Network and public access

Always on your office network

The Admin Console is always reachable on your office network at the appliance mDNS name (for example https://locai-<id>.local/). That address does not depend on public DNS or internet access. The kiosk display shows this appliance’s hostname and LAN IP.

Your client must be on the same office network as the appliance. Guest networks, hotspots, and many VPNs will not work.

LAN TLS uses the box CA. Download it from Network or Security and distribute it with your device management tools.

Connecting the appliance to Wi-Fi

Ethernet is the recommended connection and is used whenever a cable is attached. Where a wired drop is not available, the appliance can join a wireless network instead.

On Network → Wi-Fi, press Scan, pick the network, enter the password, and press Connect. For a hidden network, type the name in manually rather than scanning. The password is stored on the appliance and is never displayed again.

• The address changes. Moving between Ethernet and Wi‑Fi changes the IP. The mDNS name follows the appliance; if the console stops loading after a switch, reconnect over Ethernet and check Network.
• Signal quality matters for inference. A weak signal will not stop the appliance working, but model traffic is slower than over Ethernet.

Forget network clears the saved password and stops the appliance reconnecting to it.

Public access (Direct DNS): off by default

Use this when people must open the appliance over the internet on a company hostname you control. Traffic goes: browser → your DNS → this appliance’s public IP. Locai does not sit in that path.

1. Toggle Allow access from the internet.
2. Confirm the public IPv4 shown (use Refresh if needed).
3. Enter your company hostname.
4. At your DNS provider, create an A record: that hostname → the public IP shown.
5. Click Check DNS. It must resolve to this appliance’s public IP.
6. Save. The appliance then serves public HTTPS for that hostname.

Until a company hostname is set and saved, the console stays office-network-only even if the toggle is on.

Clear the hostname or disable the toggle, then save, to turn public access off. Office-network access is unchanged.

What this is not

• Not a Locai-managed tunnel (that path is planned separately).
• Sites behind NAT without a reachable public IP cannot use Direct DNS until routing is sorted on your side.