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this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023
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Plex has issues with VPNs unfortunately. It wants you to go through them whenever you connect to your server, and this means it needs to know where your server IP/domain is. But if you have situations where the IP/domain changes, like a VPN, it can get confused.
It's one of the reasons that made me give up Plex back in the day. (Holding your accounts hostage was the other one.)
oh wow, thanks for that insight. So jellyfin in this use case would be superior?
Jellyfin or Emby, yeah. But it's more of an artificial limitation for Plex so it's worth checking that they haven't fixed it by any chance since the last time I tried.
The way these apps work is that the mobile app scans the local network for the server. That works when you're connected on WiFi at home but typically not when you're connecting over VPN, because a VPN isn't usually configured with broadcast. So the app for all three (Plex/Jellyfin/Emby) will discover the server just fine on WiFi but choke on VPN. To work around this, the mobile app [should] allow you to also enter the server address manually. Plex used to have this too but removed it at some point, so now it only relies on autodetect. 🤷
So now the only way it can work on Plex is if you keep the same server address/name when you're on WiFi and when you're on VPN, let the app detect it once on WiFi, then it "just works" on VPN too... but that can be problematic if the address/name is different on VPN, which is 90% of cases.
Between Emby and Jellyfin it's a toss-up, the main reason I'm using Jellyfin (I used to use Plex and Emby too) is because it's 100% free. Emby switched essential features like transcoding behind paywall at some point, and Plex locked pretty much everything useful behind paid Plex pass and you have to login to their website every time, so you can't use it if your external internet connection drops even if your local network is fine.
Here's an in-depth comparison of all three: https://github.com/Protektor-Desura/Archon/wiki/Compare-Media-Servers
Thanks! I'll look into this. I had jellyfin installed but I always used Plex just due to a better experience on my Apple TV. The Jellyfin client can barely get subtitles right so I stopped using it
At the end of the day it's always a trade-off. If you're willing to give up some control and privacy Plex is going to be a very smooth experience. If you don't like to give up privacy but still want a smoother experience and are willing to pay, Emby is probably best for you. If you don't want to make any privacy compromises and want a free, community-supported and fully open-source solution, you have to use Jellyfin.
Don't forget to check out Kodi on that list. It's not a media server, it's an indexer that runs on the client + a friendly interface. It can be a very nice solution if you mainly access your media on a single device, like a living room TV attached to your NAS.