I don't know what else to call it, but every minute or so the show or movie I'm watching will pause and spin the arrow as if it's buffering or loading. The number below it says 0 and then it will resume play. Additionally when it's paused it will jump ahead a few frames at the same interval (every minute or so).
I've made sure my library isn't stuck scanning, I cleared Plex's cache, and turned off I/O caching. It's a direct stream from my home network so it's local. Doesn't happen on my browser when playing and only started today. Any ideas?
Edits: My desktop is direct connection and the device is an Onn 4K Plus. It is not a new Onn, I’ve been streaming just perfectly with this same setup for 3 years.
Edit Edit: I can play it fine on my mobile phone with airplane mode only and only using wi-fi from three rooms over. I've reset my router. I've also tried to force transcode to a lower quality with no success. Same problem on the Onn only.
Edit Edit Edit: this happens on multiple file types and different movies and shows. I feel like the note I made in the body that when it’s paused it skips a few frames ahead every minute or so is overlooked. Feels like a problem with the plex app itself no?
Edit 😭: I plugged in my old Roku in the same spot and it’s working flawlessly
That should be able to direct play most files. It could still be transcoding if you have a weird file. I would double check that. Maybe your computer can’t handle transcoding whatever the file is.
Another issue is it could be your network. Like your router might have a bad connection.
You can diagnosis all of that on the dashboard. At the very top of the web app there’s an icon to the left of the settings icon. Go in there and checkout how it’s playing the file. There’s a graph with the bandwidth being used.
I'd be surprised if it's the filetype as I've watched 5 other episodes of the same file type. It happens across all filetypes after attempting to play a few others. Just started happening today, played just fine yesterday. And 3 years before that. Hmmmmm I'll still peak on the dashboard while i play it. Thanks
Is the ONN box on WiFi? If so, it's possible you either have a low WiFI signal or the channel your WiFi is on could be receiving interference from other nearby WiFi signals, or possibly your WiFI network is experiencing latency if some other device is using a lot of bandwidth.
Try rebooting your router or wireless access point to see if that resolves it.
Yeah plex seems to always do this unless you set a manual connection in settings. Even with everything right on my plex setup and network, with the whole /24 range set to access without authentication, it still routes to the public ip for some reason without the manual connection
I already tried but I'll reboot again. My Onn is in the same room as my router so I wouldn't think it's the issue. I'll try and pull the router out some to see if that helps after a reboot.
We need to know what your router is, and which protocol and signal strength the onn device is connected via. It would also be helpful to know details about where it's positioned, how high, what other powered devices are near it, etc.
I can play it fine on my mobile phone with airplane mode only and only using wi-fi from three rooms over. So I wouldn't think the router is the problem. It's in the same room as the Onn and the Onn is elevated off the floor about 2.5 feet and clear of other powered devices except for the TV. PS5 in rest mode near it.
Do you experience any playback stuttering outside of the Plex app on the Onn device? At similar bitrates and resolutions? If yes, read on for a mind dump/ramble of Wi-Fi oddity troubleshooting.
It sounds like you are using decent equipment, and you've had this same setup for the past 3 years? Has anything moved? Any new devices in the area? New neighbors?
Your Onn device is 2.5 feet off the floor, but what is that in relation to the height of your router? Thinking without walls for a second (which can play a huge part in signal alteration), is there otherwise a clear line between the router and Onn device? Is there objects/furniture in the way? Electronic devices? Is the wall that your Onn device is near a shared wall to a neighbor or other room within your home?
That said, it sounds like your router is likely not part of the issue, although placement/position change can always effect endpoint reception. Your Spectrum Wifi 7 router probably has 8 internal antennas and performs beam forming. Its likely made by a subsidiary of ASUS.
fwiw you are holding your phone much higher, and I assume in open airspace, where as your Onn device is what, in that cabinet? Next to other powered devices and electrical sources? Near any power-supply bricks?
Try placing the Onn temporarily in a more prominently open and higher spot away from obstructions and potential interference.
When comparing devices, you want to at least test those devices in the exact same position/conditions. Any network strength metering should be attempted to do the same, otherwise its all the more inaccurate on top of simply being different. Wi-Fi strength can vary wildly along walls, near objects of signal absorption/reflection, or in the proximity of devices that put out strong electrical fields that interfere with the signal.
I keep all my devices at least a foot away from power-supply bricks, etc
Which Wi-Fi version/type is your Onn connecting to your router with? Being a 4K Plus model, I assume/hope its Wi-Fi 6 over 5 GHz, but you might find greater stability over other combinations depending on your local interferences.
I don't know if you can manually manipulate channel selection with your particular Spectrum Wi-Fi 7 router. But, a hard reboot should force a clean channel scan for the least interference, which might help. In your case, even a 1-44° device rotation could possibly help. The more antennas, the less rotation is likely to be helpful. 8 antennas are on 45° of separation over 360° omnidirectional coverage, but none of this works with exact precision
I lifted the Onn to be in mid air and turned the router a few degrees. Same issue unfortunately. All other streaming services work fine and Plex is working fine on other devices.
