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Windows Remote Access

Windows Remote Access

Section titled “Windows Remote Access”

Stream your media from anywhere by configuring remote access.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”
  • Plex Media Server running on Windows
  • Router with port forwarding capability
  • Plex Pass (recommended for hardware transcoding remotely)

Enable Remote Access

Section titled “Enable Remote Access”
  1. Open Plex Web: http://localhost:32400/web
  2. Go to Settings → Remote Access
  3. Enable “Manually specify public port”
  4. Set port to 32400 (default)
  5. Click Retry to test connection

A green checkmark indicates successful configuration.

Port Forwarding

Section titled “Port Forwarding”

Router Configuration

Section titled “Router Configuration”
  1. Access your router (usually 192.168.1.1)
  2. Find Port Forwarding or NAT settings
  3. Create new rule:
    • External Port: 32400
    • Internal Port: 32400
    • Internal IP: Your PC’s local IP
    • Protocol: TCP
  4. Save and apply changes

Find Your Local IP

Section titled “Find Your Local IP”
Terminal window
# Get local IP address
(Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 | Where-Object { $_.InterfaceAlias -notlike "*Loopback*" }).IPAddress

Windows Firewall

Section titled “Windows Firewall”

Ensure Plex is allowed through firewall:

Terminal window
# Add firewall rules
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Plex TCP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 32400 -Action Allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Plex UDP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 32410-32414 -Action Allow

Verify Rules

Section titled “Verify Rules”
Terminal window
Get-NetFirewallRule | Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like "*Plex*" }

Dynamic DNS

Section titled “Dynamic DNS”

If your ISP assigns dynamic IP addresses:

No-IP Setup

Section titled “No-IP Setup”
  1. Create account at noip.com
  2. Download and install No-IP DUC client
  3. Configure with your hostname
  4. Use hostname instead of IP for remote access

Duck DNS

Section titled “Duck DNS”
Terminal window
# Create scheduled task for DuckDNS updates
$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "PowerShell.exe" -Argument "-Command `"Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://www.duckdns.org/update?domains=YOURDOMAIN&token=YOURTOKEN'`""
$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -RepetitionInterval (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 5) -Once -At (Get-Date)
Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "DuckDNS Update" -Action $action -Trigger $trigger

Secure Connections (SSL)

Section titled “Secure Connections (SSL)”
  1. Settings → Network
  2. Set “Secure connections” to Required
  3. Plex provides SSL automatically through plex.direct

Bandwidth Management

Section titled “Bandwidth Management”

Limit Remote Bitrate

Section titled “Limit Remote Bitrate”
  • Settings → Remote Access
  • Set based on your upload speed (80% of upload recommended)
Upload SpeedRecommended Limit
10 Mbps8 Mbps
25 Mbps20 Mbps
50 Mbps40 Mbps
100 Mbps80 Mbps

Testing

Section titled “Testing”

Internal Test

Section titled “Internal Test”
Terminal window
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName localhost -Port 32400

External Test

Section titled “External Test”
Terminal window
# Use external port checker
Start-Process "https://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/"
# Check port 32400

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

Port Not Open

Section titled “Port Not Open”
  1. Verify port forwarding rule
  2. Check Windows Firewall
  3. Ensure Plex is running
  4. Check for double NAT (modem + router)

Double NAT

Section titled “Double NAT”

If you have modem + router:

  • Set modem to bridge mode, OR
  • Forward port on both devices

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”