Plex is both a free and premium service, and the premium subscription (Plex Pass) makes many additional features available. To get the most from Plex, an account can be created that will allow you to unlock its full potential. Also, ensure that the 'Enable Automatic Plex New Version Update' box is checked this will tell the router to update the Plex server to the latest available version for the R9000. Once the USB device is connected, head to NETGEAR Genie ( ) and click on the Plex Media Server tab.Īfter clicking the 'Enable Plex Media Server' checkbox, Plex may begin to download and install on the router. The first step is to attach USB storage, preferably a device that has enough space for the media you want to store (photos, videos, music, etc.) and also supports the faster USB 3.0 standard.

Enabling Plex on the R9000įirst, Plex needs to be enabled on the router in order for it to begin working. The below steps were performed with the factory NETGEAR firmware. Note: Third party firmware for the R9000 such as OpenWRT does not, at this time, support the onboard Plex server to our knowledge.

The onboard Annapurna Labs 1.7 GHz quad core processor does the heavy lifting not only for networking performance, but the Plex server as well. The NETGEAR R9000 Nighthawk is the very first consumer router to have a Plex Media Server built in - and fortunately, it's not only easy to get started with it, but it's a performer as well.

How to set up plex media server on usb