Plex allows you to add a list of local IPs that can access your server without authentication, just have to be sure to do it while your internet is up or else you won’t be able to log in to edit the setting.

Agree, love my NUC but it seems the last few years they haven’t been the best option. It seems like they lost touch with what people wanted from them around the time they started releasing models that supported a full size GPU.