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Tailscale: A Simpler, Smarter Way to Connect All Your Devices

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Tailscale creates a private, encrypted network between your devices using WireGuard under the hood. Instead of “a VPN but complicated,” it acts more like:

  • a mesh of private tunnels
  • with identity-based access (your Google / Microsoft login = your authentication)
  • and automatic NAT traversal (no port-forwarding nightmares)
  • plus support for basically every platform on Earth

Everything becomes part of your personal tailnet, your own secure space.

1. Create your tailnet

  1. Go to https://tailscale.com/
  2. Click Sign Up
  3. Choose the identity provider you want (Google, Microsoft, GitHub, Apple ID, etc.)

That’s it. Your tailnet exists.

2. Install Tailscale on your first device

On Windows

  1. Download the installer from:
    https://tailscale.com/download
  2. Run the .msi
  3. Sign in
  4. Approve the device
curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
sudo tailscale up

Then sign in via the browser page that opens.

3. Add your second device

Once signed in, both devices will now appear in your tailnet dashboard.

You can access the admin page here: https://login.tailscale.com/admin/machines

You’ll see a list like:

Jason-PC
Pixel8Pro
LinuxServer
Tablet
RaspberryPi

Each device gets a private IP like:

100.x.x.x

Tap or click a device — you can now connect to it directly.

From one device, open a browser and type the other device’s Tailscale IP, e.g.:

http://100.80.0.12:3000

or ping it:

ping 100.80.0.12

5. Enable "MagicDNS" (Optional but Recommended)

MagicDNS lets you access devices by name instead of IP addresses.

Example:

http://jason-pc.tailnet
http://pixel8pro.tailnet

Enable it:

  1. Go to https://login.tailscale.com/admin/dns
  2. Toggle MagicDNS ON
  3. Save

6. Set Up an "Exit Node" (Optional)

To turn a device into an exit node:

On Linux:

sudo tailscale up --advertise-exit-node


7. Network Sharing and Subnet Routers

If you have a home LAN with devices you can’t install Tailscale on (smart TVs, NAS units, printers), you can expose the whole subnet.

Example:

sudo tailscale up --advertise-routes=192.168.1.0/24

Then approve the route in the admin page.

It’s a clean way to access your whole home network from anywhere.

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