Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
OK, stop the maniacal laughter, because there's a slight problem: as long as the DNS server
on your Apple TV is set to your PlexConnect server, your Apple TV must be able to connect
to the PlexConnect server to access the Internet and function in any meaningful way. That's
both a hardware (because if you close the lid or turn the computer off, your Apple TV can't
connect to the Internet) and a software problem.
The software problem is easy to fix: set up PlexConnect as a
daemon
, a process that runs in
the background and relaunches automatically when you restart the Mac. Here's how to do
that:
1. StopthecurrentPlexConnectprocessbyswitchingbacktotheTerminalwindow
and pressing Control-C.
2. Enter
cd "/Applications/PlexConnect-master/support/OSX"
3. Enter
sudo ./install.bash
andprovideyouradministratorpasswordwhen
prompted.
Note:
If you need to restart, stop, or uninstall the PlexConnect daemon, check out
PlexConnect Install Guide Mac
for the necessary commands.
Thatsolvesthesoftwaresideoftheproblem.Asforthehardwareside,theobviousansweris
to dedicate a machine, like a Mac mini, to Plex and PlexConnect.
Unfortunately, not everyone has a spare Mac laying around. In that case, my advice is to set
up PlexConnect only on Ethernet. When you want to use PlexConnect, plug in the Ethernet
cable. If your server isn't online, just unplug the cable and the Apple TV will switch back to
an unblemished Wi-Fi connection.
Work Around Regional Restrictions
An annoyance of the Internet is the artificial borders erected by content providers. For in-
stance, if you're an American traveling abroad with an Apple TV, you may not be able to ac-
cess the streaming services you've paid for. And even if you can access those services, your
content options will almost certainly be different than they are at home.
There are a few ways to get around this. One is to manually change your DNS server to one
that sits inside the desired country. To do this, open Settings on the Apple TV, and navigate
to General > Network > Wi-Fi and choose the name of your Wi-Fi network. Select Configure
DNSandchooseManual;thenentertheIPaddressofthedesiredDNSserver.Unfortunately,
public DNS servers come and go all the time, so you may have to do this regularly; search
Google for
public dns server list by country
to find sites listing them.
