I’ve been having intermittent issues recently. One 720P H.264 file just now was buffering every few minutes. I reduced it from 2.7Mbps to 2 Mbps and that improved a bit, but still had issues.
I have 50Mbps fibre optic. I stream content from my laptop and usually play on my ps4. I did speed tests just now:
Laptop = Dell XPS 13. CPU i5-5200U @ 2.20GHZ, 8GB RAM, plenty HD space.
Is the hardware I have insufficient? From what I can see it should be fine. I watch Plex a lot so I’m looking to fix this asap. If I need to invest in something then I’ll do that.
It’s happening all the time in pretty much every video file I watch. Extremely irritating. I’ll be going back to using portable HD’s if I can’t get this fixed.
Please post up the XML and the logfiles (settings - server - help - download logs) about 60 seconds after you attempt to play one which has the problem.
Hi, the PS4 stopped connecting to the media server, though other devices were fine. I’ve updated the media server client to the latest version and the PS4 is connecting OK now. Still buffering regularly. XML and logs attached after I played it for 60 seconds.
I went into the PS4 Plex settings and added the media server’s IP and now it’s working. I don’t know why I’ve had to do that only on the PS4. The amount of issues I’m having with Plex are extremely frustrating. This topic’s almost a month old.
And the PS4’s back to buffering again. I’ve been testing Chromecast today and it only buffered once, and I think that’s because my laptop was playing up. Why are the same video files OK on chromecast and unwatchable on PS4?
If you’re using 2.4 Ghz wifi and are capable of going to 5 Ghz wifi, do it. You will free yourself of a lot of contention from things like wireless keyboards and mice (2.4 Ghz) as well as anyone near by. Remember wifi only lets 1 thing transmit at a time per channel. If other things are transmitting, devices have to wait.
With respect to being able to find the server, that is a network and firewall configuration issue. If all are on the same subnet (192.168.0.x or similar), make sure the firewall ports are open as defined here. GDM failing to discover your server implies a) it’s not signed into your account and b) GDM ports are not open on your server. https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201543147-What-network-ports-do-I-need-to-allow-through-my-firewall-
Also, with respect to your network physical layout, are the devices reasonably clear of obstructions and signal degradation by each wall between wifi AP and devices? How far apart are the devices? same floor?
Hello, I looked at the xml and the server logs.
I’m no expert on these things, just another user like yourself.
A couple of things that stand out here.
You stated that your laptop (server) is on wifi. That isn’t good - if at all possible the server needs to be wired.
The media I saw being played in the logs was being transcoded. However, the speeds were mostly good. I see that the speed did fall below 1 a couple of times, but I don’t think that is the issue.
I think the issue might have something to do with your network setup. You mentioned being on fibreoptic, but if you are just playing your content locally, this shouldn’t matter. Having said that, I do see request coming in from outside your local network.
Maybe should describe your networks setup.
I see from the server log that you are using Windows 10. Several posts I have read, have mentioned issues with Windows 10 update changing network settings.
Hi all, thanks for the replies. I will get to all this. However, I’ve noticed on a different file I’m trying to watch that CPU usage on my machine is constantly at 100%. I’ve now just tried the previous video causing a lot of issues and Plex was taking up 93% of CPU…though it’s now cycling between about 10-50%.
@jackbauer87 said:
Hi all, thanks for the replies. I will get to all this. However, I’ve noticed on a different file I’m trying to watch that CPU usage on my machine is constantly at 100%. I’ve now just tried the previous video causing a lot of issues and Plex was taking up 93% of CPU…though it’s now cycling between about 10-50%.
It will vary depending on the codec being used. If for example it uses the VC-1 video codec, that is only able to use a single thread and will suffer on lower end processors.
I don’t seem to really have any issues if I use the Chromecast downstairs. I’d get another Chromecast for upstairs, but that only gives me stereo sound. I want DD and DTS.
Why does PS4 cause so many issues? I still need to look at the other replies…I’ll get back to that.
I tried switching devices to 5GHZ, but I’m losing connectivity upstairs so that isn’t an option. Anyway, I’m finding at the moment that x265 1080P vids buffer a lot, and that’s what most of the content I get is. I’m presuming my laptop’s CPU is the main issue there.
Can anyone recommend a solution? What sort of cost would a server be? I don’t want any buffering at all.
a) A Wifi extender. You mileage will vary greatly but generally good if the primary and the extender get a solid collection
b) Run ethernet up through the closet or similar location and extend the SSID that way.
