I’ve always had a passion for technology. Back in the 90s, I spent countless hours taking apart old PCs and laptops, much to the annoyance of my family, just to figure out how they worked. Of course, this also meant teaching myself how to put them back together again (hopefully with fewer screws left over each time). That curiosity turned into writing for tech blogs, testing hardware, and eventually transforming my passion for tech into a career.
As the modern internet took shape, I picked up basic coding from YouTube tutorials and started building websites for people, learning how to move content from a local device to the Internet (trust me, back then, it wasn’t as simple as that sounds). Over time, I grew increasingly frustrated with bad Wi-Fi and the unreliability of off-the-shelf consumer routers. This pushed me to teach myself the basics of networking and gradually, over five years, set up an enterprise-grade system using Ubiquiti hardware.
When we moved into our 160-year-old house a couple of years ago, the challenge grew even more complex. The thick, wire-filled walls essentially acted as Faraday cages for radio signals, making reliable wireless coverage impossible. To solve this, I ran 160 feet of Ethernet cable through walls, some as thick as 20 inches. It was a messy and time-consuming project, but the result was worth it: seamless, enterprise-grade connectivity in every corner of our home.
Having worked for security-focused companies for over a decade, fast internet wasn’t enough. It also had to be secure. My network is bristling with firewalls, blockers, and threat detection, all cranked up to maximum. But while these measures are great for keeping bad actors out, they’re a nightmare when you actually want to intentionally expose something to the internet. That’s where my love of tech met my frustration with networking.
I’ve always loved tinkering with open-source projects and homelabbing. Over the years, I’ve set up self-hosted services like Home Assistant, file hosting solutions, and photo libraries. These work wonderfully on my local network but often become maddeningly inaccessible the moment I step outside my home. Exposing ports and navigating NAT configuration was often enough to make me throw up my hands and go back to paid services.
Everything changed in 2023 when I stumbled upon Tailscale. I was trying to set up a self-serve version of Standard Notes and noticed their guide mentioned a tool called Tailscale. Skeptical but intrigued, I started digging into the documentation. Could it really be as simple as installing it on the device hosting the service, installing it on the device you want to connect to, and using MagicDNS? Surely it couldn’t be that easy... could it?
Spoiler: It was. I installed Tailscale on my PC, configured a few basic settings, and downloaded the app to my phone. Within minutes, everything was up and running seamlessly, whether I was at home or halfway across the world. It felt like an epiphany. I didn’t shout “Eureka!” but let’s just say I came close.
Since then, Tailscale has become indispensable to how I manage my homelab and daily tech life. I use it to remote into my home PC when I’m away, run Immich for my self-hosted photo library, and finally got Home Assistant working exactly as I’d always wanted, without the headaches.
I’m not a developer or an engineer. I’m a marketing and communications person. If I can make it work, so can you. Now, full disclosure: I work for Tailscale, but I was a fan long before joining the team. My firsthand experience with how much value the product brought to my life made joining the company an easy decision. It’s incredibly rewarding to be part of a team that helps others discover and benefit from something so impactful. This isn’t a sales pitch; it’s an invitation. If you’ve ever felt the frustrations of trying to self-host something and navigate the labyrinth of network configuration, give Tailscale a try. I think you’ll be surprised and delighted. I’d love to hear how it goes!
Will Moore
