Syncing when on restricted networks

General Discussions
1

I was curious if anyone had a good answer to this…I’ve been struggling to get Plex on my iPad to sync with Plex on my laptop when I am travelling. I’m pretty sure this is because the hotel and airport wifi networks don’t allow device<->device connections for security purposes.

I couldn’t find any instructions on how to get Plex to sync over USB, and the remote access route doesn’t sync anywhere near fast enough to make it viable.

I use my iPad on the plane to watch videos because it’s so much lighter and more convenient that pulling my laptop out.

Any travelers out there find a solution to this?

2

You could try setting up a VPN and connecting through it.

3

Thanks @Bollar, could you suggest a good way of setting up a VPN between my
Mac and iPad?

4

@krugster said:
Thanks @Bollar, could you suggest a good way of setting up a VPN between my
Mac and iPad?

One way is using macOS Server https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/macos-server/id883878097?mt=12

Here are instructions: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/apple-in-the-enterprise/apple-os-x-server-how-to-configure-a-vpn-service/

There are other ways to go about it, but this has a good GUI and shouldn’t take too long to configure - probably the most difficult part will be opening the VPN ports on your router.

5

Thanks, that’s helpful. But maybe we’re talking about slightly different
things here.

My issue is that when I am on a public wifi (in an airport, in a hotel,
etc) my PlexiOS app on my ipad can’t find my Plex Server on my laptop which
are on the same network. I’m not trying to sync back to my home, I’m just
trying to sync device->device on the same network…and of course I don’t
have access to the router there.

Is there a way to create a VPN between two devices on the same network like
that? Or some other way to get the syncing to work?

The other thing I tried was to create a private Wifi network from my
Macbook and connect my iPad to that. That part works fine, but then the
Plex app still can’t find the Plex Server, I imagine that’s because there’s
no DNS resolution, etc. Any thoughts on making that work?

Thanks

6

So I just came back from a 10 day vacation and was hoping that my family could use the sync feature within plex to download content onto there local devices. I was not so successful as it was one of the features that I expected to work and it didn’t. Upon my return I discovered is that the sync feature is broke if your not on your home network. I also found out that I had to delete the PLEX client from our IOS devices and reinstall it to get it to “kind of work”. On an unrestricted WiFi network (a friends not mine) or cellular it will get to 50% and hang. During the process I used Teamviewer to remote into my PLEX server and watch the transcoding process complete without any issues. Note: I am running the Beta server (Version 1.2.0.2716 )

7

I’ve done some more investigation into this and I think I’ve found what the main issue is.

I wanted to set up my Mac and iPad on an ad-hoc network to get my files to sync. However, I discovered that this is only functional for “viewing” a server’s media by disconnecting the device completely from Plex.TV. One cannot sync data over a private network because both the device and the server need to be able to access the internet to confirm their subscription…a bit of a design flaw.

8

I’ve also now realized that a VPN will never work in this situation because it would require ports to be opened for inbound access on the Wifi router which I don’t have access to anyway…

Using an ad-hoc network would be absolutely ideal here, it’s super easy to turn on and connect any device to. If Plex would allow a device to connect to a PMS and sync files without an active internet connection this would be solved.

9

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RAVPower-Wireless-Portable-Companion-Streamer/dp/B00TI3WQJS/ref=sr_1_5?

Something like this will help. Your devices all connect to your own little battery powered wifi router, which in turn then connects to a public wifi hotspot, or to a wired connection (eg hotel room)

10

Thanks, that is very interesting but I’m carrying enough devices around as
it is :slight_smile: Would be great if Plex fixed this in software which is much
lighter, cheaper and harder to lose :wink:

Perry Krug
perrykrug@gmail.com

11

Edit: Sorry I totally misread the OP and didn’t see “sync” part. I changed my post below to reflect:

The easiest thing to do is to sync before you leave home with the media you desire. If that doesn’t work for you, then you need your own LAN. Without your own LAN, it doesn’t work because on public networks such as those, clients are isolated for individual security purposes. That will never work and you wouldn’t want it to. Having your own LAN will allow your client and server to talk and will allow you to have Internet also so sync should work.

Use the TP-Link or similar and you have your own LAN to sync across, and your devices will have Internet so sync should work.

Ad-hoc should work but I haven’t experimented much with it. I just pull out my TP-Link and rock and roll. If you travel a lot you should have something similar anyway. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TQEX8BO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

12

It is unlikely Plex will change the requirement to have a valid internet connection to sync. Sync is after all a Plex pass feature, and without internet, there isn’t a way a verify that you have an active Plex Pass subscription.

13

Haven’t I already signed into my app and proven that I am a pass holder?
Put a 1 day expiration or something on it fine, but as it stands now I
simply can’t sync on the road…

On Tuesday, November 1, 2016, MovieFan.Plex forums+d240147-s6025034@plex.tv
wrote:

Plex Forums https://forums.plex.tv/
MovieFan.Plex answered your question: Syncing when on restricted networks

It is unlikely Plex will change the requirement to have a valid internet
connection to sync. Sync is after all a Plex pass feature, and without
internet, there isn’t a way a verify that you have an active Plex Pass
subscription.

–
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14

A 1 day cache sounds interesting. Make a feature request and see what happens.

15

@MovieFan.Plex said:
A 1 day cache sounds interesting. Make a feature request and see what happens.

I spoke to elan about this back in 2013, it was an ‘interesting’ idea back then too, but it doesn’t appear to be a priority.

16

What about USB syncing? That would allow both the server and the client to have separate connections to the internet without needing the network to allow communication between them.