Technically Plex uses a built in DDNS. It reaches out to the plex cloud server which logs your IP address and stores it in the cloud. Then your clients reach out to the same cloud server and sees what your IP address is and tries to access it.
Full Answer
How do I remote access my Plex server?
Remote Access. Enable access to your Plex Media Server from outside your local network so that you can reach it when away from home or for sharing content with family or close, personal friends. You can do this under Settings > Server > Remote Access in Plex Web App.
Why can’t I connect my Plex Media Server to my router?
Ensure your Plex Media Server is signed in to your Plex account (Remote Access requires signing in) For automatic configuration, make sure your router supports the “UPnP” or “NAT-PMP” feature
What version of Plex do I need for secure connections?
Secure connections require Plex Media Server version 0.9.12.3 or newer. So, make sure you’re running a current version of the server. Sign in to your Plex account in the server.
Can I add a mobile server to the Plex web app?
If you wish to allow mobile servers to be included in the list for the Plex Web App, you can use the local/bundled web app that comes with a Plex Media Server, as noted earlier.
How do I connect to Plex server remotely?
Enable access to your Plex Media Server from outside your local network so that you can reach it when away from home or for sharing content with family or close, personal friends. You can do this under Settings > Server > Remote Access in Plex Web App.
How do I access Plex without port forwarding?
Click on the “CIDR Address” box, choose a Label name for the Resource, enter the private IP address of Plex (it's listed under Plex Settings > Remote Access and is likely 10. x.x.x or 192.168. x.x ), choose 32400 for the Port Restriction, and click “Add Resource”. Congrats!
Do you need a static IP for Plex?
A Public Static IP is not needed, largely because the AT&T "dynamic" address changes so infrequently that Plex will have no trouble tracking you down.
How safe is Plex remote access?
Plex has teamed up with Let's Encrypt to provide our users with high-quality secure certificates for your media servers, at no cost to you. There's no need to set up VPNs and no need to create and install your own certs. You can safely and securely connect to your media no matter where you are.
What port should I use for Plex remote access?
WAN/External Port: Port 32400 (TCP) is default, but you can generally use any available port in the 20,000 to 50,000 range. LAN/Internal Port: This will always be 32400. IP Address: The local IP Address of the computer running the Plex Media Server.
Why can't I access my Plex server remotely?
NAT/UPnP Compatibility: Either NAT or UPnP (depending on your router model) need to be enabled in order for port forwarding to work properly. If these are not enabled or have different configurations set than required, Plex Remote Access will not work.
What IP addresses does Plex use?
NAS Devices Type http://[Plex Media Server IP Address]:32400/web (e.g. http://192.168.1.25:32400/web) The browser will connect to the Plex Media Server and load Plex Web App.
Is it safe to open port for Plex?
Warning!: For security, we very strongly recommend that you do not allow any of these “additional” ports through the firewall or to be forwarded in your router, in cases specifically where your Plex Media Server is running on a machine with a public/WAN IP address.
Does Plex require UPnP?
Plex Media Server generally works, by the magic of UPnP, right out of the box.
Should Plex be behind a VPN?
Since Plex can be installed on a plethora of platforms, you'll want a VPN service that supports multiple operating systems.
Is Plex a security risk?
UPDATED Security researchers uncovered vulnerabilities in Plex that created a means for attackers to compromise devices or access private video or picture files on a vulnerable server.
Does Plex sell your data?
That is, the policy states that Plex is prohibited from selling user data. Because of user feedback related to the opt out removal, Plex will introduce a new opt out mechanism, allowing users to opt out of playback statistics, alongside crash reporting and marketing communications.
How do I assign a static IP address to my computer?
How to Set a Static IP AddressAccess the Control Panel. In the Windows search bar, type in “ncpa. ... Select the Network Adapter. ... Select Properties. ... Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) ... Manually enter IP address and subnet mask. ... Save Settings. ... Revert Back to DHCP.
What is myPlex?
