Can connect to server externally, but not internally.

[kevinyoki 1]

I have emby server running on a windows mini pc connected to wifi in my home. I can connect and watch things just fine outside my home network (wifi on my laptop, wifi & 4G on my phone) but I cannot connect with any other windows computers inside my home network. Always getting "We're unable to connect to the selected server right now. Please ensure it is running and try again." I've already looked through countless threads on this forum with similar issues. I'm not too tech savvy but I've done a lot of troubleshooting.

• Tried everything here already https://emby.media/support/articles/Connectivity.html 
• Tried turning off firewall on both ends (I do not have third party firewall nor VPNs)
• Tried setting network profiles to private
• Tried forward TCP Port 8096 both internal and external
• Tried different browsers (with http) and the emby theater windows app
• Tried connecting the server via ethernet cable and wifi
• Turned on "media streaming options" in windows control panel on all devices

Strangely, I can access the server on my phone (via app or mobile browser) when it's connected to my home wifi. It's just my windows computer/laptop that cannot get access. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edited April 27, 2024 by kevinyoki

[Abobader 3464]

Hello kevinyoki,

** This is an auto reply **

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[pwhodges 2012]

First thing to check: is your server machine's networking set to "public" - it should be "private".

Paul

[kevinyoki 1]

Yes. It is set to private on all computers.

[pwhodges 2012]

Are you trying to access internally using your external address?  Some routers allow this, others don't, or it may be an option.  Try using your server's local address.

Paul

[kevinyoki 1]

Yes, I have been using the local address since the start. Although I have attempted using the external address to see if it would work.

[kevinyoki 1]

update: after a few days it started working randomly and now I'm able to connect locally. I didn't do anything besides maybe reboot the systems (which I obviously tried before). Not sure if it was an update. Thank you for attempting to help.

[Luke 42080]

Hi, thanks for following up.

[kevinyoki 1]

update: problem has surfaced again. I have not made any changes whatsoever - it just gives me the "Unable to Reach Server" error. 

[Luke 42080]

8 minutes ago, kevinyoki said:

update: problem has surfaced again. I have not made any changes whatsoever - it just gives me the "Unable to Reach Server" error. 

HI, can you show a screenshot of the message that you get? thanks.

[kevinyoki 1]

[Luke 42080]

Just now, kevinyoki said:

What Emby app are you trying to connect from? Are you sure your server is running?

[kevinyoki 1]

I'm using Chrome browser. Same error on edge and emby theater. Yes my server is running. No VPNs etc (refer to my first post)

[Luke 42080]

27 minutes ago, kevinyoki said:

I'm using Chrome browser. Same error on edge and emby theater. Yes my server is running. No VPNs etc (refer to my first post)

Are you sure the server address you entered is correct? Where did you get it from?

[kevinyoki 1]

I got it from my server dashboard. putting in the address directly does not work either

[Luke 42080]

29 minutes ago, kevinyoki said:

I got it from my server dashboard. putting in the address directly does not work either

OK, could be windows firewall related. I would suggest checking out our Connection Troubleshooter:

Connectivity

Please try the steps listed there and let us know which ones succeed and which ones do not. Thanks.

[Happy2Play 9781]

Is your LAN assigned via Emby Network menu?

Is the hostmachine LAN ip changing?

 

But sort of does not make sense as if LAN ip changed then would assume port forwarding would have broken also so no external access.

Edited May 1, 2024 by Happy2Play

[kevinyoki 1]

6 hours ago, Luke said:

OK, could be windows firewall related. I would suggest checking out our Connection Troubleshooter:

Connectivity

Please try the steps listed there and let us know which ones succeed and which ones do not. Thanks.

I've tried this already as mentioned in my OP. Nothing worked.

6 hours ago, Happy2Play said:

Is your LAN assigned via Emby Network menu?

Is the hostmachine LAN ip changing?

 

But sort of does not make sense as if LAN ip changed then would assume port forwarding would have broken also so no external access.

I haven't touched anything in the emby network menu, so they're at default values (although I've tried to manually set the local IP to no avail). The host machine's LAN IP is not changing but here is a pic if it helps:

 

[kevinyoki 1]

Any help please?

[kevinyoki 1]

Think I fixed it. I literally copy-pasted my OP into Google Gemini and it gave me a list of suggestions and one of them worked. I should have just used AI to begin with and not wasted my time posting here.

Anyway, the solution was to run command prompt as administrator, input "ipconfig /flushdns" and restart computer.

[rbjtech 5284]

8 hours ago, kevinyoki said:

Anyway, the solution was to run command prompt as administrator, input "ipconfig /flushdns" and restart computer.

AI at it's best - All that does is flush the DNS cache - you are not even using DNS for an IP address based connection....

I suspect it will break again as you have an unstable connection - I suspect it's likely the wifi connection.