Plex Is Now Enforcing Remote Play Restrictions On TVs
- Reference: 0180210369
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/11/25/239252/plex-is-now-enforcing-remote-play-restrictions-on-tvs
- Source link:
> Plex is now [2]rolling out the remote watch changes to its Roku TV app. This means that you will need a Plex Pass or Remote Watch Pass for your Plex account if you want to stream media from a server outside your home. If you're only watching media from your own server on the same local network as your Roku device, or the owner of the server you're streaming from has Plex Pass, you don't have to do anything.
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> Plex says this change will come to the other TV apps in 2026, such as Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV. Presumably, that will happen when the redesigned app arrives on those platforms. Roku was just the first TV platform to get the new app, which caused a wave of complaints from users about removed functionality and a more clunky redesign. Plex is addressing some of those complaints with more updates, but adding another limitation at the same time isn't a great look.
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> The Remote Watch Pass costs $2 per month or $20 per year, but there's no lifetime purchase option. You can also use a Plex Pass, which normally costs $7 per month, $70 per year, or $250 for a lifetime license. However, there's currently a 40% off sale for Plex Pass subscriptions.
[1] https://www.howtogeek.com/plex-is-now-enforcing-remote-play-restrictions-on-tvs/
[2] https://forums.plex.tv/t/changes-coming-to-remote-streaming-on-roku/933671
a stupid move (Score:2)
who is going to connect to a plex server outside of the home, and over public internet?
install tailscale to bypass this, or switch to jellyfin (though i have to admit i prefer the plex player UI)
Re: (Score:2)
Came to say the same thing, but I am actually opposite in that I think that Jellyfin UI is better, and it is also customizable.
And just like that, everyone stopped using Plex. (Score:2, Interesting)
There's no good reason to use it. Just encode your video for random-access streaming, set up Apache or nginx with a URL that you make sure isn't indexed, require a client cert on the directory if you really want to be careful, port forward to it from a port on your router, set up dynamic DNS, and use a web browser. No arbitrary restrictions, just your content on your terms.
Re: And just like that, everyone stopped using Ple (Score:4, Insightful)
Fine for many people on slashdot. But read what you wrote again. It is beyond the technical abilities of mere mortals. Many ISPs also use CG-NAT, which gets in the way.
Even though I have Wireguard setup in my pfSense home VPN, Plex is easier to setup. I bought a lifetime Plex pass during a black Friday promotion remotely many years ago, due to the DVR recording abilities, and included lifetime EPG for OTA.
I have found that streaming directly to my Plex home server over TLS is generally smoother without going through Wireguard. Not quite sure why. It is certainly easier too, if you are traveling, and carrying a streaming stick connected to the hotel TV. You only need to setup the Plex client. No VPN needed.
That said, I still had to setup Wireguard on the stick, in order to be able to access my own so-called "purchased" content (really, streaming codes that came with physical UHD blu rays) on Prime video, when traveling abroad (in Vietnam), due to geoblocking. And then I also had to get the hotel staff to unlock the volume control on the TV that was limited to 15%, which was fine for the hotel channels, but inaudible with streaming content. II wouldn't have succeeded without the help of my Vietnamese husband.
Re: (Score:2)
> I have found that streaming directly to my Plex home server over TLS is generally smoother without going through Wireguard. Not quite sure why.
I recently had to solve this.
Wireguard should work with a regular 1500byte MTU connection at 1440 or 1420 bytes (the default) --- however --- if your ISP is routing your IPv4 using 4-in-6 internally (like my major cable company) everything goes to hell.
Try dropping your wg MTU to 1360, MSS at 1320, and set up a mangle table to clamp MSS to PMTU (e.g. iptables ru
Re: (Score:2)
I keep hearing that people are abandoning Plex but some people are clearly leaving themselves vulnerable to future Plex-user pratfalls because this stuff keeps happening.
Re: (Score:2)
> What about tracking what episode you're on? And having profiles so each member of the family can track what episode they're on? I mean, I'll be switching to Jellyfin but that's a good reason to not just do what you say, unless I'm missing something.
Great opportunity for open source web services. :-)
freewatch/paywall (Score:1)
It's weird that media on the internet follows a sine-wave pattern: first it was everything available (if you knew where), then most content was available, except some restricted by region, then almost all was restricted except through subscription, and we're sitting at a place where like, fifty-fifty subscription/freewatch.
Plex is fine! (Score:2)
I still run it without issues... I paid for a lifetime plexpass more than 6yrs ago as well. It's easy for non technical people to use, and the client app is available on all major devices. If you're so cheap that you don't want to pay for remote streaming, then just install a tailscale VPN as a workaround.... I also run jellyfin, but find it's still not as user-friendly as plex
Oh well ... (Score:2)
... I guess it's rabbit ears.
What VPN was made for (Score:2)
I run Jellyfin, but I don't expose it to the public internet. A WireGuard server on the router is perfect for accessing LAN resources, and the app makes split tunneling easy on most devices.
Jellyfin (Score:1)
[1]https://jellyfin.org/ [jellyfin.org]
[1] https://jellyfin.org/
What about when you handle your own networking? (Score:2)
I have plex pass so wouldn't be unaffected regardless... But does this apply to *all* streaming outside my network? Or only streaming over plex's proxy? I expose my plex server to the outside world via the cloudflare tunnel, bypassing plex's infrastructure entirely.
It's (Score:5, Informative)
It's dangerous to go alone. Take [1]this [jellyfin.org].
[1] https://jellyfin.org/
Re: (Score:2)
Just a matter of time before Jellyfin does the same as Plex and there's a whole different server setup to move to. Seems to happen again and again.