How To Access Sonarr From Another Computer

One of the most common questions I get asked is “How can I access Sonarr from another computer in my house?”
It’s actually pretty simple and requires just a few firewall changes.

This same procedure works for Jackett, Radarr, Tautulli, and any other locally installed application on your computer.

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Why access Sonarr from another computer?

Automating TV show downloads is great, but the bigger picture here is that we love simplifying the process of finding and downloading TV shows. Sonarr is awesome at downloading new episodes of shows already in our library. In fact, usually I get latest releases in an hour or less. But wouldn’t it be awesome if you could add new shows from the couch? Or while laying in bed? Or even the back patio or garage?

Sure, you could just walk to your computer, log in, and open Sonarr. Or you could wait until you sit down at your computer next. Those are probably what you do now anyway.

But, by following this simple tutorial, you won’t need to do that anymore – you’ll be able to add new shows from your phone or another computer in the house.

Sonarr Remote Access Guide for Windows

Set a Static IP on your Computer

This is optional but recommended. The reason you should set a static IP address is because we’ll be using your computer’s IP address to create the phone shortcut. If your computer’s IP address changes, your shortcut will break.

You can always update the shortcut if that happens, but setting a static IP only takes a minute and will save you from having to fix things later on.

To set a static IP address:

• Right-click your network connection on your taskbar and choose Open Network and Internet Settings.
  • 
• Click Change Adapter Options. Right click your Ethernet adapter > Properties.
• Scroll down to Internet Protocol Version 4 and choose Properties.
• Open Command Prompt and type ipconfig /all (This will tell you your current IP address)
• Under the IPv4 Address, you’ll see your current IP address, Subnet Mask, Gateway and DNS Server.

Next, enter those into the IPv4 network settings.

Save your settings and go to any website. If it loads, you’ve successfully created a static IP address.

Difference Between Static IP and IP Reservation for Sonarr

An IP reservation “reserves” the IP address for your computer; it means no other device on your network could ever be issues that IP address. Setting IP reservations can be done by logging into your home router. (every router is different, so I won’t go into details on how to do this.)

I use a TP Link Deco M3 in my own home and manage firewall rules through their mobile app.

Without going into too much detail here, with static IP’s, let’s say your computer goes offline – another device on your home network could potentially grab your computer’s IP address. Once your computer comes back online, you may now have two devices with the same IP which will cause issues.

In most home networks this isn’t an issue because you won’t have devices coming/leaving your network. For purposes of this guide, setting a static IP would work just fine.

Open Sonarr from IP Address

After installing Sonarr, it should open from http://localhost:8989.

But, it can also be opened by using the IP address and port number. For example, my IP address is 192.168.68.1, so I can launch the Sonarr Web UI using http://192.168.68.1:8989.

If it doesn’t launch right away, the next step is to check your local firewall settings to see if the Sonarr/NZBDrone application is allowed through.

Potential Sonarr Firewall Issues

If you are unable to open http://localhost:8989

On your Windows 10 computer (or Server 2016 or Server 2019), search for Allow An App Through Windows Firewall.

Scroll through the list of available services and programs until you see NZBdrone. In my case, there are two entries – one for Sonarr and one fro Radarr. Check both private and public for both of them.

Adding Sonarr Web UI Shortcut to Phone

Now that you’ve gotten Sonarr to launch using the IP address, enter it into your phone. Sonarr should load right away.

To add this URL as a shortcut to your phone:

• On Android, click the 3 dots for Settings.
  • 
• Click Add to Home Screen.
  • 

That’s it! Now, you can quickly add, edit, or manually search for episodes right from your phone or another computer in your house!

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