Plex has paywalled my server!
-
It's not a cake walk, but I've something similar for a friend who can barely turn on his PC.
The OpenWRT router was fully configured before shipping it to him and the existing router's needed Wireguard port was opened by me using the Comcast Android app. All he had to do was connect his TV to a new wifi network. That wasn't easy, but he ultimately succeeded.
Ok, so you didn’t walk someone through it; you shipped them something preconfigured.
That’s not going to scale as I share out my server.
-
Welp, I guess they'll just have to start their own servers or you'll have to get out your credit card. Pity.
yeah no. there are a lot of other solutions to this. they're just a little annoying. others have confirmed there are similar setups like plex is doing with a relay server, but selfhosted.
-
Can your router open ports from a hostname vs an IP? If so, clients could run dynamic DNS.
WG client side isn't really that hard, though. All the fam run WG 24/7 on devices, and only traffic for the internal network goes through it.
I know. the issue is my friends dont have networks run by me. So I have to gain access to them and have to change setups which makes the situation likely to blow in my face. its just not a good solution imo. People have already suggested a relay server which will likely be the best solution.
-
Hell I know what you mean, it was so much trial and error until it worked, hence this guide/template to help others. Plus at some point it feels more like work than a hobby
You're an absolute champ! Thanks for walking the walk. Its refreshing meeting people who do stuff. Feel free to check out my kodi peertube app at some point
-
Or just get a Mikrotik router and run Back to Home and baaam you got a similar to tailscate fuction with 3 clicks.
Yeah, or not.
-
I used synology and reverse proxy. It was pretty easy to set up. The tricky part was going into jellyfins setting and connecting your reverse proxy to the path you made.
Overall my kids and family can now access it anywhere.
I run a reverse proxy too. are you talking about a public one? I'm probably gonna use a relay server for it which essentially is the same I guess.
-
Ok, so you didn’t walk someone through it; you shipped them something preconfigured.
That’s not going to scale as I share out my server.
That’s not going to scale...
How many mothers do you have?
-
Security for remote streaming is a harder thing to handle. Most people are capable of port forwarding, But just hanging a smallish public project out there in the open is always a dicey proposition. It honestly needs real fail2ban, probably SSL, 2FA and password complexity requirements.
Yeah.
It's tough because I get they're an open-source project, and they're volunteers, but at the same time, security is something that should be the highest priority.
Though, you could just make it so that it's not accessible via WAN and instead has to go through a VPN, though that'd make it harder to share with others.
That's what I do myself but in a lot of cases VPN is beyond the grasp of the grasp of the friends and family that are being shared with.
Tailscale is somewhat approachable for this, there are a number of streaming devices that support TS clients. But then tailscale will eventually enshittify their free offering. Wrapping headscale into this will add yet another layer of complication. VPN is far more secure but I think it makes it unapproachably complicated for many.
-
You can address the 2fa by putting it behind something like authelia, but still, the project needs to step it up
Authelia is super easy, if the clients can handle it
-
I access my stuff via VPN. As for sharing with others, I simply don't do that. VPN is still an option though. Or temporary client whitelisting, etc.
Now that's an interesting thought.
A web page with Authelia, login and a firewall.
If you're not logged in, All you get is a login page. If you are logged in, It passes you straight through to jellyfin.
So any device and client would be able to access it without issue once a phone or computer on the network had logged in just once.
The web page modifies the HA proxy ACL and forces a reload.
-
yeah no. there are a lot of other solutions to this. they're just a little annoying. others have confirmed there are similar setups like plex is doing with a relay server, but selfhosted.
wrote last edited by [email protected]there are a lot of other solutions to this
Jellyfin servers don't connect to eachother, or relay themselves to anything else beyond simple reverse proxies. I looked over the entire thread and didn't see anything but ldap and tailscale/wireguard suggestions.
You said there were a lot of other solutions, so wherever those solutions are, I'm sure they'll work out. Good luck!
-
Stop being so dam lazy and do all the things you pay someone else to do.
Mow the lawn. Fix the plumbing. Run new electrical. Neuter the cat. Clean your teeth. Do your taxes. Properly segment your network into several VLANs so that your IoT devices can’t talk to your internal network.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I do all of those things except neuter animals. Most rural folks do.
-
As someone who is … lazy and took advantage of some Amazon Black Friday Fire TV stick deals, and who doesn’t want to drop the $200 for a Shield:
Any Android sticks/players you might recommend?
Basic functionality, I've heard good things about the crappy Walmart ONN branded ones.
I know there are Alibaba options, But I'm awfully afraid of a lot of those have worst security issues than opening up jellyfin.
-
there are a lot of other solutions to this
Jellyfin servers don't connect to eachother, or relay themselves to anything else beyond simple reverse proxies. I looked over the entire thread and didn't see anything but ldap and tailscale/wireguard suggestions.
You said there were a lot of other solutions, so wherever those solutions are, I'm sure they'll work out. Good luck!
You're pretty hostile. Good luck with that attitude.
-
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.
Plex has pay walled FREE servers streaming to FREE clients only.
If you have a plex watch pass (for client) you're good and can stream from any server. If you have a plex pass (for server) any one can stream from your server. But you have to have one or the other.
-
This is how I do it: https://codeberg.org/skjalli/jellyfin-vps-setup
wrote last edited by [email protected]Thanks. That's well laid out, straightforward. I have resources at home that I want access to through my vps. This is a good blueprint.
-
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.
What about switching to Jellyfin?
-
What about switching to Jellyfin?
Already done. Thanks for the suggestion though.
-
I started down the Jellyfin path after they made that announcement. It's super easy to install, and in many ways the UI is nicer than Plex. But I ran into challenges getting my server safely accessible for users outside my LAN. And I haven't had the time to look into that further.
Would be great if there was a clean, easy way to set up the webserver portion so it's as easy to share content entirely as Plex. But I get they are a volunteer project with a lot on their plate.
I use wg-easy, which is a web ui bundled with wireguard and it works great. I only have to port forward a single wireguard port on my router.
-
Creating a tailnet using a custom domain is considered for business use.
Well, that sucks for me. I was planning on using my domain name.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I have it set up so that my custom domain is pointing to the local ip of my server.
