2024.10.4
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Remote access

If you’re interested in logging in to Home Assistant while away, you’ll have to make your instance remotely accessible. Below are a few options to do this.

Tip

Remember to follow the securing checklist before doing this.

Home Assistant Cloud

Users of Home Assistant Cloud can use the Remote UI without requiring any configuration.

A unique remote URL will be generated and given to you along with a certificate so all your traffic to Home Assistant is encrypted automatically.

VPN

A secure way to remotely access your Home Assistant is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service such as Tailscale or ZeroTier One.

A VPN connection needs to be established before you can connect to your Home Assistant from outside your local network. The VPN makes this connection secure. When using the Home Assistant Companion app (such as on a mobile device), without this connection, your sensors will not update in Home Assistant.

Port forwarding

Set up port forwarding (for any port) from your router to port 8123 on the computer that is hosting Home Assistant. General instructions on how to do this can be found by searching <router model> port forwarding instructions. You can use any free port on your router and forward that to port 8123.

A problem with making a port accessible is that some Internet Service Providers only offer dynamic IPs. This can cause you to lose access to Home Assistant while away. You can solve this by using a free Dynamic DNS service like DuckDNS.

If you cannot access your Home Assistant installation remotely, remember to check if your ISP provides you with a dedicated IP, instead of one shared with other users via a CG-NAT. This is becoming fairly common nowadays due to the shortage of IPv4 addresses. Some, if not most ISPs will require you to pay an extra fee to be assigned a dedicated IPv4 address.

Caution

Just putting a port up is not secure. You should definitely consider encrypting your traffic if you are accessing your Home Assistant installation remotely. For details, please check the set up encryption using Let’s Encrypt blog post or this detailed guide to using Let’s Encrypt with Home Assistant.

Adding a remote URL to Home Assistant

To set the URL under which your Home Assistant can be accessed from outside your local network, follow these steps:

  1. In the bottom left, select your username to go to your User profile, and make sure Advanced mode is enabled.
  2. Go to Settings > System > Network.
  3. Under Home Assistant URL, enter the external URL that you previously set up for your instance.

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