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Plex remote access - low quality even with gigabit fiber (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hey all, I'm very new to self-hosting and have no background in anything computer-related. I'll explain in as much detail as I can. I'm running Plex on a Synology DS220+. I'm using the Plex app, i.e. not using Docker (see note below).

The issue: I can watch Plex on my local network in 4K, but outside my local network it barely makes it to 720p. I thought it was an issue with my upload speed, but I got gigabit last week and it hasn't fixed the issue. I have remote access enabled in Plex through a manually-specified port. The issue persists with my own account and any friends who have access to my library.

I appreciate any advice, links or questions you can offer!

NOTE: I understand the benefits of Docker and I promise to transition in the future. I spent many hours learning and troubleshooting, and it was even functional at times, but eventually I needed something that just worked.

EDIT: You all have been so helpful and supportive. Thanks for meeting me where I'm at and sharing some potential issues.

EDIT2: I found the culprit by accident. I had UPnP enabled on my router. I turned it off and my local speeds increased significantly, and my Plex library is available remotely. I don't know how or why UPnP is related, but that's what the solution was for me. Thanks again for all your input and support.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

I have three hypotheses.

There's a setting for remote streaming quality. It may be set to 720p.
The port isn't open on your router and Plex streams via a Plex relay server which limits the quality.
The CPU might not be fast enough to transcode beyond 720p and Plex might be transcoding for remote streaming.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Even if the port is open, Plex can sometimes use the relay server. You might want to explicitly disable that.

Also, you can check if the video is being transcoded on-the-fly by going to quality settings and seeing if it's showing up as transcoded or directplay. Sometimes you might have to force the directplay on your client device (Playback might fail if your device doesn't support the specific format).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for the concise reply!

-Streaming quality is set to original on every device I use to access Plex.

-I still get confused about open ports, but I'll check again and make sure it's not running through relay.

-I believe the hardware should be fast enough to transcode at least a couple streams, but I'll check again.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I was talking about a server side setting under Remote Access. Check there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Ah, okay. Thanks for the clarification.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

The second one! That was also my issue when first setting up Plex. Found some good info on Plex forums & all is well now.