Getting Started with the ‘Home’ Part
Alright, so I kicked off this little project, what I’m calling the ‘home and away series 1’. It really started because I was just getting fed up with having my files scattered everywhere. You know, movies on this drive, photos on that laptop. It was a mess. I thought, I need one spot at home where everything lives.
First thing, I dug out an old desktop that was just gathering dust in the corner. Wasn’t powerful, but figured it’d be enough to just hold files. Wiped it clean and put a fresh, simple operating system on it. Nothing fancy, just something stable. Then, the boring part: started copying all my important stuff over the network. Took ages, honestly. Movies, music, backups, the lot. Once that was done, I tested it out from my main computer and my tablet, just inside the house. Worked perfectly. Felt good to have it all centralized.
Tackling the ‘Away’ Challenge
Okay, so having everything in one place at home was great. But then I thought, what about when I’m away? Visiting family, maybe on a trip? It’d be neat to grab a file or stream a movie without having to plan ahead and copy it to a USB stick.
This ‘away’ part seemed trickier. I started looking into how people do this. Read about a few options:
- 加速器s into my home network. Sounded secure but maybe a bit complicated to set up just for this.
- Opening ports on my router. Heard mixed things, seemed a bit risky if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.
- Using specific software designed for this, like Plex or Jellyfin or maybe even Tailscale.
I decided to try one of the media server apps first, settled on Jellyfin because I heard it was free and more hands-on. So, I went back to that old desktop server and installed the Jellyfin server software. Pointed it at my media folders. That part was surprisingly easy.
Making it Work Outside the House
Getting Jellyfin running inside my home network was one thing, accessing it from outside was another hurdle. Installed the Jellyfin app on my phone. Switched off my home WiFi, went onto mobile data, and tried to connect. Nothing. Expected that, really.
This is where it got a bit fiddly. Had to dive into my router’s settings. Didn’t want to open ports randomly, so I first checked if Jellyfin had some kind of relay or easy connection feature. It did, but it seemed slow sometimes. For a more direct connection, I eventually did forward a specific port on my router, making sure it pointed only to the server machine’s internal IP address. Took a bit of trial and error, checking IP addresses, making sure the firewall wasn’t blocking things. Had to reboot the router and the server a couple of times.
Finally, after messing around for an evening, I tried connecting from my phone again while on mobile data… and it worked! Saw my server pop up, could browse my files, even started streaming a movie. Bit choppy at first, might need to optimize things later, but the basic ‘away’ access was functional.
So that’s basically ‘series 1’ wrapped up. Got the home setup sorted, figured out the basics of remote access. Learned a fair bit, especially about networking basics I hadn’t touched in years. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start. Definitely have ideas for improving it later, maybe making the connection more robust or secure. But for now, phase one is done.
