Tailscale is Wild and Free

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I have a Synology NAS and a locked down router from my ISP, and was able to set up Infuse today for remote viewing, without Infuse being linked to my Plex server (I’m done with Plex but for a music collection), all thanks to the unbelievable and totally free Tailscale. It’s really downright impressive.

I installed it on the NAS, my AppleTV 4k first gen (make sure your ATV is set as a home hub in Home app settings, so it can wake from sleep for Tailscale. Then it’s always on in effect), and my laptop. Each install takes a minute.

I did a lot of reading and decided to use my NAS and laptop as an exit node, which routes all your traffic through it, not just local. (You’ll come across these options). Anyone with experience feel free to chime in on my choice. The only negative to me at first is that I had to turn off Mullvad VPN (There’s a way to purchase an add-on (through Tailscale) from Mullvad (They’ve partnered) to deal with this, but it’s another $5 bucks a month (EDIT: I was wrong, the Tailscale Mullvad add-on is $5.00/month for 5 devices. Your current Mullvad account, if you have one, is no longer necessary. So not another $5 bucks, but still $5 bucks only. I have signed up, and it works). And Tailscale is actually a giant, worldwide VPN itself!

They also walk you through how to get a free Let’s Encrypt certificate for your free Tailscale Synology (auto generated) DOMAIN name (It will also recognize your own domain name), and this excellent tutor shows you how to set up auto renew for it on DSM, among other things:

Their documentation and videos are outstanding.

When I set up the Tailscale share in Infuse, I added the newly issued Tailscale IP for the NAS (each device you add gets one), and my NAS user name and password.

I’m no expert, but this was very interesting to do, and I learned a lot. Highly recommended as an easy, free, doable solution for remote viewing ON Infuse.

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EDIT: I was wrong, the Tailscale Mullvad add-on is $5.00/month for 5 devices. So for 5 bucks you get Tailscale free, and Mullvad. Your current Mullvad account, if you have one, is no longer necessary (At least in my use case). So not another $5 bucks, but still $5 bucks only. I have signed up, and it works. My Mullvad app is closed and I am logged out. A lot of incorrect info out there about this.

When your Mullvad add-on exit (location) nodes are connected, you get a tiny arrow in the Tailscale icon in your menu bar (I’ll miss the Mullvad green padlock).
Screenshot 2025-04-28 at 5.33.57 AM
The drop down will then display your location exit node (Mullvad server), of which I chose Los Angeles (With my original Mullvad account, I can choose between 20 servers in L.A. I don’t know exactly how this has been implemented).

You can’t use your Mac as a Tailnet exit node and use Mullvad location exit nodes simultaneiously. This had me stumped for a while.

SpaceRex recommends Tailscale too.

I have Infuse MacOS set with just the Tailscale share checked, and same on Infuse TvOS. Both OS’s are updating (I’ve added films), indexing (no “indexing failed” alerts), syncing, and most importantly, my Infuse movies are playing over my hotspot connected Mac. I’m gonna have to travel more.