Today we’re expanding the list of devices that can run Tailscale, bringing secure remote networking to the Apple TV. The newly released tvOS 17 offers support for VPNs, and we’re proud to say Tailscale is among the first to use this new feature. You can now add your Apple TV directly to your tailnet, unlocking three powerful new use cases that we’re excited to share.
You can use one of your nodes as an exit node for another device and route your traffic though it as an alternative to a public VPN, depending on your needs.
I use it for remote management, video streaming, and the occasional file transfer without publicly exposing my NAS. You could achive all this by setting up your own wireguard server but that’s more work.
I’m surprised you’re finding it too slow for video streaming. I use it just fine and can saturate my 300 Mbit connection when doing file transfers.
Wait. I can use my Apple TV as a VPN server? Did I understand you right? That would be a nifty redundancy tool for me if my main wireguard server goes down.
Edit: I guess I should’ve just RTFarticle:
But look at it this way: your Apple TV device is a capable little computer, and it stays connected to your tailnet even when it’s not in active use. Download and configure Tailscale now and you can securely route any of your other devices’ traffic through your Apple TV — and by extension, through your home internet connection — even when you’re on the other side of the planet. Whether you want another layer of security and privacy on sketchy Wi-Fi networks or just want to connect back through your personal internet connection when you’re on the road, you’re set with the Apple TV as an exit node.
So sounds like the tv doesn’t act as a server natively but I can use tailscale to leverage the tv to do that. I’ve never seriously looked at tailscale as wireguard generally worked well for me. Guess it’s worth a look.
Edit: I’ve now switch to Tailscale and am happy with it BUT the Apple TV support is lacking. While you can make it a node, you can’t get subnet access through an Apple TV node yet. So you can’t use an Apple TV to access other machines using their subnet IPs — i.e. no home LAN access.
You can use one of your nodes as an exit node for another device and route your traffic though it as an alternative to a public VPN, depending on your needs.
I use it for remote management, video streaming, and the occasional file transfer without publicly exposing my NAS. You could achive all this by setting up your own wireguard server but that’s more work.
I’m surprised you’re finding it too slow for video streaming. I use it just fine and can saturate my 300 Mbit connection when doing file transfers.
Wait. I can use my Apple TV as a VPN server? Did I understand you right? That would be a nifty redundancy tool for me if my main wireguard server goes down.
Edit: I guess I should’ve just RTFarticle:
But look at it this way: your Apple TV device is a capable little computer, and it stays connected to your tailnet even when it’s not in active use. Download and configure Tailscale now and you can securely route any of your other devices’ traffic through your Apple TV — and by extension, through your home internet connection — even when you’re on the other side of the planet. Whether you want another layer of security and privacy on sketchy Wi-Fi networks or just want to connect back through your personal internet connection when you’re on the road, you’re set with the Apple TV as an exit node.
So sounds like the tv doesn’t act as a server natively but I can use tailscale to leverage the tv to do that. I’ve never seriously looked at tailscale as wireguard generally worked well for me. Guess it’s worth a look.
Edit: I’ve now switch to Tailscale and am happy with it BUT the Apple TV support is lacking. While you can make it a node, you can’t get subnet access through an Apple TV node yet. So you can’t use an Apple TV to access other machines using their subnet IPs — i.e. no home LAN access.