Plex Server Sharing - What You Need to Know




Plex Server Sharing - Here is What You Need to Know...

You can do some pretty cool stuff with Plex including sharing movies and shows with friends and family.

This is "Plex Server Sharing" and here is how it works





Let's say you recorded several TV series with your computer using your HDHomerun and an outdoor antenna. You can share them with other family members that live in the same house or several thousand miles away. In just a few simple steps we will show you how to set this up. If you like photos, the full Plex Server Sharing Instructions are here,

1. Make sure your Plex Server is connected and Signed In to your Plex Account.

2. Go to the Settings>Users Menu and under My Home select Friends.

3. Click the Invite Friends Button. This opens a small window that will let you invite someone to share your library.

4. Enter your Friends Email Address. Your Friend needs to have a Plex account, if not they will be asked to create one.

5. Click Next and select your Plex server on the left side. In this window you can choose by checking the boxes exactly what you would like to share: All Libraries, Movies Music and TV Shows.

6. Click the INVITE Button

7. Your friend or family member will receive an email telling them to accept the invitation. Once accepted, they will be able to see all your content that you shared in their Plex App.


Who Will Share Their Plex Content With You?


There are a couple of groups that have popped up online for members to get together and share Plex content.

This is where things get interesting although before we tell you where to find these groups, let's cover some commonly asked question about Plex Server Sharing first:

Question: Does sharing your Plex server use up your Computer's Memory (RAM) and Internet bandwidth?

Answer: Your computer will use more resources when it is acting as a server. This is why it's sometimes better if you have a dedicated computer or NAS that will happily perform Plex server duties.

Most of the time Plex uses minimal RAM and computer resources except when it comes to transcoding. This is where you will need the most power and a CPU that is powerful enough to handle the job. 

If you plan on doing a lot with Plex server sharing, we recommend that you read more about what makes The Best Plex Media Server.

Your Internet Bandwidth will not be used if you are streaming content from your Plex server at home and use multiple devices to connect to it.

If others are streaming content from your server this would count against your upload speed. The files they are streaming would count against their bandwidth. 

This is why it's a good idea to limit the amount of people connecting to your Plex Server at the same time if you have limited bandwidth or a slow Internet provider.  

You can limit the amount of data used on the default Plex port.
This can be done at the router in the "Quality of Service" (QOS) menu. The default port that Plex uses is 32400.


Question: Is Plex Server Sharing secure?

Answer: Since you know who your sharing content with it is more secure than a public connection. Plex does use a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection to MyPlex,  although the connections between the clients are not secure and are in the open.

Some Plex users will only share content among family members on their home network and will only share outside their network through a VPN. You can read more about VPNs here.

Where to Share Plex Content


If you have a speedy Internet Connection and are interested in sharing content here are two places you can find other Plex users will to share content with you:


David's World Online - This is a social media site that has a special Plex group where members can find other members that would like to share content.

Join David's World Online


Reddit -  Has a special sub-reddit section of users willing to share content using Plex Server Sharing.

Visit Reddit


Roku Rocks Facebook Group - From time to time we have members willing to share Plex content with other members.

Join Roku Rocks



Still Learning About Plex? 

These articles may be of interest:

-  How To Watch Plex on Roku
-  Best Apps in the Unsupported Plex App Store









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