this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2026
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yeah okay let me just connect grandma's tv to a vpn.
edit: gas is $5/gal ya'll, I'm not driving to a different state each time a new family member wants to watch something from my server!
There are plenty of ways around this
A cheap thin client minipc is only like 20-40 USD and would solve the problem overnight
I can set it up, and you can set it up, but for the average user?
The average user isn't using Jellyfin
All you need is a little Linux knowledge in order to setup Netbird with Caddy
I'm talking average enough to see an article, or hear about it from a friend/coworker, then follow the insanely easy setup directions for Windows. I know plenty of people who aren't really "computer people" but know enough to open a port because they had to to get a game working at some point or another. Those people probably wouldnt notice "hey this thing is going to http maybe i should rethink this...."
These are going to be the people who think it's smart to just open up RDP and SSH to the wide web though...they shouldn't be forwarding ports...they should use a VPN.
I had to explain to one of them why RDP is a bad idea lol. Thats kind of my point - average people tend to only know enough to be dangerous, not to do things safely. Or as Shakespeare said - "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
Yeah. This is why you don't encourage normies to port forward....they make everyone a domain admin and open up RDP...
Yeah I had to convince them to try RustDesk so they would stop using RDP. Like I said, a lot of people just know enough to be dangerous.
Setup a VPN gateway at Grandma's house. Works fine for me.
I think you're missing the point - that's neither simple nor easy for most people. I'm a network engineer and I don't wanna deal with setting up and (being responsible for troubleshooting) a bunch of VPNs! Nevermind the additional power/CPU usage from the tunnels. My parents just got fiber and they don't even have a public address (ipv4 or v6) which just adds another layer of headache. thanks west virginia...
I'd much rather deal with setting up a few VPN gateways which is trivial at most...than securing a public web service. I deal with that crap enough at work.
There are a lot less variables to contend with with a single VPN endpoint which undergoes considerably more security auditing than N public web services. Many of which I don't have the time to review myself and mitigate if they decide to suck at coding.
Edit: I share my services with less than 5 households though.
Edit2: I'm not sure what public ipv4 or ipv6 has to do with this. My remote sites use starlink ipv4. I haven't setup ipv6 on those internally at all. They all tunnel via wireguard to my homesite.
When I set up wireguard it was just more complicated when one side didn't have a public IP. Whyyyy can't we adopt ipv6 already.
also fyi starlink has public ipv6 available if you DO wan't to set it up. been hosting a minecraft server off a starlink connection lol.
At my remote site it has little value. At my home I have IPv6 setup on Starlink as my secondary backup internet. I use Fiber as the primary that has a public IPv4 and IPv6.
Could just use a VPS though I guess if you want.
If you have the skills to setup a Jellyfin server you also have the skills to setup wireguard.
That's a very specific use case.
They appear to offer a guided installation for windows users.