I am going to end my subscription .
This is the second time my wife has sat down to watch a movie and gets a message that the server can not be found. I can jump on my android device and access the Plex server with no problem. I feel like a total dick trying login out and and in again with a new pin while my wife says don't worry about she will go do something else when in fact she wanted to watch a movie.
This just not acceptable, NOT HAPPY JANE !
The xbox in built DLNA player as that seems to be a lot more reliable
You seem to be not the only one having this type of issue, although I don't. I would suggest waiting until this app is publicly released with the needed updates and fixes and then revisit the app again. There's no doubt in time this app will good as far as reliability and stability goes. You just gotta hang in there and wait for an official public release and bug fixes as they are needed. This app is still in development stages.I am going to end my subscription .
This is the second time my wife has sat down to watch a movie and gets a message that the server can not be found. I can jump on my android device and access the Plex server with no problem. I feel like a total dick trying login out and and in again with a new pin while my wife says don't worry about she will go do something else when in fact she wanted to watch a movie.
This just not acceptable, NOT HAPPY JANE !
The xbox in built DLNA player as that seems to be a lot more reliable
I hate to admit this but at the moment it's true.... the DLNA generally just works. I'm hoping the devs are working hard to update the app because I am overall very happy with plex and I would like to have that experience on the XBOX too.
I have my hopes up that the public release is a major upgrade.
I don’t doubt that people are having issues with this app, but fortunately I’m not one of them. The app has been working perfectly for me. The interface is a bit clunky but overall, I’m pretty happy with it. Sorry that it isn’t working well for you.
I don't doubt that people are having issues with this app, but fortunately I'm not one of them. The app has been working perfectly for me. The interface is a bit clunky but overall, I'm pretty happy with it. Sorry that it isn't working well for you.
So I have to ask what are you doing that a bunch of us are not?
Not had a completely trouble-free experience here.
I'll repeat here what I've said in other threads:
The entire point of the Plex Pass is early access to new features to help Plex iron out the issues ahead of official release. I remember testing the Chromecast functionality and it was downright painful at the start for me...Now though, it's rock solid and I almost prefer it as my main method of watching now instead of my 360.
You pay the money to help them pay for building the application, and are rewarded by getting to play with the new stuff before anyone else. That means it's going to sometimes be a buggy, steaming pile of crap. It always works out in the end though. The Chromecast ability for me is proof of that.
I don't disagree that people might experience issue while its in beta but its been out on the 360 for little over a month now and there has been no upgrades to show any attempt at fixing the issues.
I don't disagree that people might experience issue while its in beta but its been out on the 360 for little over a month now and there has been no upgrades to show any attempt at fixing the issues.
That's because they cant just deploy fixes, any time they want to update the software they have to pay MS to update the catalog they host it from, so they need to be smart about how often they push out updates for fiscal reasons.
I'll repeat here what I've said in other threads:
The entire point of the Plex Pass is early access to new features to help Plex iron out the issues ahead of official release. I remember testing the Chromecast functionality and it was downright painful at the start for me...Now though, it's rock solid and I almost prefer it as my main method of watching now instead of my 360.
You pay the money to help them pay for building the application, and are rewarded by getting to play with the new stuff before anyone else. That means it's going to sometimes be a buggy, steaming pile of crap. It always works out in the end though. The Chromecast ability for me is proof of that.
Completely disagree. The entire "point" behind Plex Pass is a product service that Plex sells to make money. As such, for the consumer it and it's features should work without issue.** The Xbox apps (both 360 and One) are not being sold nor promoted as early betas - they're being sold as retail release products. There is no mention anywhere - ANYWHERE - that these are beta products and users should expect the amount of bugs and issues that some have reported. To suggest as such is being disingenuous, IMHO.
That said, the issues I've had on my 360 are trivial at best, and I'm more or less satisfied with it so far. Aside for a few bugs (default quality being set low, occasional playback quitting) it's working good for me.
** To be clear, I realize Plex Pass does give access to preview features - but the Xbox apps were not promoted as such.
You pay the money to help them pay for building the application,
Bwahhaaaaa. look I had given up on coming here and searching for help and twiddling with modem settings but that made it all worthwhile. I really didn't know that. I though plex pass gave me access to more features. I did not realise that I downloaded an app that was never going to work reliably without me becoming a software engineer and network technician. A least I don't feel so stupid for not being able to get an app running. Whew. And hey, I am keeping my plex pass sub so I can keep up with the comedy.
Bwahhaaaaa. look I had given up on coming here and searching for help and twiddling with modem settings but that made it all worthwhile. I really didn't know that. I though plex pass gave me access to more features. I did not realise that I downloaded an app that was never going to work reliably without me becoming a software engineer and network technician. A least I don't feel so stupid for not being able to get an app running. Whew. And hey, I am keeping my plex pass sub so I can keep up with the comedy.
I'm glad you found that amusing. My intention wasn't comedy, just pointing out how I see the Plex Pass.
The app will eventually work reliably, I am quite certain. The Plex team has a very good track record of making that happen on a wide variety of devices. In the case of the XBox, they need to be careful as each update costs a fair amount of money to push out so they likely want to get as many bugs crushed as possible before they push out a new update.
I'd almost given up on coming here to help people with problems because all I see are people whining about the app not working for them and asking for a refund instead of providing any useful information. How is the Plex team supposed to solve a problem when all a person says is "Can't find server" followed up by a screed about how they only bought a Plex Pass so they could use the 360 app? If those same people would wait until official public release, it's highly likely that those same issues would not exist and it would be a seamless experience. Plex Pass gives you early access to experimental features and applications. Nowhere does it guarantee that early access is going to be perfect.
It was the exact same on the Chromecast. The experience there was horrendous for me until about the third or fourth update. Half my media collection outright refused to play, and it was in a format the CC could play natively! The difference being they could push an update to the mobile apps pretty much whenever they wanted to solve things. That the team seems less responsive here isn't a surprise to me given the development environment for XBox apps is quite different. Would I like to see more communication from the Plex team? Absolutely I would. But, I'm fairly sure they're busy working on the next release and I'm willing to cut them some slack and wait for it. They've proved in the past that they deliver, and I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they'll continue to do so.
I'd almost given up on coming here to help people with problems because all I see are people whining about the app not working for them and asking for a refund instead of providing any useful information. How is the Plex team supposed to solve a problem when all a person says is "Can't find server" followed up by a screed about how they only bought a Plex Pass so they could use the 360 app? If those same people would wait until official public release, it's highly likely that those same issues would not exist and it would be a seamless experience. Plex Pass gives you early access to experimental features and applications. Nowhere does it guarantee that early access is going to be perfect.
Emphasis mine above, as much as I love Plex and their product (I personally use the Xbox One app and have had 0 issues besides some minor bugs I've reported), I think this bit comes down to how they are marketing Plex Pass. People are not getting the message that they are getting preview (beta) access to the application, they think they need to pay for Plex Pass to use it and that it is complete. This is not surprising since many types of software have gone to a subscription model. There is a disconnect there and I think that is why people are confused and thus unhappy when they start using the application.
Bwahhaaaaa. look I had given up on coming here and searching for help and twiddling with modem settings but that made it all worthwhile. I really didn't know that. I though plex pass gave me access to more features. I did not realise that I downloaded an app that was never going to work reliably without me becoming a software engineer and network technician. A least I don't feel so stupid for not being able to get an app running. Whew. And hey, I am keeping my plex pass sub so I can keep up with the comedy.
Unfortunately the networking part isn't going to go away depending on what hardware you have. Many people have routers that support upnp and have to do nothing to get up and running. However, many people out there have routers that do not do this (and thus need port forwarding) or have double NAT (router from ISP and their own router behind that is the general issue). These are problems that plex has done their best to account for, but unfortuantely they require manual intervention from the user.
