Purely local setup

Support
1

Hi,

I would like to use SyncThing to sync files over my home network. I don’t want any connections to the open Internet being made. I have a PC, laptop and an Android phone to sync. Android phone could be designed as some sort of a central node if this makes things any easier.

I can setup ssh connections to the Android phone from other devices using Termux, if this helps.

What is the best way to achieve this? Is there any way I can “harden” this setup? E.g. avoid automatic syncing when connected to a less trusted network?

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There are some posts spread on the forum which can help you to get started and/or understand some settings which may be useful for you. In the base, Syncthing can and does use local connections where/when possible. So if you disable the WAN-related settings it should get you already to a solid point for your use-case. Also please note that Android + discovery is a difficult subject though, there are quite some topics on the forum about that which are probably worth looking into as well.

Limit Syncthing to only use local network: Review and suggestions appreciated (a bit of a summary of options that have to do with global/local connections, you may want to read through the entire thread to see what’s of use and what isn’t)

How do I stop it from blabbing to the world? - #4 by Nummer378 (it’s advised to not scroll through the entire thread here as it was otherwise a bit toxic, but this comment had good input).

I think for your case disabling relay and global discovery will prob do quite a lot already. Then also set allowedNetworks allowedNetworks — Syncthing documentation to just your LAN’s network address. From that point on it’s more or less checking what settings can help in making it more silent to the outside world.

And as a side-note; it’s now also an issue on the docs-repo; Tuning article for avoiding any Internet/non-local chatter · Issue #834 · syncthing/docs · GitHub

1 Like
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Thanks a lot for the tips and links, I’ll look into that!

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Syncthing should work perfectly for your needs. Just follow the docs/tips and traffic will be local to your LAN.

I have exactly what you do. No relay servers, or global discovery.

You won’t need Termux or SSH on your cell.

On android I don’t leave the software running 24 seven. I run the app when at home and have a PC or laptop powered on with Syncthing running and then I run the app on the cell phone let it synchronize what needs to then exit.

Because my laptop can travel with me I don’t leave Syncthing running 24 seven on there either. I don’t synchronize a lot of data.

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