Let’s say that I’m connected to a wifi hotspot somewhere. I can’t connect to my server via wifi via the Plex app but can via cellular, so obviously the wifi network admin is blocking Plex. My question is, what are they blocking? Some centralized Plex management server that all Pass users go through? I wouldn’t think they are blocking the specific IP of my server at home. If this is the case, is there a way to connect “directly” and remotely that bypasses this kind of blocking?
Set up a VPN, that’s about the only way I know to do it.
they are likely blocking ports…and yes, a VPN is probably your best bet.
plex.tv has made it into a list, which Hotspot provider are using to automatically exclude “undesired” websites and services from their infrastructure.
Many will consider Plex ‘undesired’, since video streaming does take quite a lot of bandwidth.
With just a few users streaming video, available bandwidth on the Hotspot will degrade severely for all users.
So it is quite understandable.
Thank you for all the answers. In other words there’s no way to establish a direct connection to a Plex server remotely without going through plex.tv?
If you are using the default 32400 port on your server you may be able to change this and get it to work. I haven’t experienced this myself so I don’t know how they are blocking things.
My guess would be a block on port 32400, Blocking to plex.tv or doing URL blocking. These would be easy to work around. Now if the hotspot provider is doing advanced methods you won’t succeed with a VPN. Keep in mind you can run your own VPN and connect directly to your house this way.
The easiest way to try and figure this out is setup your server on a different port, then from the hotspot access your machine by name (DDNS) or IP:port and see if you get through or it’s still blocked.
Carlo
