Local Connection vs Public URL when at home

[Daniel Brown]

I have my jellyfin server using a reverse proxy through traefik and it works well, no complaints. I am wondering if there is a reason i should not use the public URL https://jellfin.whatever.example or if there is an advantage to just using the local IP address when i'm at home.

[TheDreadPirate]

Depends if your router supports custom DNS entries or NAT loopback. If it supports NAT loopback (or NAT hairpin), enable it. This will configure the router so that when DNS queries resolve to itself or a local machine it will keep the traffic local instead of routing it out to the Internet only for it to come right back.

If it doesn't support NAT loopback, it is very common for routers to support custom DNS entries. You would add an entry for your jellyfin domain, but have your domain resolve to your server's LAN IP.

In either case, if you're using a phone, once you leave your house it will start using your cellular provider's DNS, or custom DNS, and queries for your jellyfin server will resolve to your public IP.

[Daniel Brown]

Great info! Thanks for that!

I don't watch much on my phone and when i do i don't mind it going out to the internet as i'm usually not at home when i do that. I mainly watch at home on my shield TV, so it sounds like I should be using the internal IP as opposed to the fqdn. Much appreciated.