I currently have my Plex server open to the world. I realise that’s probably not best practice, so I’m trying to find a solution that can work for me.

I’ve been looking at cloudflare tunnels and it seems like thats probably what I want. Giving me access to my home server from outside. And it’s free, which is a nice perk

I’ve noticed however that the terms of service don’t allow for video streaming, but is allowed in the paid tier. Before I commit to spending money, I’m curious if it’s even technically possible. Plex tends to phone home to allow users to authenticate and locate their servers, so is that possible through tunnels?

Is this a waste of time? Is there a better solution? How are others dealing with this problem?

  • camr_on@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    9 months ago

    My understanding is that cloudflare will block you from doing this if/when they detect you doing it, someone correct me if I’m wrong.

    Off the top of my head, would a tailscale funnel work for what you want? Serving Plex to the Internet without port forwarding?

    Actually with Plex, I’m not sure you even need to expose it at all. People can reach your server via the Plex app as long as it’s connected to Plex servers, they don’t need to reach the site actually hosted on your hardware

    • kungen@feddit.nuEnglish
      2·
      9 months ago

      Without direct connection, PMS uses Plex Relays, which limit streams to like 320p.

    • smegger@aussie.zoneEnglish
      32·
      9 months ago

      Pretty sure it needs at least one port forwarded to make use of plex remotely

      • anytimesoon@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
        1·
        9 months ago

        Yes, there’s the one open port that is required. Otherwise your traffic gets routed through Plex servers and the streams are limited to pretty poor quality video