Setting Up Tailscale VPN on a Raspberry Pi for Remote Access

Tailscale creates a private mesh VPN using WireGuard — zero port forwarding, zero complicated config. Access any device in your tailnet from anywhere.

Why Tailscale

• No port forwarding required
• Works through CGNAT
• Free tier: 100 devices
• Works on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux

Installation

curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
sudo tailscale up

Open the authentication link on your phone or computer.

Verify

tailscale status
tailscale ip -4

SSH from any tailnet device: ssh [email protected]

Subnet Routing

Route traffic for your whole home network:

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

Approve in Tailscale admin console. Now any tailnet device can reach any home device.

Exit Node

Route all internet traffic through home:

sudo tailscale up --advertise-exit-node

Enable on your phone in Tailscale settings when traveling.

Auto-Start

sudo systemctl status tailscaled

Service starts automatically on boot.