[SOLVED] Media Server Setup

[TMW775]

I use one modem which is directly connected to 2 routers. The second router is setup for VPN and is connected to my TV's. Plex media server is setup on a windows computer and uses Router 1. How can I share media with devices on both routers? Specifically, how can a TV on the VPN router share media with the plex server using the non-VPN router? I hope I asked the question correctly. Network Image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17plAeLEKoYY_9CG6bYj-_zPRZQFT95EA/view?usp=sharing

 

[bill001g]

Short answer is you can't. This is like asking how do you share files with your neighbor.

I suspect the device you call a modem is actually a router. A real modem tend to only allow a single device to connect to it. But that is not the problem.

The first issue is that you have 2 routers and they all share the WAN IP on their respective routers. This is the standard port forwarding problem, and if you really work at it you can to some extent share files. You have the added issue that you are running VPN on the router itself.
Even if you tried to talk to devices on the first router the VPN router would force the traffic to go into the VPN tunnel and be send outside your "modem". So even if this worked you traffic would go all the way out to the internet vpn provider and back.

What I would do is get a better vpn router. The feature you are looking for is sometimes called split tunnel. It allows you to control which traffic goes into the vpn tunnel and which traffic is allowed to bypass it and go directly. I know asus routers that can run the merlin firmware can do this but I suspect there are many others.
You could hook everything to the single router and you would not have the sharing issues and only the devices that need vpn could use it. Be aware if you have a fast internet connection you might be better off using a small pc to act as your single router. VPN put a lot of load on the cpu.

 

[TMW775]

Thank You bill001g,

I have a dual port modem (thankfully) that allows for 2 router connections. The non-VPN router is an ASUS RT-AX86U (router 1). The VPN router is a Linksys WRT AC3200 (router 2).

You're absolutely correct about a VPN putting additional burdens on the system, so I think I'll avoid the split tunneling strategy through router 1. I use router 2 for US programming on a Samsung smart TV (this setup is for my 2nd home in Mexico). I think your short answer is correct. The only way I can see this working would be to have the Plex device app (on the TV) directed to the Plex Media Server network (on router 1) via WiFi, but I'm not seeing that capability in the Plex device app settings.

I may be stuck with viewing media from a USB drive rather than directly from the media library on the Plex Media Server (residing on the Win 10 computer connected to router 1).

Thank you for your considerate and thoughtful reply.

 

[punkncat]

Can't you just browse your Plex "online"? Isn't that part of the point of using Plex?

 

[TMW775]

Hi punkncat & thank you for your thoughts on the subject,

As I understand it, one of the cool things about Plex Server is that you can store your own library of videos and have it available to all devices that share the same network as the Plex Server.

In our case, it would be a shared library for every device that has the Plex App (TV, phone & tablet).

In addition to being able to share your own library (in a very organized Netflix-like format), you can also view programming (movies, tv shows, etc) that Plex offers. Is this the material you are speaking of when you say "online"?

I'm still learning and searching, so any thoughts on this subject are very welcome. Our library of movies and programs has several hundred files (many of which are hard to find), plus subtitles when needed. Ideally for us, a media server would allow us to choose the network we would like to display the materials on and in a format that is easy to navigate. Plex Media Server appears to be able to resolve the latter, but the question is how to resolve the former.

 

[bill001g]

Well you are somewhat in luck but it depends how fast your internet is.

That asus router is very special it is one of the very few that has a hardware vpn accelerator. It can depending on how high you turn up the encryption run 200mbps over vpn. In addition if you load the merlin firmware it has a very advanced for of the split tunnel. You can for example rig it so only netflix but not hbo goes via the tunnel.

So you might consider using just the asus router.

A rather Nasty hack would be to use only static IP addresses on the VPN router and devices on that network....ie disable dhcp. You need to also use a different IP subnet behind both routers. say 192.168.1.0 and 192.168.2.0. Then you connect a cable between the lan ports of the router.

The very non standard part is you now put a secondary IP address on your media server that is in the subnet of the vpn router. So now in effect your media server is on 2 networks.

You have to be very careful though anything now connected to either router will get DHCP addresses from the main router any bypass the vpn router.

 

[TMW775]

Thank You bill001g, you are indeed a Titan,

Router 1 (direct ISP) usually clocks at between 480 and 530 Mbps, wired
Router 2 (VPN) usually clocks at between 280 and 325 Mbps, wired & 220-260 WiFi

I'm fairly tech savvy, but apparently not with networking. I tried the "nasty hack" and ended up having to factory reset and reconfigure the VPN router. I may try it again because that route sounds promising. However......

I am going to try using the remote device app features in Flex for now. I have a feeling that I will find that wholly unsatisfying and will be seeking a hard-wired or network solution again shortly.

Thank you for your GREAT input !!!

 

[punkncat]

Hi punkncat & thank you for your thoughts on the subject,

As I understand it, one of the cool things about Plex Server is that you can store your own library of videos and have it available to all devices that share the same network as the Plex Server.

In our case, it would be a shared library for every device that has the Plex App (TV, phone & tablet).

In addition to being able to share your own library (in a very organized Netflix-like format), you can also view programming (movies, tv shows, etc) that Plex offers. Is this the material you are speaking of when you say "online"?

I'm still learning and searching, so any thoughts on this subject are very welcome. Our library of movies and programs has several hundred files (many of which are hard to find), plus subtitles when needed. Ideally for us, a media server would allow us to choose the network we would like to display the materials on and in a format that is easy to navigate. Plex Media Server appears to be able to resolve the latter, but the question is how to resolve the former.

Yeah, so I am far from a Plex expert, but in my own experience with it you populate the library and then set whether the content is viewable only locally or whether you wish to access it from "away" such as on your phone/laptop/etc. while you are out. Works pretty well.

It would appear, however, that @bill001g has some ideas that will eliminate the need for it to seem like its on WAN instead of LAN.

 

[TMW775]

Thank you for your very accurate response punkncat,

For 1 day I have been using the remote ("away") access method. It is very slow and very often the device (TV) receives an error message that a file cannot be read. It is a very unsatisfactory experience.

I will, again, try the suggestions given by @bill001g unless there are any other thoughts.

Thanks to you both for your experience and brain power !

 

[TMW775]

@bill001g - I was unable to make your tweaks work for me :-(

I've decided to try another strategy. Please let me know what your thoughts are. First, let it be said that I would like to maintain the VPN connection (router 2) directly with the television (for apps like Netflix, Amazon Video, ESPN, etc.).

However, it occurred to me that I could hard-wire an android box to Router 1 (the network that the Plex Media Server is on [router 1]), then connect the android box, via hdmi cable, to the television. I will uninstall the Plex device app from the television (it becomes superfluous) and install the Plex device app on the android box.

By logical deduction, the integrity of router 2 remains intact and useable while the Plex Media Server and Plex device app have a strong, direct connection via the router 1 network.

What do you think, does my logic make sense to you? @punkncat - what are your thoughts? It seems like an easy, low-cost solution but my non-network brain may have missed something.

 

[robert600]

However, it occurred to me that I could hard-wire an android box to Router 1 (the network that the Plex Media Server is on [router 1]), then connect the android box, via hdmi cable, to the television. I will uninstall the Plex device app from the television (it becomes superfluous) and install the Plex device app on the android box.

I can't help with the networking configuration stuff but assumming you get the green light on that then for the android box I would get a nvidia shield pro. It is the ideal plex server and would free up the windows computer you are currently using. It also plays very nicely with Kodi which would open an entire 'universe' of media streaming possibillities. Just something to consider.