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fridgeymonster3

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 28, 2008
493
14
Philadelphia
I'm not really sure in which thread to put this. I recently subscribed to PIA because I wanted a VPN. However, PIA does not play nice with Plex. About 98% of the time I use my plex server on my local network, which isn't affected by PIA. However, sometimes I like to access my Plex server from outside my network and that's just not feasible. Does anyone here have a VPN that plays well with Plex? I'm running 10.12.3 if it matters. Thanks!
 
Why not just set up Plex for external access? No need to run a vpn. Take in mind that Plex may need to transcode depending on your upstream. I only have a 5Mbps upstream and have to transcode my 1080p movies to 720p since minimum upstream for 1080p is 8Mbps (I think).
 
Why not just set up Plex for external access? No need to run a vpn. Take in mind that Plex may need to transcode depending on your upstream. I only have a 5Mbps upstream and have to transcode my 1080p movies to 720p since minimum upstream for 1080p is 8Mbps (I think).


That's the issue. I'm looking for a VPN that easily allows me to configure Plex for external access. PIA doesn't allow for this easily, especially not on macOS. There is a windows script that allows it but I don't want to run windows.

Edit: I choose to use a VPN for all my internet traffic.
 
Plex allows external connection via server settings. Just need to configure the port and your router. Take in mind using a can "slow down" the speed, especially when using OpenVPN protocol.
 
Plex isn't the issue. PIA doesn't support port forwarding in a way that works with Plex. I'm looking for a VPN that someone here uses that works with Plex on macOS.
 
I guess I'm still unclear as to what you're trying to accomplish. Is your mac your Plex server or client?
 
My Mac is my Plex server. I have Private Internet Access (a vpn) running 24/7. PIA does not allow port forwarding in a manner that works with Plex unless you run a windows script called Xflak. I'm looking for a VPN that allows port forwarding or works with Plex.
 
I know that when I use a vpn on my Mac which is a client, I can connect to my Plex server (which is Windows) remotely. Same if I use Plex on my iPhone using a vpn.
 
Gotcha. I was thinking you were trying to connect to your server from a client running a vpn. Not sure I can help you on that one.

May I ask the reasoning as to why you have your Plex server on a vpn at all times?
 
Is your Mac running the VPN client software and updating a Dynamic DNS service or is your router acting as the VPN client and doing that? Seems like it would work OK with a VPN if the router is the client.
 
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