Plex has paywalled my server!
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Just because the destination IP address is not a LAN address? That's not misconfiguration, that's a legitimate use of NAT reflection/loopback. If that's how it determines who is streaming remotely then just run it behind nginx that forgets to set the correct headers.
Edit: Apparently Plex centrally relays all the traffic? Self-hosted my
, it's not self-hosted if you need to rely on their server.It doesn't relay all traffic, that's a fallback if a connection can't be established.
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- Open source has high immunity to devs making changes at the expense of the user for their benefit because anti-features can be removed. Recommending another proprietary alternative here would be like saying they aught to leave an abusive partner but then recommend someone with the same red flags.
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Worse. Exposing Jellyfin to the internet is a bad idea given the teams stance on security.
https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/issues/5415#issue-824791596The only safe way to host jellyfin is with a vpn.
Lots of those issues have been blown out of proportion, and would never be a real concern for the “just a dude running a server in his closet for his friends” setups. Which, to be clear, is the vast majority of setups.
For instance, virtually all of the worst issues require that the attacker already has a valid login token. So unless they stole your buddy’s credentials, the only one to truly worry about would be your buddy directly. But yes, Jellyfin has some gaping holes, and letting it touch the WAN at all is always a risk. You’re giving attackers a new potential vector of attack that didn’t exist before, so that’s worth noting.
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But I ran into challenges getting my server safely accessible for users outside my LAN
FWIW:
- vps + domain (optional?)
- connect vps to home server with wireguard (eg Tailscale)
- reverse proxy on the VPS forwarding to jellyfin (eg Caddy)
Obviously not as trivial or seamless as Plex. Also I wouldn't try to complicate this setup by using docker for everything. But once its up you can basically host whatever you want on the WAN from your LAN.
So an additional 10 bucks a month….
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I've had that happen to me with plex, it was probably 100% my fault because I specifically changed things during the setup of the docker file, but apparently Plex can't figure out that is local if it's running inside docker with non-host network, it probably only accepts local connections from the docker network, and I was never able to make it treat my actual home network as local.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Under Settings > Network there is a configuration item exactly for this. I'm running host network, but you can add the docker networks here as well.
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Thank you Internet stranger for reminding me of this sketch.
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Its already installed, but missing features, i was waiting for them to finish the db changes, because thats whats blocking them...
what features are you missing?
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I tried testing a movie from my home server in plex through firefox and repeatedly got this message, even after reloading.
I knew that they had paywalled the apps on mobile and streaming from outside the network but now they have also blocked watching your own movies through your own hardware.
I do get the point that making software should be able to sustain people but I dont see the move of plex as a fair thing to do. Yes, they have made great software but taking your home server hostage feels like the wrong move.
Even a pop up that says "we need you to donate please" would have been fine. make it pop up before every movie, play donation ads before any movie but straight up disabling the app is kinda cruel.
Anyway, i have switched to jellyfin and it is insanely good. please give it a try. you can run it alongside plex with not issues (at least i had none) and compare the two.
In any case, good luck. Let me know if you need help.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Access via IP address and not the name. I've been having to do it that way for several days now, too.
Edit to add: It's due to a change I made in my OpnSense setup. I restored a ZFS snapshot and it's working again as it should.
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Access via IP address and not the name. I've been having to do it that way for several days now, too.
Edit to add: It's due to a change I made in my OpnSense setup. I restored a ZFS snapshot and it's working again as it should.
So its a thing. Very interesting. Thanks for confirming. Have you tried jellyfin? i switched now and it works great.
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You're both right and wrong.
Its like saying "saying a company is easy to run shows you have never run an huge company."
Both are false dychotomies. The amount of hosting costs, manpower, etc does not come from the project but how it is set up.
If you have to run servers for a software at all determines the cost for hosting for example. Same for every other aspect.
Linux is a huge software project I'm working on. Yet the cost of it is a joke compared to its size. It has way more users than plex.
