[mbesto]

I use CF tunnels pretty extensively with my home unraid server.

The TL;DR is this - there are certain apps I host that I want to be public and don't want to onboard a Tailscale node (for example my sister uses my Plex server). So, instead of setting up a reverse proxy, I simply create a subdomain in DNS (via CF) and then route that subdomain to the CF tunnel.

It's like 3 form entries to do all of this for one site/service and automatically creates an SSL cert for me. I love it.

[jonotime]

Out of curiosity why not give your sister restricted access to your tailnet instead? Then nothing is public.

[omnimus]

My guess is that teaching and convincing someone to install tailscale on every device they need access is a lot harder than sending a link.

Thats why i use pangolin.

[noduerme]

Tailscale and Plex do not play nicely, particularly since Plex implemented a bunch of shit to try to charge users for accessing their own files outside what it considers a local network. Switching to Jellyfin is on my maintenance list. It's very understandable that if you had given a family member access to your Plex server before this year and it "just worked" you might look now at Tailscale as a way to put them on your LAN and then decide that the complexity isn't worth it, given the hoops that Plex had apparently gone through to make that a non-viable option.

Fuck Plex, by the way. Good on them for building up and turning themselves into a streaming service of sorts. Add value and I'll pay for it. But suddenly one day your free mobile viewer app updates and requires payment to stream your own mp4 files? Seriously, they can go to hell. No one streaming movie files to their family is doing so because they love paying middle-men, by the way. And no core function of Plex can't be done freely.

[wredcoll]

I don't want to defend plex too hard, but I was super confused by what you were talking about:

> But suddenly one day your free mobile viewer app updates and requires payment to stream your own mp4 files

I have a plex server that a dozen of my friends and family use and none of them have to pay a cent to access it.

Then after thinking about it a bit longer, I remembered that plex was making some kind of distinction about "members of a household", apparently called Plex Home [1].

I'm not sure what benefits you get from using it, since I haven't bothered trying to see what it needs to work.

Long story short, however, is if you just have your family members sign up for their own plex account, then add them to your plex server as a separate user, things will continue to Just Work and do so for free.

[noduerme]

I haven't found this to be the case. I use the free plex server on Windows and MacOS, and connect to my home boxes from my phone. Prior to April 2025, I could stream on my phone from my Plex servers anytime. Since the last update, attempting to stream from any device that's not on the same LAN as the server pops up a window asking you to subscribe if you want to stream "remotely". This is even in cases where nothing is being sent through Plex's servers except for signaling data. It is only possible to stream over the internet for free now if you tunnel to that server, make it your tailscale exit node, and use the web app, not the mobile app.

I'm not sure what the deal is with Plex Home but maybe they grandfathered in some kinds of older accounts. At this point though, it no longer appears to be a free option to easily stream from your home server if you're setting it up fresh or have a regular account.

[wredcoll]

Are you connected via the same account or a separate one added to as a friend or whatever?

[jonotime]

Ah ok. Admittedly I dont host a media server so it sounds like Plex brings new challenges.

I would just prefer to not have to public expose a service for a single user. In my case when sharing an image server to family it has been easy enough to walk them through installing tailscale on their windows desktop that they use. I love adding friends and fam to my tailnet. It then also makes it easier to log in and troubleshoot their issues later too.

It looks like CFs solution for restricted public access is CF access controll, but thats still publicly exposed. Their non-public option is WARP, but that requires installation on the client machine. At that point your user setup is even harder then tailscale.

[subscribed]

To me, another huge no-no is the apparent lack of option to stop Plex from sending all the filenames to the mothership.

[hexfish]

Are you aware that serving media streams over the tunnel might be against the ToS? This is what kept me from using it tbh.