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How to stream from Real-Debrid with Stremio to multiple source IP addresses

This guide illustrates how to use the Stremio Server to stream content from debrid providers using Stremio, to multiple Stremio clients on multiple source IPs, simultaneously.

Note that while streaming/transcoding torrents works across all (tested) Stremio clients, the streaming of Debrid/HTTP streams is only currently supported in v5 of https://web.strem.io, and the ElfHosted instance of the same.

Tip

This is a lightweight alternative to the Infinite Streaming Plex guide. The Infinite Streaming Plex solution utilizes Zurg to permit simultaneous streams from multiple source IPs, but doesn't integrate as easily into the existing Stremio Addons ecosystem.

The advantages of this solution are:

  • Use the highly-polished, multi-platform Stremio app
  • Isolate all your Stremio traffic behind your own VPN subscription
  • Safely play debrid content from multiple clients / sources without triggering Debrid simultaneous-IP bans

The disadvantages are:

  • All streams are played via ElfHosted's infrastructure, so it's inevitably not as speedy / performant as a "native" Stremio install, and throughput / transcodes are constrained. (Currently 2 concurrent transcodes with 100Mbps throughput limit)
  • IP restriction - your VPN-connected Stremio Server still counts as an debrid source IP, so if you tried to stream media from any other source (like an unconfigured Stremio client, or Plex via Zurg), you'd still run into issues. The safest solution would be to use the Stremio Server for all your Stremio + Debrid activity.

Requirements

Pre-existing:

Optionally:

What if I don't have a VPN?

PrivateInternetAccess is known to work well with our solution, and is a whitelisted provider for RealDebrid - you can pick up a subscription for < $2/month with a multi-year commitment.

How to set it up

Get the apps

  1. Create an ElfHosted account
  2. Subscribe to an instance of Stremio Server
  3. Log into your ElfHosted dashboard, at https://<your username>.elfhosted.com

Setup Stremio

Navigate to Stremio Server from your app dashboard (https://<your username>.elfhosted.com) - the Stremio Web UI will automatically configure your streaming server.

Confirm the setup by navigating to Settings → Streaming, and configure per the screenshot below - set your transcoding profile to vaapi-renderD128.

Now stream your media! You can check your pod logs using Kubernetes Dashboard to confirm it's being correctly transcoded.

FAQ

How does it work?

Here's a rough diagram illustrating the process. The server will transcode any media, even if that "transcode" is simply the a "copy" of the original media (because the client is able to play the media without alteration)

flowchart TD
    A[Stremio Client #1] <-->|Get URL/Torrent| B(Stremio Server)
    A1[Stremio Client #2] <-->|Get URL/Torrent| B(Stremio Server)
    B <-->C["VPN (single IP)"]
    C <-->D[Torrent sources]
    C <-->E["HTTP Sources (Debrid, etc)"]

Why do I need a VPN?

The Stremio Server is capable of downloading torrents, and interacting with your private media / debrid providers on your behalf (which may have source IP address limitations). To this end, you need to bring your own (BYO) VPN in order to use Stremio Server on ElfHosted. We support any VPN provider supported by gluetun, and provider-specific configuration is collected when you subscribe to the appropriate product from the store.

How do I know it's working?

Depending on your Stremio Client, if the Stremio Server fails, the client may play the media directly without the server.

You can use Kubernetes Dashboard to examine the pod logs, and confirm that a stream is correctly transcoding.

Stremio Server won't start without a connected VPN, so if troubleshooting, examine the gluetun container logs in the pod, and confirm that your VPN isn't erroring.

How many concurrent streams can I play?

Currently, the concurrency is limited to 2 transcodes, and 100Mbps total throughput. Following initial user testing / feedback, we may roll out further "plus" subscriptions with higher limits.

Client compatibility

Testing has shown that not all Stremio clients support transcoding HTTP (Debrid) streams via Stremio Server. In the case of these clients, the client will simply stream the content directly, without transcoding / proxying. The difference seems to be between v4 and v5 of the client, and as further information is discovered, it'll be added below:

Client Version Torrents Debrid Tested On
https://web.strem.io 5.0.0-beta8 ✅ ✅ 9 Apr 2024
ElfHosted Stremio Web 5.0.0-beta8 ✅ ✅ 9 Apr 2024
https://app.strem.io 4.4.167 ✅ ❌ 9 Apr 2024
OSX Desktop 4.4.168 ✅ ❌ 9 Apr 2024
nVidia Shield TBC (latest?) ✅ ❌ 9 Apr 2024

How do I get help?

For specific support re your ElfHosted configuration / account, see the ElfHosted support options

  1. Other than an entrypoint change to enforce waiting for a VPN to be established before running the server! ↩