Added unmanaged switch- now running into a major issue

tntsniper

Weaksauce
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Jan 6, 2007
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So this is one that I've been banging my head against the wall for hours. I can usually figure things out through research, this however, I cannot find anything.

The Quick Version:
Plex works on wifi on the Samsung TV app fine, when I connect to a TP-Link TL-SG105 unmanaged switch, it will not.


The Detailed Version:
So I just got a 4k TV and tried streaming a very large 4K movie using the built in Plex app on my Samsung 65KS8000. It stuttered over my wireless network. I however, did have 1 hard wired jack by the TV, but it was being used by another device. I decided I would buy an unmanaged gigabit switch (i hate not home running, but I wasn't going to run a separate cable for this).

I get the switch yesterday, the TV and my other device are connected to the internet fine. Great! I then go to watch Plex on my KS8000 and then I start getting "Cannot connect to server". I spent 4 hours trying to figure this out and then just gave up at 2am. If I connect through my wifi, it works fine, but the second it goes through that unmanaged switch, it won't connect to plex.

Here's what I've done:

  • I attempted to use the TV browser to reach the server's IP 192.168.1.201:32400/web to no avail when using the switch. When using wifi, it goes through.
  • I can see the TV is listed as "local host" under dhcp leases in pfsense.
  • I tried to manually enter in the server's IP address and port through the TV app, but it didnt work.
What am I doing wrong here? Any help would be much appreciated.

Here's my setup:
pfsense router/firewall
netgear prosafe 24 port switch
3 ubiquity AC Pro's
ubiquity cloud key
TP-Link TL-SG105 (unmanaged) switch-- newly added
There's no other switches, this is the first time I have not home runned a connection.

Thanks in advance everyone!!
 
what's the other device that's plugged in to your switch?

also i'm sure you did but did you test the cable?

i didn't see it but did you try to go direct from the wall to the tv?
 
what's the other device that's plugged in to your switch?

also i'm sure you did but did you test the cable?

i didn't see it but did you try to go direct from the wall to the tv?

I have a iptv box in that same switch.

I did test the cable, used several different ones

I did try this, it works fine, it seems to only happen when the switch gets involved.

Thanks for the quick response
 
then it sounds like a faulty switch to me.

unless for some reason the iptv box is using more bandwidth than the tv causing the TV to lose it's mind.

i doubt the second.

i use a similar setup as you.

mine comes from a 16 port switch to an 8 port and has 2 computers and a wifi router connected to it.
 
then it sounds like a faulty switch to me.

unless for some reason the iptv box is using more bandwidth than the tv causing the TV to lose it's mind.

I had the IPTV off during testing, so it can't be it. The weird thing about all of this is that I can see the damn TV in dhcp leases.. It listed as "Local Host" which is odd, but its there. It connects to the internet fine, but it will not connect to my local Plex server at all.. It's almost like the switch is creating it's own subnet or something, but I can't figure it out.
 
in your plex server network settings, are you "requiring" secure connections? this can cause issues on your lan. you can try disabling that.

i like to leave that setting on "required" and then add this to my dns resolver custom options "server:private-domain: "plex.direct" "

damn forum keeps slipping in an emoji so here's a pic.

damn.emoji.jpg
 
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in your plex server network settings, are you "requiring" secure connections? this can cause issues on your lan. you can try disabling that.

i like to leave that setting on "required" and then add this to my dns resolver custom options "server:private-domain: "plex.direct" "

damn forum keeps slipping in an emoji so here's a pic.

View attachment 20053

I'll give this a shot, I'm starting to wonder if this is due to new security protocols they implemented in their new update. I did however change it to not requiring a secure connection and it didn't do anything unfortunately (but yea, I do want it to be a secure connection).
 
I'd say you're looking at a faulty switch. Have you tried any other devices connected to it? Maybe a laptop or something?
 
Okay... its definitely not the switch.. I did a bone head move last night... when I connected the TV directly to the jack, I didnt realize the TV picked up wifi and even though I was hardwired.. the TV was still using WiFi.. so i disabled wifi and then connected the TV directly to the jack and it is experiencing the same issues..

I added that command to dns resolver in pfsense and it didn't work :/.. at least I know its not the switch..
 
It's odd that the connection is fine when using my ubiquity aps.. the second o go hardwired I'm locked out.. am I missing something in pfsense?
 
