Docs Learn
Computers on any network
Your team's computers don't need to be in the same office as the Phigon app. A computer at home, in another city or on mobile data connects the same way as one at the next desk. There is no port to open, no router to set up and no fixed address to keep.
How it works
Your company's Phigon server runs inside the Phigon app, on the administrator's computer. It keeps one outgoing connection to Phigon's relay, and computers on other networks reach it through that connection.
- The relay can't read anything. Each computer's connection stays encrypted end to end with your server's own certificate authority. Every computer pins that authority when it connects. The relay only sees which company's server a connection is for, passes it on, and keeps nothing.
- Only your server can claim its address. It proves it holds its authority's key, and it connects with your company's license or access key.
- Through the relay, the server answers only your computers. An administrator's key and the server's internal pages don't work from outside.
- It keeps working when a relay server is down. The relay runs on two servers in different data centres, and the Phigon app connects to both.
Turning it on or off
Open Settings › Computers on any network in the Phigon app. It is on by default, and the row shows whether the relay is connected.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Let computers on any network connect | Connects your server to Phigon's relay. Connect machine then gives a command that works from anywhere. |
| Relay key | The key the server connects with. The app uses your license automatically. Companies that signed in with an access key enter it here. |
Computers on this network is a separate setting. It lets computers in your office connect straight to the administrator's computer, without the relay.
Which address a computer uses
When both settings are on, Connect machine gives the relay command. It also offers Office network only, for computers on a network that blocks outside connections.
After that, each computer moves between the two by itself:
- In the office, it uses the office address. It checks every few minutes and switches back once that address answers.
- Away from the office, it uses the relay after the office address stops answering for three minutes.
- Before every move, the new address must prove it holds your server's certificate authority. The computer's key is never sent anywhere else.
Activity is never lost while a computer moves or the administrator's computer is off. It waits on the computer and is sent when the connection returns.
Strict company networks
The relay uses ordinary HTTPS on port 443, so most networks need nothing.
- Outgoing firewalls must allow HTTPS to
relay.phigon.online,relay-b.phigon.onlineand*.relay.phigon.online. - Proxies: computers and the administrator's computer use the proxy in
HTTPS_PROXY, or Windows' proxy settings and PAC file. - HTTPS inspection (Zscaler, Netskope, some antivirus software) breaks the end-to-end encryption, so Phigon refuses such connections on purpose. Ask IT to exempt
*.relay.phigon.online. The observer says when this is the problem.
The administrator's computer
The server lives in the Phigon app, so it reaches computers only while that computer is on and Phigon is running. Phigon keeps running in the tray after its window closes, and can start at sign-in.
When it is off, computers keep their activity and send it later. phigon-observer doctor --check says that the server isn't connected to the relay right now, rather than reporting a broken setup.
Moving Phigon to another computer
The relay address comes from your server's certificate authority, which is kept in the tls folder beside your data and in the app's backups. When you move to a new computer, copy that folder too. Then quit and uninstall Phigon on the old computer. Only one computer can hold your server's relay address: if the old one is still running, the app on it says that another computer took over the relay connection.