If you’re reading this, you’re probably trying to access your Home Assistant server using http://homeassistant.local:8123, but it didn’t work. There can be a few reasons why the URL you tried didn’t work, but don’t worry—we are here to help!
Mistyped URL
The most common reason you might end up in Google search instead of your Home Assistnat server is that you mistyped the URL.
The correct URL for Home Assistant is:
http://homeassistant.local:8123Common mistyped Home Assistnat URLs are:
- homeassistant local 8123
- http //homeassistant.local.8123
- homeassistant.local.8123
- http //homeassistant.local.8123
- http homeassistant local 8123
99% of the time, typing the correct Home Assistant URL into your browser will get you to your Home Assistant server. For those who are wondering, let’s quickly break down the URL and what it means:
- http – This is the protocol. Notice it’s “http” not “https“, this is becuase Home Assistnat doesn’t use a secure connect when your connecting locally in your home.
- homeassistnat.local – This is called the hostname. We are sure you have seen these before, but the “.local” is special. It invokes a thing called mDNS.
- :8123 – This is the port that your Home Assistant server runs on. The http protocol uses port 80 by default, so the “:8123” is needed to tell your browser to connect to the correct port.
You’re Not Connected To Your Home WiFi
You can only access Home Assistant using http://homeassistant.local:8123 when you’re at home on your local home WiFi. If you are at home, ensure your WiFi is on and connected to your home WiFi network.
You’re Not At Home
If you’re not at home, you can’t use the homeassistant.local URL to access your Home Assistant. When you’re away from home, you need a secure and private remote connection to your Home Assistant server.
Homeway.io is the perfect solution for remote access to Home Assistant because it’s secure, private, and free! Homeway is a Home Assistnat community project that enables anyone to access their Home Assistnat server. It only takes about 20 seconds to set up, so try it now!
Your Home Assistant Server Is Offline
Your Home Assistant server could be offline for many reasons, so make sure you check:
- The device running Home Assistant is powered on.
- The device running Home Assistant has a valid internet connection.
- The Home Assistant server is running on the device.
Still Not Working?
If none of the solutions above fixes your issue, contact the Home Assistant community. Homeway runs a community Home Assistant Discord server. We welcome new and experienced users and love to help the community fix issues!
Bonus – What Is mDNS?
DNS, or Domain Name System, is what your web browser uses to translate a human-readable name like “homeway.io” to a server address. When you type “homeway.io” into your browser, your web browser sends a message to a DNS resolver asking, “What’s the server IP address for ‘homeway.io’?” The resolver will return the IP address associated with the domain name, which the browser then uses to get the web pages and content.
mDNS is the same concept, but the difference is that it will work in a local home network. For example, say you had a light switch connected to your WiFi and wanted to access it. You could find the light switch’s IP address manually, but that’s hard to do, and the IP address can change over time. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could use an easy-to-remember domain name to access your light switch?
And here’s the beauty of it with mDNS: it’s a breeze. When your web browser encounters the .local top-level domain, it communicates with the internet DNS resolver and sends out a local UDP broadcast message on your home network. This message simply says, ‘Hey! If you have the domain name lightswitch.local, send me your IP address!’. All devices on your network hear the broadcast, but they don’t claim the domain name lightswitch.local, so they ignore it.
But here’s where it gets really cool. If your light switch catches the broadcast, it knows your web browser is trying to find it, so it promptly sends back its IP address to the sender of the broadcast. Your web browser receives the message and voila! It now knows the IP address to use for your light switch. It’s like magic, isn’t it? This is the power of mDNS, making your smart home experience even more exciting and futuristic.
It’s pretty cool. If you want to learn more about anything network, Internet, or Home Assistant related, join our Homeway Discord server and chat with us!
