Say goodbye to the old days when you needed a media station or a computer wired to your TV set to enjoy online media content. With Plex, your audio, video, and photos can be stored in a cloud server and organized just the way you want.
Forget about losing pictures, songs, and movies when your hard disk simply stops working and have all your media files safely stored in Plex servers. And that is not all! Alongside the organizer and the storage space, Plex users get access to the most renowned streaming services as well.
This brings Live TV and unlimited content streamed right into your TV screen. HBO Max, Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and many other services can be enjoyed from the comfort of your sofa. All Plex asks in return is an affordable subscription fee and an active internet connection to stream the online content into the TV screen.
That is because Plex stores all the info in its servers and then gets the content sent to subscribers. So, a connection problem with Plex servers should mean no content on your TV screen.
What To Do If Plex Server Offline or Unreachable?
Since Plex works through online servers, having not only an active but a reliable internet connection, is mandatory for users to enjoy the content that is either stored within Plex servers or through streaming services. Users have complained most recently about a problem that is causing a disruption in the connection with Plex servers.
The problem is rendering the service unable to stream any of the content and users without access to the media they stored in the cloud server. If you are also experiencing this same problem, check the solutions below and get rid of the issue once and for all.
1. Troubleshoot Your Internet Connection
It is true that sometimes companies such as Plex experience problems with their equipment and the service suffers interruptions. It is also true that these kinds of problems are way more frequent on the subscriber’s side.
Due to the number of professionals Plex can count on to deal with whatever technical problem its equipment may experience, it is undeniable that companies deal with service outages much faster than users.
Considering that, upon a failure of the connection with Plex servers, subscribers should first check their own internet connections before assuming that the cause of the issue lies on the other side of the deal.
So, no matter if you have a wireless or cabled connection, make sure to check if it’s working as it should. Surely, all your equipment could well be properly working, and the connection problem might be with your internet service provider.
That still doesn’t mean it is Plex’s fault – at least, not just yet. So, troubleshoot your internet connection and get rid of the problem that is causing the disruption in the connection with Plex servers.
2. Make Sure Your Plex App Is Updated
Whenever new technologies are created, manufacturers rush to develop the fixes that adapt their products or services to the new tech emerging in the market. When it comes to problems, it is not so different. Developers, when informed of errors with the products they designed, also hurry to come up with a solution.
In both cases, the element that makes everything work as it should once again is the update. Depending on the kind of interface, online services offer an auto-update feature. This means that users won’t be required to perform any kinds of actions for that matter as the system performs the updates on its own.
Gladly Plex is among the services that offer the feature, so simply activate it through the network tab in the general settings and forget about outdated firmware versions. If you, on the other hand, don’t have the auto-update feature activated by your own choice, make sure to check for new firmware versions every now and then.
This is the most efficient way to ensure your Plex service is working at its peak performance and that the connection with the servers won’t suffer any disruptions.
Bear in mind, though, that a reboot is required after every update of the firmware version. The reboot helps the device sink the new settings into the system and perform the changes brought by the new software version.
3. Make Sure The Firewall Is Disabled
Some security features are extremely important to keep a device’s health up and running. Antivirus, firewalls, registry cleaners, or any other kind of protection against malware is almost mandatory for internet users nowadays.
With so many ill-intentioned people prowling around on the internet, one can never know where the threat may come from. Also, services such as online banking, and online storage ask for a higher level of protection.
Imagine having all your pictures and personal videos deleted forever from your server. It would be highly frustrating, to say the least. Thus, this is the reason why users have so many layers of security on their internet connections.
However, these defenses may interfere with connectivity aspects and cause disruptions in the connection with online servers. So, if you are experiencing connection problems with Plex servers, it may be due to an active firewall.
Try switching it off, or at least adding an exception for Plex, and prevent this effective defense system from hindering your entertainment sessions.
4. Make Sure To Clear The Cache
Network services, especially the ones that offer a direct connection with servers and are available on a multiplicity of devices, normally store files that help speed up the connection after the first time. These files are highly efficient as the connections with servers, web pages, and even other devices are performed quicker the second time on.
However, these files tend to eventually become obsolete and devices normally have no feature that deletes them once that happens. So, they end up becoming unnecessary and they pile up in the device’s memory.
The problem with having an overfilled memory is that the device’s features cannot run as they should and the overall performance slows down. Therefore, the importance of periodical cleanses of the device’s cache. Since Plex services don’t have an automatic cleaning feature, it is a responsibility users have to take on.
So, go to your browser and clear the cache and the history to make some room on the device’s memory. That will not only enhance the overall performance of the device but also prevent insufficient memory from causing disruptions in the connection with Plex servers.