this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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Can a random person (my mother in law and other non techie family) connect to my tailscaled jellyfin using a Roku or AppleTV? I thought tailscale needs a wireguard client.
It does. People often throw this out there as if it fits all situations, but it doesn't. Plex is handling the proxying for you which is what makes it so easy.
A better comparison, if running your own reverse proxy was too complicated, would be to use something like Cloudflare Tunnels. However that's still extra steps, they dont want you media streaming on their free plan, and you still have the issue of Jellyfin not being the most secure code that you really want to open up to the whole internet. That's why a one size fits all answer is difficult.
This is why I dropped jellyfin immediately. How do I explain / get these extra steps working for family? People should have gotten the lifetime when it was cheap, and I'm surprised they even offer it anymore - some companies are dropping it, i.e Tesla FSD.
Use a reverse proxy and hook a domain up to it. Then you just say to grandma "media is now at jellyfin.mydomain.com and not app.plex.tv"
The thing that Plex does for you is reverse proxying so you don't have to. You can set that up for Jellyfin yourself.
Spoiler: They can’t. There is no Roku Tailscale app. AppleTV recently got VPN support.
Everyone loves to yell “Jellyfin” without realizing all of the shortcomings because it’s free.
I'm willing to work past a lot of shortcomings when the alternative is $750. Plus anything learning how to overcome those shortcomings will have benefits beyond just setting up jellyfin.
Ok; how do you load Tailscale on a Roku streaming box?
Why are people so diehard about Roku boxes? I got a $20 android tv box from walmart that handles tailscale and jellyfin just fine. Sounds like it is a shortcoming of Roku, not just Jellyfin.
Support. Features. Ease of use. And the fact that Roku tends to update their devices for a decent amount of time. Good luck in a year when Walmart stops supporting your $20 onn box.
Buy cheap, buy twice.
lol okay I've had this box for 3+ years now. It's got a decent community for custom firmware flashing, too. Keep coping though.
Ok. How do I load tailscale on a firestick?
Tailscale was suggested above as an easier alternative to setting up a reverse proxy. If tailscale isn't a good option, then I would push forward with getting a reverse proxy setup.
But the vulnerability still exists with a reverse proxy, which I don’t want to deal with.
So how do I load Tailscale on my Roku streamer?
I know you're just trying to make a point, but in case you're serious:
You can't install tailscale because Roku is a closed device, so your best remaining options are:
Ok, so then maybe Jellyfin isn’t right for 100% of people 100% of the time and people should take the time to ask questions and figure out what software beats suits someone’s need before just yelling out their favorite program that they use that they don’t pay for because why would they, right?
My main point was that even if Plex is the best solution, the $750 lifetime fee was enough for me to put up with some inconveniences of Jellyfin even if it wasn't as easy.
Not saying Jellyfin is better than Plex, but Plex has to be a lot better for the price increase to be justified.
Well, I have no shortcomings with it, so yeah I yell Jellyfin. We have both of our tvs on cheap android boxes with it and tailscale installed and our phones with it installed to remotely access. A few extra steps to set it up? Yes, but extremely worth it and easy to access and use once it is set up. Worth the cost savings in the end? Yes. Jellyfin also does everything we need including more that we dont and also has a ton of amazing plugin support to add alot of cool features. Oh, yeah its open-source. So, yeah I think Jellyfin offers alot to be yelled about.
Ok; how do I setup Tailscale on a Roku streamer?
You would have to set up tailscale on the actual server first. Then, for the app on another device, such as the Roku streamer, does it have the Playstore or app store to install apps? If so then you would download the tailscale app and connect it to your newly setup tailscale account. If it doesn't then as I have mentioned, you could buy a cheap android box, such as the Onn 4K at Walmart for like 25-30 bucks or spend a little more for a better android box and install it on that. Its a few extra steps but way worth it in the end.
I looked and don’t see Tailscale in the store; how/where do I get it?
Which store?
Roku.
Well they can if those tvs allow the tailscale app to be installed. If not then Walmart sells very cheap ONN 4K boxes for like 20 bucks and then the tailscale and jellyfin apps can be installed on that.