Hi at all,
on a foreign Network (100mbit/s) I cannot Play a 3 Mbit/s File in original Quality UNLESS I Transcode it (for example to Higher 8 Mbit/s).
Why is that? It is obviously Not bandwidth related. Codec is also fine for the Player (hevc).
I cannot Figure it Out. On Same Network, there is No Problem even at original Quality.
Any Help is highly appreciated.
Are there subtitles being played? What is the client? What is the server installed on?
There could be a whole bunch of things, and I have multiple theories.
Subs: no. Client: 4K Fire TV Stick.
Server is on windows 10.
Well, that pretty much blew all my theories out. Everything should work in that setup.
Ok, let’s gather info that might narrow down what is the cause. When you play your file, what shows in the dashboard in Plex? (In a browser, log into Plex and in the upper right corner there is a yellow “Heartbeat” icon. Click it, and click on Dashboard).
Watch this screen (take a screenshot). What does it show when you attempt to watch the HEVC file on your Fire TV Stick?
well, the weird thing is. SAME setup today, same network. FLAWLESS playback even on original quality that refused to work yesterday.
no additional bandwidth usage, no other clients. I just cannot reproduce why plex sometimes just won’t play native quality and wants transcode even to a much higher bandwidth (here from 4 mbit/s original to 8 Mbit/s transcoded).
it is the strangest thing to me.
all files I have are very small (about 4-5 mbit/s) and should go through every WiFi without a problem. when I speedtest the network that refused to work yesterday, it shows me gigabit speeds in download and upload. same on server side. so it is definetely not a bandwidth problem for sure.
I’ve had this issue 1-2 years ago, but can’t remember what the issue was in the end.
Last playback related issues were related to Cloudflare’s Rocketloader, WAF and minimum TLS version.
I’ll update if I remember what the issue was
Would really appreciate it. I cannot figure it out here and it seems to be NO hardware or Bandwidth related problem. What is Rocketloader and the other stuff you mentioned?
Rocketloader is a technology used by Cloudflare to speed up page loading. However, this doesn’t work with all Websites, as I mentioned in another post (it’s been known longer, however it’s just a tech thing, not a bug).
WAF is a Web Application Firewall. You can read more about that here, but this is probably not the issue, especially if you don’t have one deployed.
A minimum TLS version would block devices trying to establish a connection via a lower TLS version. In that case, Plex would try to use the Plex Relay system. I think you would’ve noticed that.
Edit:
I’d try a reinstall (Plex Dance or another way) because I can’t remember what the culprit was. I’ll let you know though
that cloudflare/rocketloader hint sounds the most probable. how can I disable it to test if it resolves the issue?
If you are using Cloudflare and have issues:
Browser Integrity Check has also been known to cause troubles for Plex, which is why I’m including it here.
sorry for being so …
but how do I know I am using cloudflare?
I do not have “Rules” anywhere in my plex settings.
Well… if you don’t know anything about Cloudflare, you’re probably not using it. Cloudflare is a CDN an domain registry. If you don’t have your domain at CF, or don’t have a domain in general, the steps above won’t apply to you and you’ll have to keep looking for another solution. Sorry
I have a domain, but I do not know if it uses cloudflare. I simply use it to point my IP to it (DDNS). so traffic is not routed through it, just the IP translates to that domain.
Very interesting.
Go here, enter your domain and check where the nameservers are.
Domain:
Registrar:
TLDS L.L.C. d/b/a SRSPlus
Registered On:
2015-04-13
Expires On:
2027-04-13
Updated On:
2023-05-13
Status:
clientTransferProhibited
Name Servers:
ns0.dynu.com
ns1.dynu.com
ns2.dynu.com
ns3.dynu.com
ns5.dynu.com
ns6.dynu.com
Is this your server you’re trying to play something from or you’re connected to a friends server remotely? Unfortunately, if this is someone else’s server you’re on the wrong side of the fence to troubleshoot this
Are we talking about the same file both times?
I agree. Everything you’ve said so far indicates this is something else
You need to be able to monitor the dashboard so you can verify if your remote access is configured properly and reliably.
If this is your server the best solution is to wait for a failure and gather your logs
Without logs this is mostly speculation and guesswork
It is my own server and yes, the file is absolutely the same. I would really like to see a log where this is reproducible.
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