The Plex cloud services – we've called them myPlex – are designed to do three things to help make your lives easier: 1) An incredibly easy way for you to access your media remotely. One of the most common support questions we get involves connecting a mobile device to media stored at home.
What version of Plex Media Server is needed for secure connections?
Secure connections require Plex Media Server version 0.9.12.3 or newer. So, make sure you’re running a current version of the server.
How to work around DNS rebinding?
In some cases, it may be possible to work around DNS rebinding protection by enabling Remote Access for your server. When enabled, this allows connections to be made via your public/WAN address. In most cases, your router will automatically keep such connections within your LAN, though this isn’t universal across all routers.
How Do I Know Connections Are Secure?
Basically, in a default Plex setup, if you don’t see any information indicating otherwise, then the connection to the server is secure. When a secure connection to a server is not available, the app will typically indicate either that the connection is insecure or that a connection cannot be made (because it would be insecure and that isn’t allowed in the app).
What happens if your server doesn't support secure connections?
If any of your associated servers don’t support secure connections, those insecure servers will not be accessible in the app. You can instead try loading the local/bundled web app that comes with the server install.
What does it mean when a secure connection is not available?
When a secure connection to a server is not available, the app will typically indicate either that the connection is insecure or that a connection cannot be made (because it would be insecure and that isn’t allowed in the app). When a secure connection is not available, it’s typically clearly indicated, such as in the web app:
Is Plex server secure?
Basically, in a default Plex setup, if you don’t see any information indicating otherwise, then the connection to the server is secure. When a secure connection to a server is not available, the app will typically indicate either that the connection is insecure or that a connection cannot be made (because it would be insecure and that isn’t allowed in the app).
How to force HTTPS connection?
You can, of course, attempt to force an HTTPS connection simply by using https:// in the URL. If you do so, since the server’s certificate isn’t for “localhost” (for example), your browser will almost certainly warn you that there isn’t a valid certificate for that connection.
Why is Plex server error?
This usually occurs because Plex is a heavy application with numerous parameters going on simultaneously. If any one of these gets into an error state or load a bad configuration, it might be unusable.
Why is Plex not working?
There are many instances where several bugs are induced into the Plex application which causes it not to work as expected. Software all around us get updates every once in a while and sometimes these updates are not compatible with Plex. Hence its engineers roll out an update targeting this issue solely.
Why does Plex Media Server buffer?
This scenario usually occurs when your internet connection is not sound which forces the server to use less bandwidth in order to provide access to the media.
What is plex media?
Plex is a client-server media stream and software suite. It has a Plex Media Server desktop application which is available on Windows, Ubuntu, and macOS. This applications allows you to organize different media files in your computer and allows players over the internet to access them if given the correct credentials.
How to find my router's IPv4 address?
Find and note down your router’s External IPv4 address/WAN. You can easily find this in the status page present in your router settings.
What is double NAT?
Double NAT: NAT (Network address translation) handles the task of managing all network requests coming into your public IP against all the internal IPs. There are situations where a ‘double’ NAT occurs which causes a lot of issues and causes Plex Remote Access not to work.
How to check IPconfig status?
You can check the status of ipconfig in a Command Prompt, or head to System Preferences > Network on a Mac.
PSA: RAID is not a backup
This ISN'T a recently learned lesson or fuck up per-se, but it's always been an acceptable risk for some of my non-prod stuff. My Plex server is for me only, and about half of the media was just lost due to a RAID array failure that became unrecoverable.
I don't understand why the native Plex apps don't keep a local index of meta data and shows for fast searching and browsing
Third party clients like Infuse and PKC do this and it makes using Plex so much better, especially remotely.
Can we Auto skip intro?
I was wondering if there is a setting to auto skip intro and not have to keep hitting the skip button.
Plex Best Features
I've had Plex for about a year now, and I JUST discovered the shuffle option. My god, this changes everything! I can shuffle episodes of a single TV show, or all of my TV shows. I can even filter my shows (ie - shows from 1990) and shuffle those, and it feels like I'm back in my childhood!
