through-relay/
If the server is local, I don’t see how your internet has anything to do with it all. If you need to use a login, maybe consider making the cable coming from the complex go into a cheap router, this way you have your own self-contained network that won’t care one bit about authentication for internet access.
Remote access, as you said, might be impossible to implement (at full speed, I forgot about Plex Relay), but you’d still be able to stream locally.
But at that point, you might as well just use a Kodi player with an attached hard drive.
Thanks for the reply. The apartment complex no longer has ethernet jacks that work, or routers to plug into. The only thing providing everyone everyone internet are these flat white devices providing wifi on the ceiling that don’t have anything to plug into. Really annoying set-up.
Since this is the first time I’m experiencing this. I’m also honestly, not sure how the internet is set up/if it is “local”, or what kind of restriction Spectrum Community Solution has, that might prevent Plex from working properly.
After speaking to Spectrum, it looks like I can ask the landlord if they will allow me to purchase my own internet, on top of the existing internet that is part of rent. But unfortunately it will have to be a Spectrum business account for some reason…
not ideal but you there are devices that will take wifi and allow you to plug ethernet into them. then you could set your router up for local playback. but remote streaming would be difficult to achieve other than through relay. i think with enough networking magic you could get remote set up but i’m not sure it would be worth the hassle. spectrum may even sell some wifi to ethernet adapter you could use. but there are plenty on the market.
There are cheap “travel routers” you can buy that can hook up to either a wired connection OR WIRELESS connection, and provide their own local network wirelessly (rebroadcasting a new wifi signal) or wired (via a second wire port). With this, you ought to be able to connect to the ceiling wifi device and create your own local network that won’t bother the complex’s internet.
One example of a device can be found on Amazon (Note, not a promotion of this particular device, nor is it a sponsored link):
I have this, and a nano (another type). They are decent. We don’t use them often, but if you want a tiny travel-sized device for a decent local network, it might do. I have NO idea how well it works speed-wise. Most likely, you’d set this item up, plug a switch into it, and hook up the server and computer to the switch and be able to view all your plex server items locally.
In fact, you can run your plex server without this device. Plex is capable of working offline, so all you’d need is a switch with your devices hooked up (or better, a router to handle IP addresses) and they can talk to eachother. There are guides on how to run Plex offline, but you do need to have internet at one point (right now, before you move in) to be able to change these settings, but once you do you can run and play from it with zero internet.
I’d suggest the travel router just so you have internet in general, but at minimum a switch could work. However, why not just run Kodi instead? Plex’s power comes from auto-transcoding of files on-the-fly, either for less capable devices that can’t run 4K or x265 video, or for remote viewing for people with slow upload speeds. Kodi can play ANYTHING, and runs on most anything.
