I’m going to be away from home for a few weeks and would like to access my computer (LMDE) while I’m away. Remote desktop connection would be ideal, just file transfer would be acceptable.
Is a VPN necessary, or can port forwarding be good enough for a one time use?
What software/networking recommendations do you have?
Everyone says tailscale but if you don’t want to setup an account with google or Microsoft login, Netbird is the way to go.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
Fewer Letters More Letters AP WiFi Access Point CGNAT Carrier-Grade NAT DNS Domain Name Service/System ISP Internet Service Provider NAS Network-Attached Storage NAT Network Address Translation SSH Secure Shell for remote terminal access VNC Virtual Network Computing for remote desktop access VPN Virtual Private Network VPS Virtual Private Server (opposed to shared hosting)
10 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 8 acronyms.
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You have several options.
First important question, though: what type of router do you have? If you own your own router, instead of using the one provided by your ISP, then you may have additional options.
- Tailscale VPN - Quick and easy setup. “Just works”. Creates an environment like your computers are connected to the same network. Requires setup on each device. Some limits on free plan.
- *Wireguard VPN (router host) - Configuration required at the router. Only remote devices need additional setup; devices at home don’t need individual config. *Must be supported by router
- SSH tunnel - Ideal for terminal only, though X11 forwarding is possible. Requires either a router that has an SSH server, or port forwarding. Not recommended to allow username/password-only auth; should configure for key-based auth (rsa256/ed25519) only
- Secure Remote Desktop (hosted service) - TeamViewer and similar services provide remote desktop access through account-based login, using their relays. Theoretically secure but susceptible to account takeover attacks.
- Secure Remote Desktop (direct connect or self-hosted service) - Relay-less (e.g. NoMachine) and self-hosted relay (e.g. RustDesk) provide secure, self managed remote desktop. Requires router port forwarding or reverse-proxy configuration at the router.
There are other options (like OpenVPN or Wireguard hosted on a device internal to the network, rather than the router) but I personally recommend one of the above 5 options depending on your use case and risk profile.
If you travel a lot, consider purchasing a travel router (eg GL-iNet devices). Once configured, they act as a repeater or access point for your devices, including forwarding all traffic over a VPN. You arrive at your destination, plug in the travel router, use its webUI to connect it to the hotel or guest Wi-Fi of your choice, and then connect all your personal devices to its Wi-Fi network. No need for connecting every device to a new network at each destination. They support captive portal login, AdGuard Home baked in, blocking all non-VPN traffic, and more.
I have a mango but its kind of showing its age, what’s a decent modern one these days?
Just get one of their latest models. They’re all solid. Whatever is in your budget.
Decided to go with the mango 2, didn’t even know there was a second one now.
Can’t argue against going with what you know :D
My router is running OpenWRT (and stopped having intermittent issues after replacing the stock OS).
I’m leaning toward Tailscale for the “quick and easy” recommendation. If I need to do this again, I might try something a little more advanced.
If you’re already running OpenWRT then I personally recommend Wireguard over tailscale if you have the time. It’s not hard to set up at all and takes the third party out of the loop. OpenWRT has excellent support for Wireguard configuration and export of configs to the devices you want to connect (install client, import config). The only “gotcha” is needing DynamicDNS (assuming you don’t have a static public IP)
Tailscale is definitely super-simple but this IS the self-hosted community ;D I always prefer removing third parties at every opportunity.
This is why I ask humans instead of AI. I didn’t consider router level options.
I’ve already got dynamic DNS set up, and I’ve been meaning to set up a way to access my NAS from out of the house. This might be the final push I need.
One obstacle you might encounter is carrier-grade NAT or CGNAT. Some ISPs put residential subscribers behind an additional layer of IPv4 NAT, which makes your public address inaccessible from the internet. In that case, you’ll either need Tailscale or a similar service, or a VPS to act as a relay.
Then there’s Vodafone who have unilaterally removed both the port-forward feature and bridge mode from their residential cable modems, and I hate them, and wish them a hammer to balls.
They removed BOTH? what in the… portforwarding is a pretty basic feature to have, and i would switch ISP if they took away Bridge Mode from me.
They removed almost every basic networking feature with a firmware update. Even in “expert mode”, all I can do is set up the wifi and pick a single /24 network from 192.168.0.0/16. I can’t even pick a goddamn DNS server. Unfortunately the other ISPs that serve my area are at least twice as expensive.
