Split Tunnel VPN has no video playback

[kingy444 111]

I have used a OpenVPN split tunnel previously without issue, post a hardware failure I have moved to WireGuard and now having some issues with Remote Media playback

Full Tunnel Wireguard playback works fine in all circumstances with the Tunnel subnet specified as a remote connection whitelist.

Once i configure split tunnel the EMBY iOS app can still browse the media but cannot play the media
On the same device I can use all features in the Safari browser without issue (including playback) - so the tunnel is working and media playback works, but the iOS app is not playing the media

There is some difference in how playback is handled for Safari vs the iOS app inbuilt

I have attached the debug log of both playbacks from the same device. The APP just spins and never loads, SAFARI is basically instantaneous

embyserver-63859004586.txt

[kingy444 111]

I don’t have a lot of places I can test this next scenario but I suspect it’s going to be an important part of diagnosing the issue

 

Visiting the in-laws I was able to test their wifi, giving some different results.

 

When connected to their WIFI and activating my VPN the Emby iOS app is able to play media perfectly fine through the VPN

 

Once I disconnect from the WIFI and am on my Mobile Data again the Emby iOS app is again only able to browse the library and cannot playback media

[Luke 38844]

HI, did you figure this out? it is probably due to the way the vpn is configured.

[kingy444 111]

I went looking at the VPN first too. But logically with all the testing that doesn’t make a lot of sense now:

- EMBY via SAFARI works fine over the VPN regardless of the full or split tunnel, and regardless of the internet source

- EMBY iOS app CAN browse the media library fine on the split tunnel, but CANNOT playback the media.

- EMBY iOS app CAN playback media when using the split tunnel on a WIFI (on tested this scenario once)

- EMBY iOS app CAN playback media when I turn off all mobile data and hotspot using my wife’s phone as HotSpot (iPhone treats this somewhat like a WIFI - and I can see in the connection it is using her Mobiles IP address, both with same carrier too)

- I can remotely playback the media directly via a different app using a basic SMB connection

 

The fact that Safari, WIFI (VPN) and SMB direct all work points me to something in how the EMBY app is handling the network traffic. The VPN can establish a connection into the network fine and talk to all resources, it is only the APP that fails to get the content

I have also tried the below in EMBY backend:

- Removing the VPN subnet from the whitelist. This results in zero remote connectivity so the VPN is being seen correctly

- All 3 options in the remote header ip section

- Remote folder setting on the library (The EMBY library is already an IP based SMB share so I didn’t expect much from this one)

[kingy444 111]

To say all that another way:

Routing seems to be working from the above analysis and being able to reach resources through other means

It seems that the iOS app itself is treating the mobile data connection differently  

[SelfHoster 1]

I am glad thatI found this topic because I thought I was going crazy.

For me my WireGuard VPN has worked just fine in the last month that I was traveling on my iPhone and iPad.

However, now suddenly something broke without having changed anything.

I have my local network on 192.168.1.0/24 and my WireGuard tunnel on 10.6.0.0/24, so I set both as AllowedIPs in the WireGuard tunnel config.

Now suddenly playback is not starting anymore when using the app. I can browse all media but not start.

When I change the AllowedIPs to 0.0.0.0/0 playback starts to work again.

Something must have changed in the last couple of days which seems to coincide with the iOS app update.

Edited August 15, 2024 by SelfHoster

[kingy444 111]

Any update on this one ?

 

The current versions still appear to be broken.

 

Its not the tunnel, as I have been able to stream media over the tunnel using other apps.

 

Also the fact I can browse the EMBY Library fine over the VPN indicates the tunnels communication is working.

 

There is something about how the app is trying to initiate media playback when over the MOBILE DATA and VPN, because as mentioned the VPN and WIFI seems to be ok (only one place to test that at)

I can also playback media fine from EMBY from the same device when using safari or chrome. It is just the iOS app presenting the issue

 

Edited November 7, 2024 by kingy444

[Luke 38844]

On 11/7/2024 at 3:13 AM, kingy444 said:

Any update on this one ?

