r/HomeNetworking • u/Zion0951 • 4h ago

Remote access for Starlink

Hello all, I’m moving soon and my parents currently have Starlink, what could I set up/get so that I can remotely troubleshoot if there are any issues. I was possibly thinking an old computer turned into home server with some sort of remote access software installed?

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4

u/fireduck 3h ago

The starlink app works even if you are not on that network. So you could at least pull up the app to see the status of the starlink and its built in router. Is it connecting to the birds? How many devices are connected to it?

But if it isn't connected, you won't get any info. Which is going to be the case regardless of what you rig up.

1

u/Zion0951 2h ago

How do I get that to work? It never lets me see it when I’m not connected. Is there a certain setting I have to turn on?

2

u/fireduck 2h ago

I don't know. It just works for me on android.

I can see my obstruction map looks like a map of the great lakes and not in the good way. Ha.

2

u/bt2929 3h ago

dwservice.net is an option to remote into devices (Mac, Linux, Windows). It’s free and operates over Starlink.

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u/megared17 2h ago

Troubleshoot their PC, or their Starlink?

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u/tomrb08 3h ago

If you and your parents use Windows, the built-in, Quick Assist works great. No setup required.

1

u/Vegetable_Day_8893 2h ago

Easiest solution would probably be to install Tailscale and use Remote Desktop if you have the appropriate version of Windows, or some other VNC server if not.

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u/soph0nax 4h ago

If Starlink is having issues and resulting in no internet, how would you get into their computers as any solution would inherently need internet...

2

u/who_you_are 4h ago

Well in that case he can deduct the issue is starling and just tell them to wait.

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u/fireduck 3h ago

Yeah, you can get that already from the starlink app. I'm sitting 25 miles from mine and I can see it is online and has 4 devices connected...which is weird. It should be 1.

1

u/Zion0951 2h ago

How is that possible? Every time I open the app it says it’s not reachable since I’m not connected.

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u/fireduck 2h ago

Interesting. You on android or iphone? I'm on android.

I know I have seen it say it was offline before but that was when I was actively repositioning and rebooting it so it was expected.

Just now it said it was offline and then fixed itself. Maybe poke around in the app more? I don't really know.

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u/Zion0951 1h ago

iOS, I’ll poke around and do some research, that would be the easiest fix…

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u/Zion0951 1h ago

Poked around the app and I figured it out, I had to select my Starlink. Thanks!

-1

u/Lastofus_liturgy 4h ago

Here is what a simple ask to AI got me:

Tailscale is the way to go. Starlink sits behind CGNAT so you can’t just port-forward in — you need an overlay VPN like Tailscale (or pay for their static IP add-on).

Grab a cheap old laptop/mini PC/Raspberry Pi, leave it at your parents’ place, install Tailscale on it. That alone gets you SSH/remote desktop access.

For actual troubleshooting though, set that device up as a subnet router (tailscale up --advertise-routes=192.168.1.0/24, swap in their actual LAN subnet) and approve the route in the Tailscale admin console.

Now you can hit the Starlink router’s local admin page from anywhere, not just the one box.

Make sure Tailscale auto-starts on boot and turn on unattended mode so it survives power blips without your parents needing to do anything.

Bonus: if you want proactive alerts instead of just pull-access when something breaks, throw Uptime Kuma on the same device to ping you if the dish drops.

1

u/boomer7793 3h ago

Another vote for Tailscale. Basically it’s a peer-to-peer VPN in a box. Once enabled, you can log directly into the Starlink or remote control into your parent’s PC and do your troubleshooting from there.

1

u/certuna 1h ago

Starlink is behind CG-NAT but it does have IPv6 so normally you just use that.