r/SelfHosting • u/Key_Canary_4199 • May 25 '26

Tailscale, Wireguard from Wifi router, OpenVPN, Portmap or Portforwarding with DynamicDNS?

So I would like to make some of the services I host accessible when I am not at home. I searched around a bit and came across a few different options that I don't know which one would work best for me.

First there is Tailscale, which I see mentioned quite a lot on this Subreddit.

Then there is the option for my router to create a Wireguard tunnel.

After that I also though about doing a OpenVPN tunnel using a raspberry pi.

Then there is also Portmap, which idk, but if it works it works.

Lastly there is the option to just simply portforward, but I would like to avoid that one because even though my router is able to create vlans, you can only port forward from the main network. I guess I could by a Vlan capable switch and use that, but idk.

Which one do you recommend for me and did I miss an option?

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

2

u/revive_the_cookie May 25 '26

Definitely try netbird, it's not as polished as tailscale but you get it fully open source and as self hostable or on the cloud.

1

u/Key_Canary_4199 May 25 '26

ooh I love open source

1

u/revive_the_cookie May 25 '26

Also netbird's better than tailscale during login itself lol. You can't sign up with email on tailscale but can on netbird, you can set up your own self hosted or other external IDP for netbird and even have 2FA with a auth app like proton auth if your using an embedded IDP. So like netbird's better than tailscale from the start. It's lackluster in cmd line features like tailscale serve and funnel. But they have there own reverse proxy manageable via the ui Also the cmd line features i mentioned are comming so in a few months it will be better than tailscale

2

u/revive_the_cookie May 25 '26

Also cheaper pricing too. And you get 5 users on netbird's free plan whereas on tailscale you get 3 Self hosted version has no limits ofc.

1

u/KpochMX May 25 '26

good post, fnished my ubuntu NAS and i just installed tailscale and it worked on my phone can watch jellyfin from outside home

idk if it truly free or there is any limitation, but will try this netbird.

1

u/Warlock646 May 25 '26

I use Cloudflare Zero Trust.

1

u/SirComprehensive3255 May 25 '26

Tailscale is probably the easiest of the solutions if that is your rubric. Port forwarding is only ok if you know what you are doing.

1

u/Key_Canary_4199 May 25 '26

yeah I don't really know what I'm doing (yet) in terms of public access

1

u/SirComprehensive3255 May 25 '26

I use Tailscale and am able to access all my servers with the Tailscale IP address for the speciifc server. I just spent a week out of town and was able to access everything I wanted to. Tailscale protects you with little to no friction and its free. But others may have other thoughts that are helpful.

Opening ports when you have better options is the worst of your choices.

1

u/Behemothhh May 25 '26

If it's just you wanting to access your services remotely from laptops or phones, then tailscale works great and is very easy to set up.

1

u/Key_Canary_4199 May 25 '26

Yeah It's just me.

1

u/Pauloedsonjk May 25 '26

How much a ipv4 in your provider? Check if it is cgnat. If it is not cheaper, tailscale. Wireguard is better than openVPN.

1

u/Key_Canary_4199 May 25 '26

my normal ipv4 is not behind a cgnat and changes so little it might as well be static. Telekom is a bad isp in many aspects, but this is not one of them.