 

The current versions still appear to be broken.

 

Its not the tunnel, as I have been able to stream media over the tunnel using other apps.

 

Also the fact I can browse the EMBY Library fine over the VPN indicates the tunnels communication is working.

 

There is something about how the app is trying to initiate media playback when over the MOBILE DATA and VPN, because as mentioned the VPN and WIFI seems to be ok (only one place to test that at)

I can also playback media fine from EMBY from the same device when using safari or chrome. It is just the iOS app presenting the issue

 

@kingy444do you also have a reverse proxy?

[kingy444 111]

24 minutes ago, Luke said:

@kingy444do you also have a reverse proxy?

No reverse proxy - just accessing server via local 10.x.x.x:8096 address (as VPN is handling the traffic)

So no DNS resolution in play either. 

Browsing the library contents works fine on the iOS app via VPN, it’s just media playback that’s busted.
 

Is there a way to generate debug logs from the iOS app side to see what its trying to do ?

[kingy444 111]

In case it was missed along the way too - my suspicions are that because the device is using 4G it tries to playback via the public IP of the emby server.

if I use the device is connected to wifi at my sisters house (and using my VPN) remote playback works fine

 

This issue only exists on mobile data

[Luke 38844]

2 minutes ago, kingy444 said:

In case it was missed along the way too - my suspicions are that because the device is using 4G it tries to playback via the public IP of the emby server.

It's possible although I don't see how the server address when browsing could be different from playback. 

What address does your server dashboard display as the remote address?

[kingy444 111]

If you mean on the main dashboard, that’s just my ISP address as I have no DNS configured.

 

if you mean the device logon, it’s assigned the IP from within the VPN tunnel (which is different subnet to the LAN subnet)

 

this subnet is configured as a Local subnet in network settings too

 

[Luke 38844]

On 11/16/2024 at 10:41 PM, kingy444 said:

If you mean on the main dashboard, that’s just my ISP address as I have no DNS configured.

 

if you mean the device logon, it’s assigned the IP from within the VPN tunnel (which is different subnet to the LAN subnet)

 

this subnet is configured as a Local subnet in network settings too

 

Hi, did you figure anything out related to this?

[kingy444 111]

Nothing further than the above unfortunately.

Can’t make sense of why browsing is ok, but media playback is not.
 

My suspicion is the mobile app is trying to make a direct connection via public ip due to mobile data.

ie.

Mobile Data = use public ipv4 address

Wifi = use internal 10.x.x.x address

 

Where if I visit the emby server via internal 10.x.x.x address in safari both playback and browsing work (suspect the web browser doesn’t know of the public address)

[Luke 38844]

Quote

My suspicion is the mobile app is trying to make a direct connection via public ip due to mobile data.

Should it not be doing this? Is the public ip displayed as your remote address on your server dashboard?

[kingy444 111]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

Should it not be doing this? Is the public ip displayed as your remote address on your server dashboard?

When not using a VPN it definitely makes sense to use the public IP on a mobile connection. But if I can browse my media via VPN in the app fine then the app is also fully capable of using the tunnel, it’s just not initiating playback using the correct endpoint (assumption of course not seeing code or logs from device)

If the app can browse the metadata/library contents over VPN it should be able to use it to play media (just as the phones mobile browser can)

 

To confirm, it is my public ip - I did try something today (to no avail) and set the external ip in emby as my 10.x address. So both internal and external as http://10.x.x.x:8096 - but yea still no playback from the iOS app. (Which does conflict with my assumptions so far)

 

When I say wifi is using to 10.x.x.x address I’m not referring to my home wifi, I’m referring to any wifi. Even those using 172.x or 192.x address spaces.

 

But in all situations the safari / chrome (whatever browser you want to use on the phone) seems to work fine - I haven’t been able to work out what the browser is doing differently that the iOS app itself cannot

 

[Luke 38844]

Hi, can you give this another try?

[kingy444 111]

On 16/01/2025 at 02:11, Luke said:

Hi, can you give this another try?

Same issue unfortunately. Browser works fine, app does not