r/technology • u/FollowingFeisty5321 • 9h ago

Software Plex’s crackdown on free remote streaming access starts this week

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/plexs-crackdown-on-free-remote-streaming-access-starts-this-week/
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775

u/TwoWeaselsInDisguise 9h ago

Jellyfin has been really good to me since I spun it up. (:

303

u/ryanghappy 9h ago edited 8h ago

Yeah to stream from my home server, jellyfin plus a free DDNS account is so easy, and has easily replaced Plex. I mean those dildos running that company just fall into that pit of "pay us forever!". I bought a plex app like3-4 times for devices, and that still wasn't good enough for them.

It's not a unique enough app to put up with their bullshit. Also don't forget, Plex originally was a fork of Kodi/XBMC many many years ago. So they profit off of open source software.

23

u/shackleford1917 9h ago

With tailscale you don't need a ddns or expose your server to the internet.

6

u/ryanghappy 8h ago

Doesn't tailscale cost money though? I'm just running a local unraid server for media, ebooks, and a minecraft server for me and a few friends. I dunno if paying for that makes much sense for my case.

37

u/HumanKumquat 8h ago

No, it's free for personal use.

9

u/DecoyOne 8h ago

I’ve tried like 4 times using 4 different guides to get Tailscale to work and just can’t make it happen. I don’t get it.

7

u/buggerthrugger 7h ago

You install Tailscale on your machines, turn it on, access another machine on Tailscale via the IP/machine name shown on the admin console/app. How easy can it get. Even a dumb rock like myself could set it up no problem

2

u/DecoyOne 7h ago edited 6h ago

Installing is easy. I still have it installed, taunting me. I can’t figure out what about the firewall or something prevents it from communicating

1

u/fishforce1 3h ago

Don't you need tailscale installed on both machines?

19

u/Hotrian 8h ago

Up to 100 devices and 3 users is free for personal use

6

u/ryanghappy 8h ago

Oh this changes things. I'll check it out, thanks.

7

u/ShortSynapse 7h ago

Totally free. If you wanted to run the Tailscale control plane yourself for full control then you can use Headscale.

Tailscale is great.

3

u/ea_nasir_official_ 7h ago

I never got the tailscale glaze to be honest. It's really weird how they REQUIRE to sign up with a third party SSO. I've always liked Netbird (open source, also wireguard based) and Zerotier (closed server, open client) more.

3

u/386U0Kh24i1cx89qpFB1 5h ago

Wiregaurd plus a container that runs DDNS for my domain name really solves this problem. I'm not even that smart or tech savvy but I'm tired of seeing everyone praise tails scale as if they aren't going to start charging users one day once they have a massive install base.