You were the one that made the claim that “software doesn’t have huge ongoing costs”, which is what I said is wrong. Lots of software does, as you now agree.
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That is exactly the case. It is absolutely true and accusing me of lying is not okay.
You’re not lying, you’re just not good at networking and/or setting up Plex.
Plex does NOT charge for streaming on your own network. If it is saying that you need to pay it’s because you’ve set your network(s) or Plex up wrong.
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I have it set up in a way. That does not make it wrong. This is an option that plex gives you without warning so its their problem in the first place. They also just paywalled that feature that worked for years and they're not considering the consequences or they dont care. The least they could have done is put a link "if youre seeing this on your home network, you need to do THIS."
You set it up in the wrong way if you want to stream locally on your network.
It’s ok to admit that you made a mistake and it’s not plex’s fault. Just take some responsibility for your actions.
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So its a thing. Very interesting. Thanks for confirming. Have you tried jellyfin? i switched now and it works great.
I'm the only one in my family who accesses it on the web player, and the other ways still work fine.
I'm not breaking something for the other two users in my household because of my own convenience.
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You’re not lying, you’re just not good at networking and/or setting up Plex.
Plex does NOT charge for streaming on your own network. If it is saying that you need to pay it’s because you’ve set your network(s) or Plex up wrong.
And the next wrong assumption. It's beginning to get really tiring. Maybe try to stop individualizing systemic problems. I know it is counter to our society but it is the only healthy way.
I'm building networks for a living. The situation I'm in has zero to do with my skills and assuming so is highly disrespectful.
But yes, as others have pointed out, it is likely that a configuration back when setting the service up years ago led to it using an outside connection which has only now become an issue because of plex's switch to blocking remote streaming.
No matter because plex works just as well.
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I'm the only one in my family who accesses it on the web player, and the other ways still work fine.
I'm not breaking something for the other two users in my household because of my own convenience.
fair enough i guess.
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You set it up in the wrong way if you want to stream locally on your network.
It’s ok to admit that you made a mistake and it’s not plex’s fault. Just take some responsibility for your actions.
You're now using mental gymnastics to blame me for someone else's actions. Sorry mate but I'm not into that mumbo jumbo. good luck somewhere else.
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So, like every other jellyfin fanboy, no real actual answer.
Why would there be an answer?
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I'll add to #2 (IDK if it's open source, though):
Give Stremio a try. Once you set it up (basically just add the Torrentio plug-in then whatever content catalogs you want), the workflow is much better and simpler than Plex.
You just browse it like Netflix: see something you want to watch, select it with your remote, then stream it immediately. No server to run, you don't have to build libraries, you don't even have download the content beforehand. Just select and watch. Could not be easier.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I always see people advocate for Stremio. But my experience was always very mixed. Half the time it would just buffer all the time. I guess it's s my own fault for having little interest in the latest Marvel/Hollywood movies, but alas. I way more prefer my jellyfin/jellyseer/arr stack. Once it's available I'm (99%) sure it works from everywhere in the world.
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- It’s also the most complex to set up, and for many people the threshold is “walking your tech-illiterate mother-in-law through side loading it over the phone, because she lives 100 miles away… She’s afraid to touch her computer for anything except email and Facebook. And then resetting her password every 30 days, because she keeps locking herself out of it.” Suddenly the “just fucking sign into Plex and it automatically discovers your server” option becomes a lot more appealing.
My tech-illiterate mom uses my Jellyfin instance with no issues. I sent her a link to the app store, her credentials, my server's hostname and that was it. And once it's set up, Jellyfin is much more straightforward to use than Plex.
Sure Jellyfin has issues and doesn't support as many types of devices, but Plex is far from perfect. I use it like twice a year, and the UI gets more and more confusing with each update IMO.
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Under Settings > Network there is a configuration item exactly for this. I'm running host network, but you can add the docker networks here as well.
I don't have that configuration:
