So I just setup a new PMS using Windows 10, Intel i5 6600K 4.6GHz (overclocked), 20mbps Internet, 16GB RAM… To my knowledge these specs are more than good enough for a PMS but I cannot seem to get even one 1080p stream to work. When ever a non local user tries to watch something my CPU tops out (100%) and they end up with studdering playback or endless buffering until the application crashes or kicks them out of the player. This has happened on chrome, Firefox, Windows, Amazon Fire etc. I don’t think internet connectivity is the culprit on either end. I am hoping for thoughts and suggestions… Do I need to change some settings?
Take a look at the Plex Media server log when this is occurring and search for “speed”. Easier to see with verbose logging, but you can still find it it with debug logging - verbose logging fills up the log pretty quickly. Needs to be >1, which it should be with that cpu.
Is your internet connection 20Mbps in upload? Do you have enough free space on the drive where Plex server is installed (for temporary transcoded files)? What version of PMS are you running? CPU topping at 100% is pretty normal: Plex maxes out CPU usage to transcode the first minutes of the movie faster, then throttles it down so that’s not a sign of malfunction.
@astrofisher I will check the logs as soon as I can have one of my users access the server this afternoon.
@zpaolo11x That is 20mbps down with about 5/6mbps up. I know the cpu will work harder to transcode at the beginning but i am getting a jagged sawtooth out of cpu performance. The stream is very choppy and often ends with an error that the server cannot play the file - sorry I am not sure of the exact error message. I have checked settings, tried different devices, tried streaming different file types, and more… I am running out of ideas which is why I am here. Server version is 1.0.1.2396
In my experience, 4-6Mbit internet connections (downlink for the client, or uplink for the server) are insufficient for decent Plex video quality. You have to ratchet it down below DVD level to play smoothly.
