Virtuoso

Sonos unable to play content from remote Plex server

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
December 6, 2021
18 replies
7133 views

I’d be grateful if this issue could be raised with Sonos support.

For several months now my Sonos S1 system has been unable to play content from my remote Plex server. The problem may also apply to Sonos S2, but I haven’t tested this. It used to work without any issues.

The symptoms are:

The Plex server content can be searched from the Sonos apps, and items can be added to the queue without problems.
When one attempts to play the item(s), playback will immediately fail with ‘the connection to Plex was lost’. This applies to all content.

The issue can be fixed by setting ‘Network > Secure connections’ to ‘Disabled’ on the Plex Server. It then works perfectly. This hints at a problem at the Sonos end, in making secure connections to Plex … but it could be an issue at the Plex end, or a mixture of the two.

This is not a workaround, however, because apart from the security issues it presents, it also breaks remote access from all other Plex clients, which require a secure connection.

Note that this is only an issue with connections to a remote Plex server. There is no issue with either S1 or S2 in connecting to a local Plex server.

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pwtAuthor

Virtuoso

Sonos still does not work with remote Plex servers after the recent update (to S1 v11.3 in my case).

Could someone from Sonos please confirm that this defect has been reported to engineering?

Thanks.

:relaxed: : while writing this i tried to disable bandwith limiting on the Plexserver (under remote access) and now it works….argh maybe this also temporary helps you but i think it is still thats needs to be resolved.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don’t have this option. Perhaps it’s a Plex Pass feature. As noted above, the errors I’m seeing appear to be security related.

4 x P:5 | Sub | 4 x P:1 | 3 x Connect | 2 x Boost | Connect:Amp | 2 x One | Amp | Move | Port | Era 300

Ken_Griffiths

I have issue with Plex on Sonos too and from my own research, it ‘appears’ it’s because the router needs to support NAT Loopback for it to work with plex pass. Unfortunately the router I’m using doesn’t have that feature although it was mentioned a year ago on their forum that they may change their firmware. They haven’t at the moment, so I’ve cancelled my plex pass for now and will just wait to see of this ever gets resolved.

It’s a pity that Plex can’t come up with a better way to resolve this as I’m happy to pay the Plex Pass subscription, but it’s no good to me if it doesn’t work through the Sonos App - it still works mind through the Plex ‘Native’ App.

pwtAuthor

Virtuoso

I have issue with Plex on Sonos too and from my own research, it ‘appears’ it’s because the router needs to support NAT Loopback for it to work with plex pass. Unfortunately the router I’m using doesn’t have that feature although it was mentioned a year ago on their forum that they may change their firmware. They haven’t at the moment, so I’ve cancelled my plex pass for now and will just wait to see of this ever gets resolved.

It’s a pity that Plex can’t come up with a better way to resolve this as I’m happy to pay the Plex Pass subscription, but it’s no good to me if it doesn’t work through the Sonos App - it still works mind through the Plex ‘Native’ App.

Just to be clear, this not the issue I’m seeing. Access to a local Plex server from Sonos works fine, and I’m aware of the NAT loopback requirement.

The defective behaviour is with remote Plex server playback from Sonos.

4 x P:5 | Sub | 4 x P:1 | 3 x Connect | 2 x Boost | Connect:Amp | 2 x One | Amp | Move | Port | Era 300

Ken_Griffiths

Just to be clear, this not the issue I’m seeing. Access to a local Plex server from Sonos works fine, and I’m aware of the NAT loopback requirement.

The defective behaviour is with remote Plex server playback from Sonos.

Ah I see, in my case it’s local playback I can’t get to work.🤷‍♂️

R

rovingclimber

Lyricist I

Just thought I’d add something here as I’ve just run into this problem.

Symptoms - I added Plex to Sonos, was able to browse content no problem but got an error “unable to connect to Plex” every time I tried to play a track.

My setup - Plex server running in docker container. NAT port forward on router allowing remote access.

Solution - I changed the port forward rule on my router to both LAN and WAN source not just WAN (see comments on NAT loopback above). Playback now working fine. I’m using OPNsense though and I don’t think that option is going to exist on most SOHO routers unfortunately, so unless you’re using opnsense / pfsense / openwrt it’s likely not possible.

Basically it looks like the Sonos Deezer integration is talking with the external (WAN) IP rather than local address when playing music.

Ken_Griffiths

I’ve now sorted my Plex service within the Sonos App too.. I had issues with NAT loopback and the router I was using, but the manufacturer ‘Plume’ (helpful support) has sorted it with a firmware update and so all works great. Love the Plex service too.👍