How can i use Snapdrop outside my local network

[poltrian]

Is it possible to use snapdrop outside of the local network? When I'm outside of my local network, I can see the users, but I can't send any files. These will not be sent. I have a Docker installation

[TheGentleChainsaw]

It's not really possible, no. Snapdrop is mainly designed to send stuff across local networks using peer-to-peer connections. Client identification is a more centralised process, which is probably why you can still see other users on your self-hosted instance despite not being on the same network, but the actual data transmission is entirely P2P.

Setting up Snapdrop to transmit across the Internet would likely involve adding support for some kind of relay system a la STUN/TURN. This might be possible to implement as an optional feature maybe, but hosting public services with a relay enabled would be significantly more expensive than the current local-only version of Snapdrop.

[snowie2000]

Simply adding a turn server to the configuration in network.js will make snapdrop worldwide usable, with a cost of a self-hosted TURN server.