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.
I have gigabit, and struggled to stream. Turned out I had the Quality of Service (QoS) /traffic priority settings on my router misconfigured.
This might be something to look into.
Can a remote user download something from your network at a reasonable and consistent speed? (Not using Plex)
Can you upload a large file somewhere and monitor the speed and see if it maintains speed as expected?
For me, these two things were also performing at unexpectedly low speeds, or being wildly inconsistent until I fixed my QoS settings.
Unfortunately I’m using Nest WiFi and it doesn’t have QoS settings. You’re making me consider buying a new mesh router system because Nest also doesn’t have manual band selection, which I need for some IoT devices.
I have the older “Google WiFi” mesh and I was able to install OpenWRT on them. You might want to see if that’s an option for yours before spending money on a new system.