Is the port the new switch is on vlan'd or something odd like that? Sounds like it's segregated from the local network somehow.
 
Is the port the new switch is on vlan'd or something odd like that? Sounds like it's segregated from the local network somehow.

I thought that.. but it's unmanaged and at the moment I don't have any vlans. I also am pretty sure it has nothing to do with the switch.. its doing it hard wired from the jack directly to the TV and it still does it
 
I thought that.. but it's unmanaged and at the moment I don't have any vlans. I also am pretty sure it has nothing to do with the switch.. its doing it hard wired from the jack directly to the TV and it still does it

I was referring to the prosafe being vlan'd, not the new one... sorry... from what got out of your posts is that you have a main switch and this is a single line to a IPTV box right? If somehow the prosafe was set to exclude local traffic on that port or something odd like that that would explain what's happening.

Dumb switches are pretty much just that, dumb. And pfsense unless you really customized the crap out of it you'd see the same issue on wireless and wired. That only leaves the prosafe, something in that is clipping your traffic. If you have an open port swap the line you're having problems with and see if they persist.

***Easiest way to test it is to plug in a laptop and see if you can reach the Plex server. If you can than it's an issue with the TV, if not it's the network.
 
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Try this...

Get a laptop with a ethernet and wireless. Bridge those connections and then connected wired directly to TV. If this fails I say you have a faulty port on the TV :/
 
I have a iptv box in that same switch.

I did test the cable, used several different ones

I did try this, it works fine, it seems to only happen when the switch gets involved.

Thanks for the quick response

It's not U-Verse is it? My first thought is that the switch is getting overloaded by IGMPv3 multi-cast packets, flooding them out to all the ports and it is overwhelming the smart TV's NIC. You might need to get a different switch, either one that supports VLANs or one that supports IGMP v3 snooping. I think the Netgear GS108E (whatever their semi-managed ones, the base GS108 does not support it and the T series only supports v1/v2).

Sorry it's been a while since I've used U-Verse so I'm not as familiar which best practices as I used to be.

EDIT: Okay, I got curious and started googling the issue again. It seems like GS108E has been tested and doesn't properly work with U-Verse. The GS108Tv2 with updated firmware does work, if forum users are to be believed ;-).
 
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It's not U-Verse is it? My first thought is that the switch is getting overloaded by IGMPv3 multi-cast packets, flooding them out to all the ports and it is overwhelming the smart TV's NIC. You might need to get a different switch, either one that supports VLANs or one that supports IGMP v3 snooping. I think the Netgear GS108E (whatever their semi-managed ones, the base GS108 does not support it and the T series only supports v1/v2).

Sorry it's been a while since I've used U-Verse so I'm not as familiar which best practices as I used to be.

EDIT: Okay, I got curious and started googling the issue again. It seems like GS108E has been tested and doesn't properly work with U-Verse. The GS108Tv2 with updated firmware does work, if forum users are to be believed ;-).

The TV box was turned off during testing ;)
 
The TV box was turned off during testing ;)
Just because it's off does not mean its not in some low powered state still sending packets. Might want to completely disconnect any uverse boxes anywhere in the home to test.
 
Unless it was unplugged, the main DVR never actually turns off, it just goes to sleep until it needs to serve up a recording or record a show.
 
Did the TV adopt the WiFi router as its primary gateway? Might be trying to use the WiFi router even though it has a wired connection. "Smart" TVs aren't known for actually being smart.
 
So... have you tried plugging a laptop in to this Ethernet jack to see if a computer displays the same symptoms as the TV?
 
Hi,

Not sure how it is in your contry, but in Belgium the TV box is pluged directly in the modem in in an switch in the modem, before the router.
The reason is the tv box does not get an IP on the local network. Wich mean taht you cannot ad switch on the this cable to plug something local in it.
Check where you cable is pluged in on the other side.

regards
 
tntsniper.
I have the same issue with netgear GS305 v3 switch un managed connected to a samsung smart tv Q55.
Did you finally found the solution ?

Regards
Mikael
 
tntsniper.
I have the same issue with netgear GS305 v3 switch un managed connected to a samsung smart tv Q55.
Did you finally found the solution ?

Regards
Mikael
Should have started your own thread. I read the entire thing for nothing...

For your situation, it may be different depending on what your setup is. If a mod can split your post and mine into its own thread, I can ask more questions there. Or a mod close this thread and tell you to start your own and I'll help there. :)
 
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