External viewing consistently stopping working until I re-start server

[Ghunter91 2]

Hi, 

I am having to restart my Emby server every time I want to watch remotely. I have DDNS set up, the port forwarding is set up. Yet, majority of the time I want to connect outside of the home, I have to remote into my NAS, restart Emby for it to come online. 

I set a reboot schedule for my NAS daily hoping that would resolve, but unfortunately no.

Everything locally works as it should. 

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

[Luke 40128]

Hi, what exactly happens?

[Ghunter91 2]

Hi Luke, 

I am honestly not 100% sure. There's never any obvious errors on any part of my network. 

When I try and test, I turn my wifi off, close out of emby on my device and try and connect, it just spins until it takes me to the server selection menu and it does not work via my DDNS address, IP address, or trying to login in with username or password. Again, all issues resolve as soon as I restart the Emby Server. 

I can reach my TNAS via the DDNS fine, and my other application set up, so all my port forwarding and DDNS connections are working as expected from all apps that use it. It seems to be only Emby that keeps cutting out. 

I did have a suspicion it may have been the security features on my Netgear nighthawk router, but they are completely disabled now and the problems persist. 

Edited October 1, 2024 by Ghunter91

[Ghunter91 2]

I have an update. 

I moved my server from my NAS to my Gaming PC. It is still disconnecting randomly from any remote access until I restart the server. Then the process repeats itself. 

So, it's almost like there's a timeout on the port being open or something.  

[Neminem 899]

Does your Wan IP change when this happen ?

[Ghunter91 2]

I don't believe so, but I have emby set up for my DDNS address, then an app on my device that updates the Public IP in my DDNS provider if there are any changes. 

[Neminem 899]

Yes than Emby will have to be aware of this change.

And that happens on a restart.

I'm not sure how Emby handels this, dev's will have to answer.

[Carlo 4552]

Hi,

Is your gaming computer using an Ethernet cable or WiFi?

[Ghunter91 2]

Gaming computer is Wi-Fi but I have a static IP. 

The NAS when it was in use was direct Ethernet to the router. 

[Carlo 4552]

Please check and see if your WAN IP address is changed when this happens.

Does the Emby Dashboard show a different external/WAN IP than what is currently assigned to your router?

[Ghunter91 2]

Just noticed that WAN IP has changed, this is frustrating from Spectrum. I didn't have this issue with FiOS.

It doesn't show my IP in the dashboard. It only shows my DDNS address, which I thought would resolve problems like this. 

[Carlo 4552]

It could be caching of the DDNS record on the computer/device or upstream DNS you're using.
Next time this happens, try using canyouseeme.org. Put in your ddns entry and port that you have forwarded.

Assuming you haven't recently used this site it should resolve the ddns to your current/new IP.
If that doesn't work, try typing in the new IP manually.

I'm mostly interested to see if it shows the port open or not.

[Ghunter91 2]

I actually have been using this and it's been showing port closed until I restart the emby server. 

I've set up a dedicated IP on my VPN (previously had emby excluded from it, but now not). So seeing if the dedicated IP is going to keep it straight now ignoring the one from the ISP. 

[Ghunter91 2]

So dedicated IP didn't work. 

Showing up the correct IP but port is closed. 

[Carlo 4552]

This is the first mention of a VPN in use.
Is this something you just added or has this been installed the whole time?

A VPN can most definitely cause issues like this by changing the default routes on the computer running Emby!

[Ghunter91 2]

Yes I have a VPN, But I had a split tunnel excluding Emby from passing through the VPN. I thought if included Emby then adding a dedicated IP that it may resolve the issue. 

However I think I figured it out. I noticed UPNP was enabled on this router which was an oversight on my behalf (I'll pretend I'm not an IT Engineer for my day job).  No disconnect in over 24 hours. 

[Luke 40128]

Thanks for the update!