I live in hope and a constant state of amusement. Didn't relise I was expected to, nor that anyone would be interested in, my tinkerings: I am a solid user but in no way a designer nor network administrator. Plex was exactly what I needed for my situation, so more power to them to get it going. I guess I thought I was a beta man, but sadly, no. pun intended
Emphasis mine above, as much as I love Plex and their product (I personally use the Xbox One app and have had 0 issues besides some minor bugs I've reported), I think this bit comes down to how they are marketing Plex Pass. People are not getting the message that they are getting preview (beta) access to the application, they think they need to pay for Plex Pass to use it and that it is complete. This is not surprising since many types of software have gone to a subscription model. There is a disconnect there and I think that is why people are confused and thus unhappy when they start using the application.
I didn't read it that way myself, but maybe I've been around the community long enough that I just understood it. I will admit that if you've never heard of Plex but saw the Plex app on the 360 dashboard and investigated from there with no other details, it could be taken that way. Good point.
Unfortunately the networking part isn't going to go away depending on what hardware you have. Many people have routers that support upnp and have to do nothing to get up and running. However, many people out there have routers that do not do this (and thus need port forwarding) or have double NAT (router from ISP and their own router behind that is the general issue). These are problems that plex has done their best to account for, but unfortuantely they require manual intervention from the user.
For a 360 on a LAN with the server on the same LAN, port forwarding and NAT should not be an issue as it should not be required. I'm fairly sure that currently, the 360 app attempts to connect to your Plex Media Server using your public IP that plex.tv is aware of, and not the internal LAN IP. A future release will need to solve this, as NAT Loopback/redirection is a messy concept that users shouldn't need to understand. I'm fairly certain that all the other clients will get the appropriate LAN IP of the server unless you are outside the LAN. Either way, NAT shouldn't be an issue there as you're not accessing it from inside. Some clarity from the Plex team would be nice, but as I've said they're a busy group so I won't expect that until at least the next release of the application.
I live in hope and a constant state of amusement. Didn't relise I was expected to, nor that anyone would be interested in, my tinkerings: I am a solid user but in no way a designer nor network administrator. Plex was exactly what I needed for my situation, so more power to them to get it going. I guess I thought I was a beta man, but sadly, no. pun intended
And for all the folks who wait for official public release, I'm certain it's going to work in the end. I bought my Plex Pass for two reasons. One was that is was an easy way to support the Plex team for providing such kick ass software and two was to have Chromecast support so I could actually use that otherwise useless (for me) hunk of silicone. I could have waited and had a much better experience, sure, but I was impatient and really REALLY wanted Chromecast-ability.
For a 360 on a LAN with the server on the same LAN, port forwarding and NAT should not be an issue as it should not be required. I'm fairly sure that currently, the 360 app attempts to connect to your Plex Media Server using your public IP that plex.tv is aware of, and not the internal LAN IP. A future release will need to solve this, as NAT Loopback/redirection is a messy concept that users shouldn't need to understand. I'm fairly certain that all the other clients will get the appropriate LAN IP of the server unless you are outside the LAN. Either way, NAT shouldn't be an issue there as you're not accessing it from inside. Some clarity from the Plex team would be nice, but as I've said they're a busy group so I won't expect that until at least the next release of the application.
I'm fairly certain plex doesn't want it to work this way, but it's a limitation of xbox itself. So unless they figure out a work around or MS changes allows the xbox to look for the server on the local network they are stuck.
Most of my post there about port forwarding was meant in general for plex, those that want access outside the house on their phones and tablets will need to go though this issue. I agree with what you say about xbox, but like I said above it's a system limitation that Plex is stuck with at the moment. Hopefully they are working with MS to solve it.
I'm fairly certain plex doesn't want it to work this way, but it's a limitation of xbox itself. So unless they figure out a work around or MS changes allows the xbox to look for the server on the local network they are stuck.
Most of my post there about port forwarding was meant in general for plex, those that want access outside the house on their phones and tablets will need to go though this issue. I agree with what you say about xbox, but like I said above it's a system limitation that Plex is stuck with at the moment. Hopefully they are working with MS to solve it.
Oh man, that truly sucks if that is the case.
I mean, I have the ability on my router to make it work so I'm not stuck, but I'm willing to bet there are folks out there that either don't have equipment that will support this, don't have the energy to spend figuring it out or don't have the knowledge required to configure it correctly. Plex's motto of "it just works" will definitely be put to the test!
