[h=2]Enabling iOS from outside of your home network[/h]In order to enable your iOS device to use the Plex iOS app to access your media from outside your home network there will typically be three steps required in addition to setting up the iOS device itself: 1) create a static hostname that you will point the Plex iOS app to within the "Settings" section of the Plex iOS app on your iOS device, 2) set up a static IP address for the Mac on which the Plex Media Manager (PMM) is running and 3) port forward port 32400 for the static IP address created in step 2. This section will walk you through all three steps.
1. Setup hostname. While there are many free services available, this wiki will use DynDNS (http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/). This link will enable you to create a free hostname as well as download an the DynDNS Updater (http://www.dyndns.com/support/) which is a an app that resides on the same machine on which your PMM runs that will constantly update DynDNS as to your external IP address. This may be required if your ISP dynamically changes the IP address of your router. If you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you get a static IP address from your ISP, this step is not required.
- a. Click on the first link above.
- b. Type in a hostname in the space provided (we will use “myownwebsite” for this example)
- c. Selected a domain from the dropdown box next to the input box (we will use “dyndns-free.com” for this example)
- d. The “Service Type” is Host with IP Address.
- e. The site will indicate your current IP address. Click on the hyperlink to fill the box with your current external IP address.
- f. Click “Add to Cart” at bottom
- g. Create your DynDNS account
- h. Download the DynDNS Updater via the second link below, launch it, and input the UserID and Password you created in step g. Don’t worry, it’s a daemon and runs in the background.
- i. Congrats, this step is done. You now own the web address “myownwebsite.dyndns-free.com”
2. Create your static IP address for Mac on which the PMM is running
- a. For this step, we will assume you are using an Apple product (Time Capsule, Airport Extreme, Airport Express).
- b. Open the Airport Utility on your Mac
- c. Select the Apple router on the left, and click on “Manual Setup”
- d. Select the “Internet” icon in the top menu
- e. Select the “DHCP” tab. Click on the “+” at the bottom of the screen
- g. Type in a Description – this can be whatever you want, for example “Home Theater Mac Mini” or whatever. Click ‘Continue’ (note: the default selection for “Reserve address for” is MAC address).
- h. In the next screen, type in the Mac’s MAC address, then select the static IP address you are assigning the Mac, for example 10.0.1.40. The address you should select should be anywhere from 10.0.1.1 to 10.0.1.200. (You can find your MAC address under System Preferences/Network/ and then choose how you are connected to the internet, for example “Ethernet” if wired and “Airport” if wireless. Select advanced and the ID should be available. It is a 12 digit alphanumeric code in a 00:11:22:33:aa:bb:cc format)
- i. Click “Done”
- j. DO NOT UPDATE YOUR ROUTER YET – but hey, congrats, you’ve just established a static IP address for your Mac
3. Port Forwarding If you are using a non-Apple router, you can goto www.portforward.com for steps on how to port forward.
- a. Still in the Airport Utility, select “Advanced” at the top
- b. Select the “Port Mapping” tab
- c. Click the “+” button
- d. For both the Public and Private UDP/TCP ports type in “32400”. This means you should type in “32400” 4 times.
- e. The “Private IP Address” is the static IP you just established in Step 2, for this example is is “10.0.1.40”
- f. Click “Continue”
- g. Type in a Description, for example “Plex for iOS”
- h. Don’t adjust anything else on this popup box and press “Done”
- i. Now Update your router with these new settings
- j. Congrats! You’ve just port forwarded!
4. Setting up the iOS device
- a. In the settings screen, select “Add a new server…”
- b. In the “Friendly Name” box, type in whatever you want…for this example, a logical selection would be “Home Theater Mac Mini” – this lets you know that when selected, you will be using the PMM on your Home Theater Mac Mini.
- c. Click on “Add a new connection”
- d. The “Host” is the DynDNS address you established in Step 1, for this example its “myownwebsite.dyndns-free.com”. If however your ISP assigns you a static IP address, and you skipped Step 1, you should instead input your router's static IP address.
- e. The “Port” is “32400”
- f. Click “Save”
- g. If you receive an error stating, "This server appears to be unreachable...", one possibility sometimes has to do with being connected to your local home network over wi-fi, and certain routers' inability to properly direct the flow of information. Try temporarily turning off the wi-fi of your phone long enough to add the server in the app, before re-activating the wi-fi on your phone.
- h. That’s it, you should be off and running, streaming glorious Plex media content over the internet from outside your home network. So choose this server whenever you are running the Plex iOS app from outside your home network.