Port forwarding allows direct access to Homey Pro from outside your home network. This results in faster, more reliable connections by bypassing cloud relays, with a one-time configuration on your router.
After setup, the Homey app for iOS, Android, and Web will prefer port forwarding when you’re not home. If it stops working, our cloud relay will automatically be selected as a backup route.
Security note
Port forwarding opens a port on your router directly to the internet. Anyone scanning for open ports can find and reach it, and any vulnerability in Homey Pro’s exposed service becomes reachable too.
For remote access without exposing Homey Pro to the internet, use a zero-trust tunneling service such as Tailscale or ZeroTier. These connect your devices to your home network without any port forwarding, using an external coordination server and encrypted peer-to-peer tunnels. Once connected, Homey Pro is reachable as if you were on the same Wi-Fi network.
A traditional VPN server on your router (for example WireGuard or OpenVPN) still requires forwarding one port for the VPN protocol itself, but that port accepts only authenticated VPN connections, not direct access to Homey Pro.
1. Assign a static IP address to Homey Pro
Sign in to your Wi-Fi router and find Homey Pro in your list of devices. There, you should be able to assign a static IP address, such as 192.168.1.100.
2. Forward a port to Homey Pro
While in your router, choose an external port to forward to Homey Pro. We suggest port 4859. Forward the external port as TCP to Homey Pro’s IP address, and Homey Pro’s internal port 443. Below, you see an example of a port forwarding rule in a UniFi router
3. Enable port forwarding in the Homey app
Within the Homey app, go to More (…) → Settings → General → Port Forwarding.
- First, toggle on Enable Port Forwarding.
- Next, enter the external port you chose in step 2. For example, port 4859.
- Finally, tap Save in the upper-right corner. Homey Pro automatically checks whether the port is forwarded correctly.
