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Exit to the internet

A device at home can be the internet for your other devices: in a foreign Wi-Fi your traffic then leaves through home. It is switched on for the Mac and the PC; iPhone and Android follow.

macOSWindowsiPhone & iPad · Coming soonAndroidLinux

A device in your Network can become the exit to the internet. Another device of yours, in a café, hotel or train on a foreign Wi-Fi, then sends its internet traffic, encrypted, out through that device at home. That is what “Internet via home” stands for. This article belongs to “Network”.

Where it works: On the Mac and the PC you can offer and use the exit; a Linux server offers it in the terminal, and a Linux computer uses it in the app or in the terminal. On iPhone, iPad and Android phones it cannot be switched on in this version yet: there the tile and the switches are greyed and marked “Coming later”.

macOS

What you see on the Mac

The fourth tile above the map is called “Internet via home”. It says whether your internet goes out directly (“Internet: direct”), through which device it goes, or for how many devices this Mac is the exit.
In the panel on the right of a device, under “Roles in the network”, are the switches: “Exit to the internet” (this device offers the exit), “Internet via home” with the chosen exit, the switch “Automatic in foreign Wi-Fi” and “No internet without the exit” (that one comes later).
You always see who uses your Mac as an exit. A card above the map names every device (“%1$@ is using %2$@ as its exit”) with a red dot and “End”; the same line is in the menu bar menu. If you end a use, it stays ended until the other device switches it on again.
Notices: When the exit is gone, the card says whether the internet waits briefly or goes on without it. When the exit runs through a relay it says “Exit runs through a relay – slower”. When a device ended the use, it says which one. When the Wi-Fi asks you to sign in, the exit waits until you are signed in.
Local network: The first time you use an exit, macOS asks whether DeskRanger may use your local network. Allow it: otherwise DeskRanger can no longer reach printers, the router or other devices at home while your internet goes through the exit. If you decline, the internet still goes through the exit; the card says so and “Open System Settings” opens System Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network, where you can allow it later. The part of DeskRanger that forwards the traffic needs no such permission.
Traffic: Above the map you switch from “Paths” to “Traffic”. Each line then shows how much flows right now, and which device is your exit or uses your Mac. In this version “Traffic” stays greyed for now.

Windows

On the PC

On the PC the exit looks as on the Mac:

The fourth tile above the map is called “Internet via home” and says whether your internet goes out directly or through which device. As long as the network is not running on the PC it reads “Coming later”.
On the right, in a device's panel under “Roles in the network”, are the switches “Exit to the internet”, “Internet via home” and “Automatic in foreign Wi-Fi”; “No internet without the exit” comes later.
You always see who uses your PC as an exit. A card above the map names each device (“%1$@ is using %2$@ as its exit”) with a red dot and “End”. The notices (exit gone, over a relay, use ended, sign-in on the Wi-Fi) are on the same card.
Traffic: above the map you switch from “Paths” to “Traffic”; then each line shows how much is flowing. In this version “Traffic” stays grey for now.

The Microsoft Store edition of DeskRanger has no exit; it cannot forward other devices' internet traffic.

iPhone & iPad

On iPhone and iPad

iPhone and iPad only use the exit, they do not offer it. In the network area, “Internet via home” shows which exit you chose and how it is doing; its switches stay grey until the exit is released.

Android

On the phone

The phone only uses the exit, it does not offer it. In the network area, “Internet via home” shows which exit you chose and how it is doing; its switches stay grey until the exit is released.

Offering and using the exit

On the Mac or PC at home, switch on “Exit to the internet” under “Roles in the network” in this device's panel. Without DeskRanger Secure it holds at once. With DeskRanger Secure you confirm it once with Touch ID or Windows Hello; if the device has no approval key, it says “Waiting for approval” until an approving device confirms the change. Switching it off holds at once and asks no other device. The setting stays after a restart. On the device you take with you, choose the exit under “Internet via home” and switch it on. While nobody offers an exit, the tile says “Internet: direct”.

On a Linux server

A Linux server with the network switched on (sudo deskranger network on) becomes an exit with sudo deskranger network exit on and stops being one with sudo deskranger network exit off; with DeskRanger Secure, switching it on waits until one of your devices confirms it. sudo deskranger network roles shows whether it is an exit, and every device using it right now, with the command that ends the use: sudo deskranger network end <device>. The DeskRanger service forwards the traffic itself; it changes no firewall rules and switches on no forwarding in the system, so nothing stays behind after you switch it off or uninstall. On a Linux computer with a screen the Linux app lists, under Network › Map, this computer, “Roles in the network”, every device using it right now, with “End”; only the person signed in at the screen can do this, and not over SSH. While a device uses it, it also stands in the app's window of running connections, whatever page is open, with “End” too. A Linux computer with the network switched on uses another device's exit in the terminal: sudo deskranger network use <device> sends its internet traffic through that device, sudo deskranger network use off stops it; sudo deskranger network roles names your account's exits and shows how the use stands. Every name query then goes to the network, and a firewall table of DeskRanger's own lets no name query past the exit; devices on your own Wi-Fi such as the printer stay reachable. This needs the nftables package; if it is missing or the system refuses its rules, DeskRanger refuses the use and says why. If the routing cannot be set up, the table closes the internet beside the exit until it stands. The table and the routing go when you switch it off, when the service stops and when you uninstall. In the Linux app you switch the use on and off under Network › Map, this computer, “Roles in the network”, with “Internet via home”; if your account offers several exits, you pick one under “Your exit”. With “Automatic in foreign Wi-Fi” its internet goes through the chosen exit by itself as soon as it is away from home; in the terminal that is sudo deskranger network automatic on and … automatic off. Only the person whose account this computer uses can do this; deskranger status shows the exit and how the use stands. Connections you open in the Linux app itself to other devices then go through the exit; they work, but can be a little slower. Becoming an exit works only on a server without a screen: on a Linux computer with a desktop, or while someone is signed in at its screen, the command refuses to switch it on and the computer forwards nothing until the app can show who is using it. Every start and end of a use is in the system journal.

What you need

The device that offers the exit belongs to the network and is on. The device that uses it needs DeskRanger with the network switched on. Every use is visible on the device with the exit and can be ended there. While a remote session runs on a device, its exit switches can't be changed: only at the device itself, unless the session comes from one of your own devices (with DeskRanger Secure: a confirmed one).