---
title: "Remote Access"
description: "Reach your Dash from outside your home network with a VPN, your own address, or the managed tunnel."
canonical: https://glasshome.app/docs/dash/remote-access
section: "Dashboards"
updated: 2026-08-03
---
# Remote Access

How to reach your Dash from outside your home network. There are three ways, and they differ in effort and in who sits between you and your home. Pick the one that matches how much you want to manage yourself.

| Option | Effort | Who can see your traffic |
| --- | --- | --- |
| VPN | You set it up once | Nobody outside your home |
| Your own address | You run a tunnel or reverse proxy | Nobody outside your home |
| Managed tunnel (Pro) | One click | Cloudflare, while relaying (see below) |

## Option 1: VPN

A VPN (WireGuard, Tailscale, or similar) remains the simplest fully private option. Once your device joins the home network through the VPN, Dash is reachable exactly as it is at home: open `http://<host>:3123` as usual.

No extra Dash configuration is needed. The VPN handles routing, and nothing about your home is exposed to the internet.

## Option 2: Your own address

If you already run your own tunnel or reverse proxy (Cloudflare Tunnel on your own account, Caddy, nginx, Traefik), you can point it at Dash and teach Dash to trust that address:

1. Set up your tunnel or reverse proxy so your public address (for example `https://dash.example.com`) forwards to the machine running Dash, port `3123`.
2. In Dash, open **Settings → Remote access** (household admin only).
3. Under **Your addresses**, choose **Add address** and enter the public URL.
4. Sign in from outside your home using your GlassHome account or Quick Connect. Signing in with Home Assistant directly is a local-network option; away from home, the sign-in screen guides you to the right choice.

Notes:

- Addresses on your home network (like `http://192.168.1.50:3123`) can be added on any plan. A public address requires **Pro**.
- Loopback addresses (`localhost`, `127.0.0.1`) are rejected on purpose.
- The address must actually resolve; a domain that does not exist yet will fail the check.
- With this option your traffic flows through infrastructure you control. GlassHome is not in the path.

## Option 3: Managed tunnel (Pro)

The built-in managed tunnel uses **Cloudflare Tunnel** (cloudflared) to expose your Dash without port forwarding, a VPN, or your own domain. Enable it from **Settings → Remote access**; you get an address like `my-home.glasshome.cloud` that works from anywhere.

The `cloudflared` process keeps an **outbound** connection to Cloudflare's edge, so no incoming ports are ever opened on your network.

> **What the managed tunnel can and cannot promise:** Honesty matters more to us than marketing here. With the managed tunnel, the connection between your device and Cloudflare is encrypted, and so is the connection between Cloudflare and your home. But Cloudflare's relay decrypts traffic for the moment it passes through, and the `glasshome.cloud` addresses are operated by GlassHome. In plain terms: while you use the managed tunnel away from home, Cloudflare (and structurally, GlassHome) could technically observe that traffic. We do not log or inspect it, but "we do not" is a weaker promise than "we cannot."
> 
>   If you want a setup where nobody outside your home is in the path, use a VPN or your own address; both keep GlassHome out of the loop entirely.

## What works while you are away

Remote sessions route everything through your Dash at home, so the dashboard behaves the same as on your couch: live entity updates, controls, and media. Camera snapshots and album art work remotely too; Dash forwards them from Home Assistant itself, so no extra camera configuration is needed.

## Troubleshooting

See [Troubleshooting](/docs/dash/troubleshooting#tunnel) for tunnel-related issues.

## Related docs

- [How GlassHome connects](/docs/dash/how-glasshome-connects): why Dash wants your local Home Assistant address even when remote access is set up
- [Connecting to Home Assistant](/docs/dash/connecting): local pairing comes first
- [Concepts](/docs/dash/concepts): how Dash, HA, and Hub relate
- [FAQ](/docs/dash/faq): privacy and account questions