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.
Old news, but time for Jellyfin. I made the switch a couple months ago. Some minor teething issues, but better, IMO, especially now as my family all have LDAP users and that just works.
awesome. thanks for chiming in. I will have to check how to do external streaming without opening my network up to the world (metaphorically).
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.
You’ve got options.
Pangolin Wiredoor Cloudflare Tunnel Tailscale
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.
...wireguard
Thats not what I meant. I of course have wireguard set up for administration and my own streaming needs. But friends of mine who were able to use plex by just making an account but now they cant because of course there is no relay server etc. I'll have to think of a way to make it available to them (easily!) without putting my network at risk.
This is how I do it: https://codeberg.org/skjalli/jellyfin-vps-setup
That is pretty much how I imagined it. Sadly, its A TON of work. I have most of this set up in many VPSs for both me and customers (with other services of course) and I can imagine its probably the best solution. I still hate my life when thinking of implementing it. :D I bet its gonna be easier than I think but you may get my point here. Thank you very much for sharing.
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ1PZkTNvzI
Yeah, or not.
Mine is public, but I block every state but the one all of my users live in(family) and I never get unwanted visitors. Couldn't say the same if I lived in NY or CA.
If they have static IP addresses, you may be able to whitelist them in your proxy, or maybe there's some sort of dyndns client/relay software you can run if their ips change.
yeah, thanks. but thats not gonna work for me. i live in a big city and none of us (me and my server included) have static IPs nor am I gonna get them (at all) and I dont want to pay for them either (because ISPs here want you to pay for them). in any case, thanks for trying to suggest something. it might help someone else who has a different setup. :)
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.
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!🙃