Plex - Getting Started

How to access

This assumes you've created a Plex.tv account, been invited to my personal Plex server and accepted the invite to it.

Make sure to log in to app.plex.tv with the same email/account as the one you received the invite on.
Once logged in, you should automatically have access to my Plex servers. The primary server should be called Cactflix [Main].

Costs

My Plex server isn't free for me to host. I also spend time making sure it's running optimally and that media is kept up-to-date.
If you are able to, feel free to chip in with any amount you can afford to :)

PayPal
Revolut: @decicus
Ko-fi
Liberapay - For recurring payments
Twitch - In case you wanna use your Twitch Prime subscription :)

Cryptocurrencies:

Bitcoin: 1PPYK5bJ9TZVfxYBmAPF4Xcb6rHF2sEzzK
Dogecoin: DECicUS4MANNEnWNdjLvxfa3who5DmohG5
Ethereum / Polygon (MATIC) / USDT etc.: 0xE66Ff6B10FC7a77a8e7c4dfEd5Ad122c47D6a777
- I accept most common tokens on both Ethereum and the Polygon networks <3

Transparency

When using my Plex server I will have access to see the following information about your streaming:

What media you're streaming from my server, including full playback history of the media you have previously streamed from my server.
The web browser or device (TV, phone, game console etc.) you are using or have been using.
Your IP address, including IP address history.
Timestamp of where you are in media (movies / TV shows) you're currently watching.

You can have access to this information too via a tool called Tautulli, just let me know if you want access (I have to tick a checkbox).

Normally I don't access any of this information, it would only really come up whenever:

You report an issue, I use it to see the technical details for troubleshooting.
I am doing media maintenance (mostly deleting) and trying to figure out if someone is currently watching a show.
- I don't wanna delete a show if someone is in the middle of watching it :P

Location & Performance

The Plex server is located in Germany. Depending on your own location, the server may not perform optimal due to how the internet works.
I also expect you have a decent enough internet connection to handle the streaming. You can turn down the quality if you have issues with buffering.

The server runs on an i5-12500 using the integrated graphics for transcoding (Intel QuickSync).
There's mostly 1080p content on there (assuming it is available), with little-to-none 4K content. This is mainly for storage and bandwidth reasons.

Whenever possible, I highly recommend using one of the official Plex client apps as it supports "direct streaming" (which helps with performance, speed and quality).

Mobile

If you're not a Plex Pass user, then mobile streaming & sync with Plex (at least on Android / iOS) has an additional cost to the company behind the Plex software.

Quote from Plex:
Until the mobile app is unlocked (through an in-app purchase or a Plex Pass subscription), video and music streamed from a Plex Media Server has a 1 minute limit, and photos will be watermarked.

The in-app purchase is one-time cost of 5 USD, which you have to pay through the Android / iOS app.
Plex has guides on how to do this for both Android and iOS:

Alternatively, you pay 5 USD per month for Plex Pass, but that's unnecessary if you only need access on mobile.
Plex Pass is mostly useful if you host your own Plex server.

If you only plan to watch Plex via the browser, desktop app or TV (either via smart TV app or devices such as Chromecast), then there should be no additional cost.

If you want to read more about this particular topic, I suggest you read this support article: Plex Support | Plex: Free vs. Paid

Suggestions / Requests

If you want to request something (TV show / movie):

Go to overseerr.decicus.com
Log in with your Plex account
Request gets added to the queue and will be manually processed when I have time, if it's daytime EU, usually within a few hours.

For any other questions / inquiries:

Email: alex@thomassen.dev
Discord: @Decicus

No guarantees that I can get what you want, but I'll try (as long as it's a reasonable request). :)

Tips when getting started with Plex

For all of these tips, make sure you have already logged in on app.plex.tv.

Disabling junk

Default quality

For every device you log into (your phone, different web browsers, the official Plex client etc.) you should set the default quality to "Maximum" as long as your connection to the Plex server is good enough.

For some reason Plex has decided that the default quality is 720p @ 2 mbps (in other words, not as good as it can be) and that this setting doesn't sync between devices.

See embedded guides below for the relevant devices. Note that they were made in 2022, so the user interface might be slightly different than the most up-to-date versions of the apps.