I use a QNAP NAS with Plex sever installed. Will the Plex server discover devices on my wifi network that are UPNP? So far, the server does not see UPNP devices on the network.
No. It’s not a UPnP client.
You mean the plex server isn’t a uPNP client? I understand that - but my device is a UPNP client. I am wondering why Plex does not see this client as a device?
Because it isn’t looking for UPnP clients. Unless you turn on DLNA it only supports Plex clients. If you turn on DLNA then it also supports DLNA clients.
@ndfrankel@gmail.com said:
I use a QNAP NAS with Plex sever installed. Will the Plex server discover devices on my wifi network that are UPNP? So far, the server does not see UPNP devices on the network.
What do you mean by the server won’t see your devices? Servers don’t see devices, devices see the server. Do you mean in Plex Web, UPnP (DLNA) devices are not listed as castable devices? If so, this is expected. Only DLNA clients can see each other to control them. Plex Web is not a DLNA client so you cannot use it to control other DLNA devices.
Thank you for the clarifications. And sorry if the issue is not clear. DLNA is turned on as a setting in my QNAP Plex server environment. I have dlna players in the network. I am only wanting to understand how to get the Plex server residing on my QNAP to see the dlna players when clicking on the player drop down icon of the Plex interface (either directly from the server or from the controller on my remote device (such as an iPhone). The purpose of my interest is to stream the data directly to the player from the server. Currently, Plex only allows me to stream to a device that has the Plex app installed on it or a device over Airplay. This is not idea, because limiting stream to Airplay is not preserving original file formats.
You cannot do that. As mentioned above, the only way to see DLNA devices is to use a DLNA client. Plex Web is not a DLNA client and will only see other Plex Clients and a few specific devices using certain casting methods like Chromecast or Airplay. It cannot see DLNA devices. If you want to use your computer or phone to send media to your other DLNA devices, you cannot do this from inside Plex. You will need to use/install a DLNA client.
I understand from your comment that Plex app will not see upnp/ dlna devices (although I don’t understand the point of this limitation). What I am trying to do is simply use the plex app (iOS app for example) to browse and play my music media to my device. In this case, my device is a high end digital streamer that plex doesn’t make an app for. So now I’ve purchased a sonos connect to sit inbetween my plex server and my music player. Yet still, I do not see the sonos in the plex cast window. (Even though sonos connect is running the plex app). Hence I still cannot use plex to browse and play through the sonos device. Can you tell me why? Is there any other means by which I can use the plex interface to browse my media and play it to my digital player. It happens to be a Linn Akkurate DS.
There are many ways to send information from 1 program/device to another. For it to work, they all have to speak the same language. Plex uses it’s own language to talk to other Plex clients. Plex can also speak Apple AirPlay and Google Cast to stream to devices that don’t speak Plex. Plex does not speak DLNA. It’s a limitation because it takes work to teach Plex to speak DLNA or other languages. It can theoretically be done, but takes time and resources. It’s the same is reverse of why other devices don’t speak Plex.
In your use case, you are trying to get Plex to talk to devices it was never intended to talk to. Plex also does not speak Sonos, which is why that doesn’t work. You have 3 options that I can see.
1 - Install a set-top box that does have a Plex client, like a Roku, Fire TV, Android TV, or Apple TV. However, these are mainly meant for video & audio and you need to be able to turn on the app so if you don’t have a TV nearby, this may be difficult.
2 - Install an audio device that supports Apple AirPlay or Google Cast. I’m not sure how these devices handle multi-channel and high quality audio files.
3 - There is a Sonos Beta app that acts as an interpreter and can read Plex. It can see your Plex server. It is a Sonos app, not a Plex app so you don’t get Plex’s UI. See this for details, https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/218168898-Joining-the-Public-Beta-of-Plex-for-Sonos.