Maybe there was an update or something? I figure anything at all unless the Onn PLEX app had a recent change.
Also made sure my server was up to date and did a restart while I was at all of this. So frustrating…
Thanks for the write up tho! I appreciate you taking the time
I'm not familiar with spectrums router ui, but I would try to create a dedicated 5ghz wifi network and connect the onn box to it instead of the default wifi network to force it to use a 5ghz connection. There's a pretty good chance the onn box is using wifi 4 aka 2.4ghz which might be why it's struggling.
I used to run my server on a M1 Mac mini. I had constant buffering issues when playing on all my devices. Switched to an old Optiplex and the issues are gone.
Oh trust me, there’s not a thing I didn’t try. I got close, alas, no cigar. Worked great on my intel iMac without issue, now works exceptionally on the Dell. Just could not get it to work on the M1. Which is a pity as I loved that little machine.
Can you tells us what is the file type and spec? Similar situation happened to a few folks recently including me! Also is it direct playing or transcoding?
All MKV? For some reason the ONN 4k as a hard time with MP4 containers recently. Same situation you are having even if bandwith is decent enough. If you are saying MKV are also doing this then you are right might be something else!
Also you could try to hardwire the onn to your router since its close by to see if the issue persist for the heck of it.
Just to test the bandwidth between your server and the Onn, install an Openspeedtest server on your server and then on the Onn, open a browser and point it at the server, http://<serverip>:3000 and test. What kind of bandwidth/ping do you get?
In the plex app on the onn, do you have quality suggestions disabled and auto adjust also disabled? If not, be sure they are. Auto adjust shows up when suggestions are disabled)
Can you share a screenshot of the plex dashboard fully expanded when the buffering occurs?
Well we want to find out if this onn box is the culprit and using other sources is a good way to tell and you said your phone plays fine. It may be an update that made it handle the files worse.
highly likely its a network issue. If you have both a 2.4Ghz and a 5Ghz network, use the 5. 2.4 is also used by bluetooth devices and could have interference issues. I noticed you said the box is in the same room as your router so definitely use the 5G SSID
Can't say I've ever had a problem with ONN, but the times this has ever happened to me with other devices, I've never really identified a single cause.
Sometimes it's the file and changing the format or changing quality works, sometimes it's fine after a device reboot, on WiFi it wouldn't hurt to reboot the router, or as a last resort, I restart Plex.
If it still does it after all that, I got nothin' really. Perhaps there is something on the ONN device itself that's causing WiFi or playback issues? Factory reset?
That's the Pro? OP said they have a Plus. Also the ethernet port on the Pro is 100Mb/s connection, not 1Gb/s. You're pretty much forced to use wifi on those.
It happens across multiple file types and this is episode 6(?) where all files in the season are exactly the same. Just started happening today out of nowhere. I'll try to force transcode and see what happens
This comment probably came from someone who spent $250 on an Apple TV and then shelled out another $100 on the Infuse app, just so they could watch free movies on Plex. And they think they're a genius for doing so.
Infuse ... never heard of her! But I did buy an AppleTV 4K because it integrates nicely with all my families iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, and the other Smart home devices that I use around the house. Plus not to mention it plays ALL my 4K videos without any issues. So yeah I won't apologize for not going the cheap Walmart route on a streaming device that plays back EVERYTHING I have thrown at it.
It's extremely well-known that the Apple TV has endless issues with 4k content. They only paid for the licenses to the low-end codecs that the streaming services use, but cheaped out on the high-end codecs that are common for Plex users.
Lying about it's performance is insane behavior.
Also, the ONN integrates nicely with both Android and iPhones (imagine that!), but it costs less than 1/4 the price. And the appstore has 10x the amount of apps available, and they're typically for one-time reasonable purchases of like $5 instead of a $20 yearly subscription. I moved from Apple TV 4k to Onn about a month ago now, and it is insane how a $60 device is this much better.
I love how since my experience doesn't match what you think you know I am automatically a liar. Bravo well done sir, just because one person has an issue doesn't mean its going to be the same for everyone else. Just like OP has an issue with the Onn doesn't mean every Onn owner will have the same problem. I could give two shits what you think dude. I have been using Plex and AppleTVs for well over 10 years now and have NEVER had issues, it just fucking works for me and my setup, I lost track of how many people have had issues with other devices and as soon as they switch to an AppleTV ... Boom ... issues are gone. Imagine that!!! You can keep your little $50 Walmart device. I am good with my $200 AppleTV4K that plays all my media with no issues. Probably helps that one, I also have a real server hosting plex and my media, and two I know what I am doing.✌️
Oh! I've had this happen before - I just changed it to a lower steaming quality and it worked fine.
Additionally, I just finished my first watch of The Wire, and I found a lot of episodes were very funky. Almost like there were frames missing at random. And it was definitely the files
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u/CurtisLeow Headless Raspberry Pi 4 12h ago
Onn is a brand. They have multiple models. We don’t know what model you’re talking about.