Server Version#: 1.41.4.9463
Plex Player Version#: 10.26.0.2578
Hi folks, new install and user here. I’m a bit dysregulated so I’m just going to ask here rather than spend another 8 hours poring over the documentation.
I’m having trouble getting remote access to work. I set it to do remote access and within a minute, it goes back to “Not available outside your network: Your server is signed in to Plex, but is not reachable from outside your network.”
Neither Plex Player nor PlexAMP can reach the server, but weirdly, if I type the external IP into my phone to use the web app, I can play everything fine.
I set a static IP for my server, and forwarded a port in my router. I checked for double NAT and the IPs matched so that shouldn’t be it. I disabled the server’s firewall and checked, didn’t fix the issue.
Please help? Plex looks so cool and I’d really like to listen to my collection at work, but I’ve put hours into this and no dice.
Then I’d look at the power saving settings of your network adapter
(in your server machine).
Open the Device manager and seek out the network adapter.
In the properties of the network adapter device, on a tab “Power Settings” (or “power configuration” or “power saving”) there is usually a generic checkbox which is labelled like “computer may turn off this device to save energy”.
Disable that.
Some network adapters have additional/extended settings.
Mine for instance has also
“Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE)” ← disable that
Some adapters may have a setting which allows them to reduce their link speed when idle. Unfortunately there are several names for this feature, so I can’t give a specific title for this setting.
If you are unsure about what a specific parameter actually does, better leave it untouched!
It is also quite possible that your particular internet connection is not able to be used for regular remote access.
If your ISP has put you behind a Carrier-Grade NAT, any attempt to change this situation by fiddling with the configuration of your router is futile.
You will have to ask your ISP for a publicly-accessible IPv4 address on the WAN side of your router. Many ISPs will only provide such an address if you pay them more money. They usually call this “fixed public IP” or similar.
However, for music you should be fine with the Plex relay connection. This is enabled by default. It allows you to connect to your server from the outside, even if you are behind a CGNAT.
For users without Plex Pass, the bandwidth of this connection is limited to 1mbps (which is plenty for mp3 files in stereo).
Your server’s remote connection settings page will always say “not reachable from the internet”, even if a Relay connection is available.
So best try it out. Install Plexamp onto your phone. Link it to your plex user account.
If it works inside your home, disable the WiFi connection of the phone, so it is forced to use the cell service. Try if it can see your server that way. (it can take a few minutes for the initial connection, so be patient.)
As a reminder, the issue is that Plex Player and Plexamp can’t stream from my Plex server.
Power saving stuff was point 6, I looked into that and disabled it already. The problem is still there. My server motherboard is not fancy and does not appear to have extra bells and whistles that might include additional power save stuff.
Even if it did, that really doesn’t explain why the web app on my phone streams video without issue.
I already checked the double NAT issue. The IPs match between my server and canyouseeme.org . I assume that wouldn’t work if my IP was pulling shenanigans. Also, you’d think the web app wouldn’t work on my phone if that was the issue…
Both apps work if I’m connected to my wifi, and immediately stop when I disconnect from it.
Even the cheapest Realtek on-board chip usually has at least the basic check box.
With that being said, are you specifially struggling with client devices which are in the same local network as the server, or only with devices which are outside (i.e. “remote”)?
Yes, it had the basic power save checkbox in Device Manager. That checkbox has been dealt with, power save is disabled.
I am struggling with apps (Plex Player and PlexAmp) on my phone, a remote device. The apps will not connect to the server. But again, on the same phone, the web app in my browser does connect and stream.
I would like to use the apps rather than my browser.
Just because it’s a mobile device doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s always “remote”. It depends where you are using it.
If you try it at home, while it’s connected to your home WiFi, it is very much “local”, not remote. This distinction is very important the debugging the issue at hand, so please understand that I want to be absolutely sure about the situation.
I understand that. So to be clear, at this very moment, my entire home wifi is off. My phone’s wifi is off. My phone is only running off cellular data.
My android phone apps, Plex Player and PlexAmp, cannot connect to my Plex Server. My browser, also on my android phone, can.
Yesterday, still using my phone browser, I briefly streamed my server media at work, which is located 17 minutes’ drive from my home.
Could you fetch the plexamp logs from your phone?
They could provide critical insight into the issue.
Do you have additional security features enabled in your router or in your ISP’s customer settings?
Some routers or ISPs provide filter to block e.g. contacts from abroad. Which is critical, because some of the infrastructure of Plex’s servers is hosted in international data centers.
Weirdly, I woke up this morning and checked it again just in case, and today it works. Perhaps overnight scheduled tasks put something in order, or included a restart I neglected to do after changing server settings? Either way, I seem to have stable access in PlexAmp now.
I now have a smaller issue to figure out, but I’ll open a new topic for that.
