How to configure network for Plex Media Server
neerajbhatia
Newbie

How do I configure my router for accessing Plex Media Server running on my home PC?

The router ActionTec MI424-WR Rev F adds an entry in the port forwarding (port 32400), but I am unable to access the system.

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Re: How to configure network for Plex Media Server
Anti-Phish1
Master - Level 1

Did you check the Plex documentation for ALL the ports you need to forward?

http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions#Where_do_I_find_the_documentation.3F

What network ports do I need to allow through my firewall to enable access?

TCP 32400 (for access to the Plex Media Server) [required]

UDP 1900 (for access to the Plex DLNA Server)

UDP 32469 (for access to the Plex DLNA Server)

UDP 5353 (for Bonjour/Avahi if you are using these products for service discovery) [recommended for iOS clients]

Re: How to configure network for Plex Media Server
rigel2100
Newbie

Anti-Phish, thanks for posting this.

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Re: How to configure network for Plex Media Server
Hubrisnxs
Legend

Plex is the greatest thing since sliced bread. 

check if your UPNP is enabled

 Log into your router, and then click the below link

UpNP hidden Menu

http://192.168.1.1/index.cgi?active%5fpage=900

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Re: How to configure network for Plex Media Server
lgprezes
Enthusiast - Level 1

Thank you Anti-Phish this totaly worked!! on Actiontec MI424WR Rev.I

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Re: How to configure network for Plex Media Server
viafax
Contributor - Level 1

@lgprezes wrote:

Thank you Anti-Phish this totaly worked!! on Actiontec MI424WR Rev.I


I guess I am confused.  Why ywould you open those ports on your router?  The ports he quotes are meant to be open on the firewall of the local machine running the plex server and by default when you install the plex server it will add the firewall rules

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Re: How to configure network for Plex Media Server
MattS4
Enthusiast - Level 1

@viafax wrote:

@lgprezes wrote:

Thank you Anti-Phish this totaly worked!! on Actiontec MI424WR Rev.I


I guess I am confused.  Why ywould you open those ports on your router?  The ports he quotes are meant to be open on the firewall of the local machine running the plex server and by default when you install the plex server it will add the firewall rules


This is so that the user can access the media from outside of the house. The ports need to be forwarded from the router to the machine running plex so that a computer outside looking at the router's port 32400 is redirected to the plex server. You cannot access the server by it's internal class C address; you must talk to the router's IP address in order to access anything inside the private network. Because of the Network Address Translation that occurs behind the router, this is the only way to access your server from the outside world.

If you are accessing your media directly from your computer using a plex web client (http://yourIP:32400/web/index.html) or using the plex website (plex.tv) you only need to forward TCP 32400. Do make sure to set the server settings so that login is required, though, so that no stranger with your IP address or that stumbles across it can access your library! Whenever you open ports to the outside world, keep security in mind.

Not to hijack this thread, but I have done the same (setup forwarding for my plex server), but have a further question. (Technically, this is still a plex config question, specifically: what is the highest safe streaming quality that I can use?). I am wondering if anyone is aware of any upload speed/capacity limitations imposed by Verizon for this, other services, or in general? I have noticed in the past when using SSH to access files remotely, it seemed that verizon shut off the access to/from my house (after almost completing the transfer of a 10GB file), and I had to call to have that reset before anyone in the house could use access the internet again. I noticed this happened a couple of times if I attempted remotely access files of large size. I wish to avoid that with the use of Plex, and wonder if anyone could advise me as to what settings (if any) will help to avoid this situation. I have the bandwidth to stream my plex files at 1080p (requiring 8mbps), but don't want to use it if it will cause issues, automatic shut-off or throttling to arise.

FWIW: When calling, the people on the phone gave no indication that they were aware of any misdoing on my part, nor was I going to ask them about it. I was never issued any warning (verbal or written) that I am aware of, so I also do not think I am in the wrong by trying to maximize my upload speed usage, but don't want to deal with the hassle of having to call every so often to have my connection reset.

1.) What is the highest safe plex encoding quality to use without issues arising with verizon?

2.) Is there a [published or known] limit to upload speed/size before a shut-off or throttling is triggered?

Thanks!

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Re: How to configure network for Plex Media Server
viafax
Contributor - Level 1

Ah, guess it never occured to me that someone might want to access their media server from outside the premises.

Certainly not a thing I've ever wanted to do as I have external access to all my internal files via RDP anyway.

What do you do with the external access? stream video etc. via your plex server to phone, laptop etc??

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Re: How to configure network for Plex Media Server
Hubrisnxs
Legend

plex does that and more.  If you had plex and I had plex, we could link our libraries if we wanted too, so theoretically if you had enough friends doing it, then you could all have one mammoth collection.  But in general people have their machine at home, an IDM or Torrent downloading files, and when they are on the road they may want to stream those files, and have it in a super pretty and beautiful interface, or share it with friends and family.  So you could do that very easily with that set up.  I am sure there are other things.  It isn't doing anything new perse, but it's perfecting the process.

Billed as your media for all your devices no matter where you are. music pictures and movies/tv shows

has chromecast roku and apple tv support.  it's a pretty well polished system.  

 

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Re: How to configure network for Plex Media Server
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

@MattS wrote:

1.) What is the highest safe plex encoding quality to use without issues arising with verizon?

2.) Is there a [published or known] limit to upload speed/size before a shut-off or throttling is triggered?

Thanks!


There's no known throttling, and it's outlined in the service terms there is none. Basically, your limit is the upload speed and the paths between your home and the connection you're accessing the media server from. It's also dependent on your Plex server - if it's able to transcode media as it's streamed at the rate you want, and if you're not bottlenecked on Disk I/O.

At work, a co-worker has 150Mbps FiOS and has no difficulty streaming from Plex at 30Mbps. We can pull his full line speed in at 150Mbps all day and night too. Couldn't do that in the past back when Verizon was seeing congestion to our network, however that has improved drastically now.