"Portable Plex" for Tesla Camping

[PhilDavid]

Has anyone figured out the best way to have a Portable Plex server for accessing media when camping and away from Internet connectivity? I guess you would need to setup a portable WIFI hot spot that runs on battery and connect a device that runs Plex and connect to that device by IP address.

Has anyone done this and what equipment did you use?

 

[noah82]

You can do this with a laptop and a mobile hotspot or even a Raspberry Pi and a USB hard drive attached to it.

 

[hitparader]

Tablet with cellular connectivity? I have had decent luck running ATT TV and Plex on my iPad, with the right case, can practically put anywhere while camping.

 

[paulk]

I use a western digital passport wireless pro. It’s got a built in Plex server, as long as you don’t need to transcode it’s fine.

 

[beatle]

Are you talking about running a portable Plex server or just a Plex client? I'd think you'd just want a client, and your Plex server would remain at home.

If you want to watch things from your Plex server without any kind of internet connectivity, you'll want to cache the content you want to watch on your device, but you'll need a Plex pass to do that.

 

[webbah]

Are you talking about running a portable Plex server or just a Plex client? I'd think you'd just want a client, and your Plex server would remain at home.

If you want to watch things from your Plex server without any kind of internet connectivity, you'll want to cache the content you want to watch on your device, but you'll need a Plex pass to do that.

^^this^^. I watch Plex on the model 3 screen through the browser with a hotspot, but when I travel and know I won’t have connectivity I use my iPAD Pro to cache the content (with a Plex Pass). I sleep in the car with a DreamCase and find using the iPad better anyway as I can just put it on the parcel shelf while chilling in bed.

 

[PhilDavid]

^^this^^. I watch Plex on the model 3 screen through the browser with a hotspot, but when I travel and know I won’t have connectivity I use my iPAD Pro to cache the content (with a Plex Pass). I sleep in the car with a DreamCase and find using the iPad better anyway as I can just put it on the parcel shelf while chilling in bed.

I know I can always use a laptop or tablet to watch locally cached Plex content but what I'm looking to so is to be able to have the Plex client experience on the MCU itself so you gain the benefit of the immersive audio in the car. Any way to access a completely local instance of Plex on the MCU using the car's browser?

 

[PhilDavid]

I use a western digital passport wireless pro. It’s got a built in Plex server, as long as you don’t need to transcode it’s fine.

Is there any way you can post a video showing how this works when you are not in an area with cellphone or WIFI coverage?

 

[beatle]

I think your best bet for getting a Plex client on the MCU itself would be via an HDMI input (need aftermarket kit for this). You won't be able to install apps like Plex on the MCU, and even if you could, there is no internal storage on which to cache content. If you go the HDMI box route, you'll also need a secondary device with internal storage and an HDMI output, then sending it to the MCU via HDMI. I believe audio may still need to be bluetooth, however.

 

[PhilDavid]

I think your best bet for getting a Plex client on the MCU itself would be via an HDMI input (need aftermarket kit for this). You won't be able to install apps like Plex on the MCU, and even if you could, there is no internal storage on which to cache content. If you go the HDMI box route, you'll also need a secondary device with internal storage and an HDMI output, then sending it to the MCU via HDMI. I believe audio may still need to be bluetooth, however.

Is it not possible to have a Plex client accessible via HTTP from the MCU?

 

[ucmndd]

You have a very strange definition of camping.

 

[beatle]

Is it not possible to have a Plex client accessible via HTTP from the MCU?

The browser is so laughably bad I don't even consider the car to have one. I have not tried to use Plex via the MCU, but I thought you were planning for a situation with no internet connectivity.

If your laptop or tablet has bluetooth, you could pair it to the car and output the sound via the car's bluetooth input as if you were streaming music. This would give you audio from the car and the display on your device.

 

[jimmythefrack]

I use this
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P5QDQ1B/
with a 1 tb ssd.

As for caching content playon.tv works really well.

 

[ucmndd]

If your laptop or tablet has bluetooth, you could pair it to the car and output the sound via the car's bluetooth input as if you were streaming music. This would give you audio from the car and the display on your device.

At least on my car, there’s a very noticeable audio lag that makes this a non-starter.

 

[Chaserr]

Mine has the same bluetooth lag. No input lag using one of those 12V to radio adapters connected to the laptop's headphone jack.

 

[PhilDavid]

The browser is so laughably bad I don't even consider the car to have one. I have not tried to use Plex via the MCU, but I thought you were planning for a situation with no internet connectivity.

If your laptop or tablet has bluetooth, you could pair it to the car and output the sound via the car's bluetooth input as if you were streaming music. This would give you audio from the car and the display on your device.

The immersive audio feeling is the biggest reason why I'd like to get "offline" Plex to work in the car when parked away from cellphone reception. Wiht Bluetooth you are going to deal with audio lag and I honest just want to keep the clean look of the interior without cluttering it with anything else if I can avoid it.

Is there no "box" that I can just power up in the car that will give a WIFI signal for the car's MCU to connect to and then stream a movie with the WIFI connection with the full surround sound audio intact?

 

[Safari23]

I use a western digital passport wireless pro. It’s got a built in Plex server, as long as you don’t need to transcode it’s fine.

Great product but can't stream to Bluetooth devices / speakers like Bose etc...which would be a great feature enhancement and be a game changer for off grid configurations. That's what I'm looking for. Is it out there?