Right now, I pay money each year for a company to dynamically change the IP address of my domain to match my home’s dynamic IP address. Today I learned that Plex already knows my IP address (plex.tv/web -> settings -> server -> remote access -> show advanced).
Could Plex sell a dynamic DNS service for Plex server users? Maybe partner with a domain registration company and use the Plex client to update a single domain (perfect for home users like me)? I would pay for this service, but it would be relatively low-cost to add in for Plex Pass users (like me) and would entice other users to get the Plex Pass just for that ability.
Thoughts?
In principle, this is already there.
If you enable Secure Connections, your server gets a unique subdomain in the *.plex.direct TLD. Plus a ‘pinned’ TLS certificate for this domain.
If you log in to plex.tv with a web browser and then put in this URL into the browser address bar
https://plex.tv/pms/resources.xml?includeHttps=1
you should get a list of plex servers and clients. You want the server(s) with the property owned="1" and the uri="https://192-168-2-20.111222333444555666777ccc.plex.direct:32400" followed by the property local="0"/>. This is the globally valid Domain name of your plex server.
You can recognise your private server IP in the first part of the URI.
Wow! No wonder your label says “Plex Ninja”!
There is a slight problem, though: The URI seems to include my current IP address as part of the resolvable name. I can resolve the 120-121-122-123.123456789.plex.direct, which is great, but if I strip off the IP address from the beginning of the name (e.g., 123456789.plex.direct), I cannot resolve it.
Strangely, if I put 127-0-0-1.123456789.plex.direct, it will ping my localhost. It’s almost like it will resolve ANY IP address you put into the beginning of the name. (This is from a remote computer on a different LAN.)
It’s also nice to see the address attribute of the connection XML tag. It’s very easy to find my WAN IP address whenever my home and my dynamic DNS service aren’t in sync. (Long story – something’s funky with my dynamic DNS provider.)
