Strange Remote Access and Local Functionality for Plex Media Server

Plex Media Server
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1

Server Version#: 1.26.1.5798
Player Version#: 4.81.1 (Web)

The Plex Server is being run in a TrueNAS Core jail.

Greetings! I’m experiencing a myriad of Plex Server issues, and wanted to post on here to see if anyone had any ideas. I’ve got a couple issues, so I’ll detail them below:

  1. Locally, watching movies drops out every 40 minutes or so. I’ll be in the middle of watching a movie, and suddenly “Playback Error” will appear on the screen of my Samsung Plex Client (not sure what version this is). Clicking out reveals that the entire media server has gone offline, and it takes a few minutes to come back online.

  2. Plex says remote access is enabled, and port forwarding and routing is correct (various network tools have confirmed that plex is accessible remotely). The issue is that the remote access is not constant. It seems to “flicker” and never remain consistent in terms of when you can see it. Sometimes the network tools report falsely that plex isn’t remotely accessible due to the server seeming to “go offline” on the WAN.

  3. The Plex Android Client always lists the Plex Server as Offline, despite being able to access to from the Web Client (this is on the local network).

Like I said, Plex works just fine… when it works, but the largest drawback here is that I have to take breaks when watching movies due to the server being suddenly unreachable, and that remote access seems to never work at all.

I appreciate any help anyone can provide, since this seems to be more of a server than client issue.

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I can’t speak for #1 on your list, but #2 and #3 sound to me like a firewall issue. Beware of double NAT, it can be a killer for Plex. Getting it right can be difficult. Do a proper port scan where possible to make sure port 32400 is open externally, and make sure your firewall/router point it to the Plex Server. I had similar issues for a while, until I figured out that while my Router had forwarded port 32400, the server I had Plex installed on, had blocked the port locally. Other times, it could be the opposite: The port may be open on the Plex server, but the router may not have opened or forwarded the port correctly.

Use a tool like Port Scanners / WhatsMyIP.org to do a “Custom Port Test”, and enter the port number 32400. If it shows as “Closed” or “Timed Out”, then there is definitely an issue with your networking somewhere. If it shows as “Open”, then you may have to investigate other options.

Good luck!

3

Using WhatsMyIP yields correct IPs. (There was in fact a double NAT, but I resolved that before making a post).

The network configuration itself is correct because I’ve been able to connect to the server for maybe 2 or 3 seconds from the outside network before it comes back offline.

Other network tools I have also confirmed that the ports are in fact open, but something along the way is receiving my request and answering, rather than Plex.

I’m leaning more toward this being an application issue.