I have a friend that is pretty tech savvy and has a quite complex networking setup that includes two ISPs and two Lan adapters in most of his computers but, in spite of his knowledge, he comes to me for Plex related problems.
What he wants to do is actually pretty simple. He wants local Plex traffic going through the wired connection and Plex’s internet going through wireless.
I cannot seem to figure exactly how to do that. It should be noted that Plex works fine with either single connection but I just cannot figure how to get it to prefer one over the other for internet access.
From talking to him I “think” he would be happy with Plex authenticating to Plex’s servers WEB servers via the wireless network and all the rest being via wired but ideally all traffic for his Plex setup should be wireless.
He has other programs doing this via what I think is called “binding” but the field that might allow what he wants in the settings (called: Custom server access URLs) which have the label saying “A comma-separated list of URLs (http or https) which are published up to plex.tv for server discovery” does not seem to make any difference. Either that is not for what we want or it will not do what is wanted or we are not understanding what the exact format the address needs to be in.
I hope someone can help because I am well over my head and my reputation as a “Plex expert” with my neighbors is in a little jeopardy. It is funny how many tech savvy people have an aversion to asking questions on internet forums.
Edit: Forgot to mention this on a network that is all Windows 10 and and routers are dd-wrt.
Plex binds itself to all of the adapters present in the machine it’s installed on. So trying to do local traffic via one adapter and remote traffic through another would have to be done on the router level. On the router you want to allow remote access on, you forward ports. On the other, turn off uPnP and NAT and don’t forward the ports.
This SHOULD work, but I can’t test it since only have one ISP…
@Elijah_Baley said:
He has other programs doing this via what I think is called “binding” but the field that might allow what he wants in the settings (called: Custom server access URLs) which have the label saying “A comma-separated list of URLs (http or https) which are published up to plex.tv for server discovery” does not seem to make any difference. Either that is not for what we want or it will not do what is wanted or we are not understanding what the exact format the address needs to be in.
i would be carefull with custom server access URLs if your want to use secure connections. If you add custom URLs you NEED to provide certificates matching each and every https URL you provide in the list!
The format is https://myfencydomain1.com:32400, https://myfencydomain2.com:32400 (assuming both urls end on two different routers which forward port 32400 to the PMS instance). You can also add local ips instead of domain names and http and/or https urls. Your keep in mind: https requires a certificate on the PMS instance that matches the URL…
Are the wired and wireless network controllers in distinct network? If not, i am quite uncertain HOW a router/switch would determine which controller to use if you don’t use the custom URLs.
@Elijah_Baley said:
He has other programs doing this via what I think is called “binding” but the field that might allow what he wants in the settings (called: Custom server access URLs) which have the label saying “A comma-separated list of URLs (http or https) which are published up to plex.tv for server discovery” does not seem to make any difference. Either that is not for what we want or it will not do what is wanted or we are not understanding what the exact format the address needs to be in.
i would be carefull with custom server access URLs if your want to use secure connections. If you add custom URLs you NEED to provide certificates matching each and every https URL you provide in the list!
The format is https://myfencydomain1.com:32400, https://myfencydomain2.com:32400 (assuming both urls end on two different routers which forward port 32400 to the PMS instance). You can also add local ips instead of domain names and http and/or https urls. Your keep in mind: https requires a certificate on the PMS instance that matches the URL…
Are the wired and wireless network controllers in distinct network? If not, i am quite uncertain HOW a router/switch would determine which controller to use if you don’t use the custom URLs.
Yes, the adapters are on different networks. It works fine on several other programs but they allow binding themselves to a specific IP.
I have now verified that there is no way to force Plex to use the Wireless for one task (access to Plex on the web) and wired for another. (streaming on the local network)
My neighbor has accepted that fact and is running Plex pretty normally.
There is a way that works using a third router and a separate computer but the complexities of the setup and the “high maintenance” overhead (it is like having a “trophy” wife or girlfriend) makes it simply not worth the trouble. (But the "girlfriend might be )
We have given up on this idea but it was an interesting idea to test and I, at least, learned an lot more than I knew about Plex’s use of networks and the internet. So not all was a waste.
@Elijah_Baley usually when I hear people come up with “goofy” (yes I said that) requests like this it’s because they don’t understand networking or understand the consequences of what they are asking for.
I can help you do this as it’s probably as easy as setting/modifying routes on the Plex Server, but why?
The wireless connection is never going to be better than the wired connection and it’s going to cause latency issues.
You mentioned he has two ISPs and two lan adapters in each computer. Is this really what he has? If so he should already have had to modify routing tables on each and every computer in order to specify how each of those connections is used. The Plex server would be no different.
But that brings up two other questions, if he has multiple LAN cards in many computers why would he want to use wireless on a server instead of another hardwired LAN card?
Also which of the two ISPs is he running his Plex server through?
Basically, we need more info on what he is actually trying to accomplish since he’s making something simple, complex probably without a good reason.
@cayars I really appreciate your offer of help but my neighbor has moved on and is using Plex on the wired LAN after implementing some rather tight security on it.
What he wanted to do was isolate all Web traffic from the wired network while allowing the local traffic to work via the wired which is faster and more stable and the best way to run a server.
The reason was security. His wired network contains some sensitive files and programs and the company he consults for was quite concerned about security and isolating all web traffic to the wireless side, where the secure computers connect, seemed the easiest. Most of his web traffic still goes through that but he has allowed the Plex server limited web access (enough to verify and activate clients on the local network) and the corporate security people have approved. (Fortunately I did not need to get much involved in that)
He has a many local users (about 12 he has a VERY LARGE family) and he wanted to use the “Home” features and he also has a couple of Echos that he wanted to use for Plex control. (those are still a work in progress but he is having some success) The wired network has no wireless access at all.
My neighbor is even more tech savvy than I thought and a couple of the corporate security people are now helping so I have pretty much been cut out of the loop. (That is actually a good thing.)
Anyway the security folks are happy (or as happy as that type ever get) and my neighbor is happy.
I thought government security was bad, this gives paranoia a whole new meaning for me. They even made me leaved the room whet they walked him through configuring the routers and the bridge they had him use.
BTW: I was a bit misinformed or misunderstood what I was told: The only computers that are attached to both networks are the Plex server and the new bridge and one other that runs a few programs that need web access. The reason he wants the Plex server on the wired network is that the company pays for all devices that are connected there and they also have a separate electric circuit and the company pays there as well.
Personally I think they are accomplishing their security the hard way and I believe there are much better and even more secure ways (like a separate secure sub-net) to make the computers they want to protect secure BUT I hinted at that idea and I thought the security folks were going to have a fit. I am NOT going to fight that fight as it is doomed to failure.
Figured it might be something similar to this. If he’s tech savvy he probably has a spare router laying around which he could have used. He could have done something similar to me in that he has router 1 connected to the internet then his Plex server sitting off this network. He plugs the 2nd router into the first and uses NAT (double NAT) for his inside connections.
Essentially it’s similar to a DMZ but controlled with 2 pieces of hardware for better protection. The 2nd router has no holes punched for inside access from the outside so it’s completely fire walled. This also allows you to run a “guest” wireless network on the 1st router if equipped with no access to inside machines.
This is essentially two subnets with DMZ and can be done on a single router if advanced enough (not plane Jane home router) but usually the two device method stands up to security scans better and/or documentation. Companies like physical over virtual network security better.
Either way, I’m glad he got it worked out without resorting to using wireless which probably would not have been very ideal with 12 family members.
)
