Check if Your Home AI Server Is Exposed Online
A free online port checker lets you see whether Ollama’s port, or your nginx login page, is actually reachable from the internet, confirming your earlier setup worked as intended, rather than just assuming it.
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What you will need
- Completed "Set Up Ollama Securely at Home", or made a deliberate choice to expose it
- About 5 minutes
Find your home’s external IP address
Search "what is my IP" in any browser, or visit canyouseeme.org, which shows it automatically.
Check whether Ollama’s port is reachable
On canyouseeme.org, enter Ollama’s port number and click check:
11434Note: If you followed the earlier guide and left Ollama on its safe default, this should show as closed or unreachable. That is the result you want.
If you set up the nginx login screen, check that port instead
If you deliberately opened access through nginx with a password, check whichever port you configured nginx to listen on, commonly 80 or 443.
Note: This one should show as open, since you intended remote access, but it should ask for a username and password when you visit it in a browser.
If a port shows open unexpectedly, close it
Check your router’s port forwarding settings for any rule you do not recognise or no longer need, and remove it.
What you will have at the end
Confirmation of exactly what is and is not reachable from outside your home, rather than an assumption.
Why checking matters more than assuming
It is easy to assume a setting worked as intended without actually checking from outside your own network. Many of the 175,000 exposed Ollama installations found in January 2026 belonged to people who likely believed they were only accessible locally. A five-minute check confirms it either way.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to use an online port checker?
Yes, reputable ones like canyouseeme.org only check whether a port responds, they do not access anything on your network.
What port should Ollama be on by default?
11434, unless you have specifically changed it.
Should I check this regularly, or just once?
Worth checking again after any change to your router, your Ollama setup, or your nginx configuration, not just the first time.
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