Streaming an mp4 to Roku from an HTTP source

[caveatsemporium]

I'm working on my first channel and have run into a problem with Roku.

 

The channel provides a list of mp4 files from a website.  Using the Windows Plex client, each video loads within a few seconds and streams smoothly.  Using Plex for Roku, however, requires a several minute wait while the file downloads, then plays for 5-10 minutes before stopping with a "Video Unavailable" error.

 

Why is the behavior so different between clients?

 

How can I adjust the channel so that the mp4 file can be cached on the Plex server and can start streaming to the Roku before fully downloading?

[Gerk]

You can't/don't have PMS locally cache files like that, it sounds like you may have found a problem with either PMS or the Roku client.  Roku should be able to directly play an MP4 file without issues.  If you can post more info about the channel, or preferably the channel code itself we might be able to see if there's something funky going on with it that's causing these issues ...