Suddenly can't connect to server on devices other than the one the PMS runs on

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#: 1.26.1.5798
Player Version#: iOS 8.3

Hi everyone,

I’m recently having trouble with Plex after years of it working fine. It was working fine week until a week or two ago. I run a PMS on my PC and connect to it via iOS devices and an Apple TV device. However, lately the iOS and Apple TV devices can’t see the server anymore. They just say that the server is “offline”.

When I open the plex media player on the PC that hosts the server it sees everything fine and can play the media no problem. But no other devices on the network can connect to it anymore.

Here’s a list of things I’ve tried over the past day or so trying to resolve it:

  • rebooted the PC running the PMS
  • rebooted all the client devices
  • logged out of all devices and logged back in
  • removed all authorized devices from the server and re-added them all
  • checked my server is in my authorized devices list
  • updated to the latest PMS on the PC
  • updated the clients to the latest versions of their apps
  • checked all my network settings on my router
  • assigned static IPs to all the devices at the router
  • added my devices to the “List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth” in the network settings
  • set my “Secure Connections” setting to “Preferred”
  • On the PC running the PMS I can hit it fine via a web browser either through 127.0.0.1 or its static IP fine.
  • tried manually adding a connection to the server from the client via the PC’s static IP (I get a “Unable to add connection” error)
  • when I sign out of the client and sign in, my profile knows about the server, but when I go to add source libraries, the list is empty. When I go to Home > More in the client app, it waits for a few seconds and then displays “Offline” next to my server name.
  • I don’t use a VPN on the router
  • I’ve gone through the plex support article on not being able to connect to a server (Why can't the Plex app find or connect to my Plex Media Server? | Plex Support)
  • I started wondering if the latest PMS version was causing problems, so I downgraded to a version from Mar, 2022 (1.25.8.5663)

I am completely out of ideas at this point. I’ve never had problems with Plex for years and now suddenly this. Does anyone have any ideas for other things I can try? :slight_smile:

Thanks!

2

I’m having the same problem. It all started today after years of no issues at all. Can only connect if I enable relay, but then it just buffers every 5 seconds so it’s unwatchable.

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So I fixed the problem on my end. It was my firewall. I just made an exception to allow Plex. Not sure why it suddenly started blocking it though.

4

Thanks for posting! After seeing your response I decided I should double-check my windows firewall settings and discovered my windows security settings were all messed up. Not sure how it happened. After resolving the window security mess, plex is working again!

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