Plex Remote Access Problems

[ucrbuffalo]

Ok, I'm stumped.

So I have the Plex plug-in installed on FreeNAS 9.10 (I know the plug-in is a cardinal sin to some, but I had better success with it than the generic jail). When I access the Plex Web GUI and navigate to the server settings, it typically shows that I cannot access the server from outside my network. After a few seconds, it resets, and it shows that I can. After just a few minutes, access is lost again and I have to go back to settings to get remote access again. This obviously is not possible when I am not home to access the server from inside the network.

I have double-, triple-, and quadruple-checked my router to make sure the 32400 port is being forwarded properly. I have checked and unchecked the box to specify 32400 as the appropriate port in Plex. I have stopped and restarted the plug-in, and I have tried restarting the computer. Nothing has changed. I'm running out of ideas.

Not sure what logs might be needed to find and fix the issue, so feel free to tell me how to find them if it will help.

 

[Joshua Parker Ruehlig]

can you confirm the port is forwarded from an external port checker?

 

[pschatz100]

I had a very similar problem that caused me to give up on external access for Plex.

I have Comcast internet service, and was using the cable-modem they provided. For reasons unrelated to this issue, I decided to upgrade my home network with new routers. As part of the upgrade, I configured the Comcast cable modem to modem-only and set up one of the new routers to use its firewall and NAT. Bingo!! All of a sudden, external access to Plex worked flawlessly. To this day, I believe the firewall in the Comcast cable-modem was not handling ports properly, even though I had taken care to configure everything properly.

Good luck with your quest.

 

[ucrbuffalo]

I had a very similar problem that caused me to give up on external access for Plex.

I have Comcast internet service, and was using the cable-modem they provided. For reasons unrelated to this issue, I decided to upgrade my home network with new routers. As part of the upgrade, I configured the Comcast cable modem to modem-only and set up one of the new routers to use its firewall and NAT. Bingo!! All of a sudden, external access to Plex worked flawlessly. To this day, I believe the firewall in the Comcast cable-modem was not handling ports properly, even though I had take care to configure everything properly.

Good luck with your quest.

Oh God, I hope I don't have to go through all that to fix it. I've been through 3 routers (all cable-provided) due to unrelated issues and finally have this one set up the way I want it. I am too lazy to want to do that to another one. lol I might just deal with it for a while. I was hoping my next router would be pfSense, but I don't have the money for another computer right now.

Question about your setup: Are you also using the router for wireless access to your network? Or is that router LAN only, using a different router for Wi-Fi? I'm curious is using the same router for Wi-Fi and LAN would affect Plex connectivity.

 

[pschatz100]

Oh God, I hope I don't have to go through all that to fix it. I've been through 3 routers (all cable-provided) due to unrelated issues and finally have this one set up the way I want it. I am too lazy to want to do that to another one. lol I might just deal with it for a while. I was hoping my next router would be pfSense, but I don't have the money for another computer right now.

Question about your setup: Are you also using the router for wireless access to your network? Or is that router LAN only, using a different router for Wi-Fi? I'm curious is using the same router for Wi-Fi and LAN would affect Plex connectivity.

First of all, the Comcast cable modem (it was a wifi enabled model) performed just fine following Comcast guidelines. There was nothing wrong with their device. However, the firewall in my new wifi router performs better.

I updated my home network because I wanted wireless support for blu-ray movies, and a Guest network so that friends could come over and have internet service without access to my network. I picked up a fairly high-end 802.11AC wi-fi router to support this activity, and decided to use it's firewall and router because the new device offered more options than the cable-modem. It took me about an hour to configure. Afterwards, everything worked well including Plex access outside my network.

To answer your question about wifi and LAN performance, a good quality wifi router should be able to handle everything for a home network just fine. A high end 802.11ac wifi router will have better hardware than a low end router (duh) - and most likely a better firewall as well. Buy a good one and use its firewall instead of the one in the cable-modem. You can configure the cable-modem to act as a modem only. It takes a little network savvy, but is not really difficult to do.

So to recap - I think Plex access outside my network was being hampered by the firewall in the Comcast supplied cable-modem. A device with a better firewall solved the problem.

 

[Valdhor]

I use Time Warner cable for my internet. They charge $10/month to lease their cable modem/router. I got my own modem and router so I could control everything (And to save a little money). I made sure I got a WIFI router that could be reflashed with DD-WRT (A Buffalo Extreme AC). DD-WRT works perfectly with Plex (And everything else for that matter). I bought everything used off of eBay for around $100 and could not be happier.

 

[pschatz100]

I use Time Warner cable for my internet. They charge $10/month to lease their cable modem/router. I got my own modem and router so I could control everything (And to save a little money). I made sure I got a WIFI router that could be reflashed with DD-WRT (A Buffalo Extreme AC). DD-WRT works perfectly with Plex (And everything else for that matter). I bought everything used off of eBay for around $100 and could not be happier.

Great to hear. My point to the OP was that the problem may not be in his Plex installation at all.

I would say that you have confirmed my comment. The key here, is a quality wifi router with good firmware, and just use the cable-modem as a modem. It is not necessary to have a complicated setup - just a smart setup. I happen to use an ASUS AC66U with up-to-date stock firmware which gives me the features that I need.

 

[nightshade00013]

I am in the same service area but use a separate modem and router for my config. On the old version of Plex I had to manually edit the preferences.xml to have it lock onto the port forward but since the latest update it has worked just fine. My father has Comcast with one of the EMTS Modem/Router combos and we had to turn the firewall down so things would work correctly. At it's normal setting even with a port forward put in place it would block access to things both inbound and sometimes outbound from the jails.

I do use the Jail method and it has worked great for me so far. If you continue to have issues and want a little hands on help I am just north of OKC so something can likely be arranged.

 

[pschatz100]

My father has Comcast with one of the EMTS Modem/Router combos and we had to turn the firewall down so things would work correctly. At it's normal setting even with a port forward put in place it would block access to things both inbound and sometimes outbound from the jails.

I also have Comcast and my experience was similar. That is why I purchased my own good quality wifi router and used the firewall in the new router (after setting the Comcast modem/router device to modem function only.)