Stream Your Home PC to College
Play AAA games on your laptop using your home GPU. Zero latency, zero cost, works from anywhere.
What You Need
Server Sunshine
Open-source game streaming server. Installs on your home PC and runs as a background service. Uses your GPU's hardware encoder (NVENC/AMF) — near-zero CPU cost.
Get Sunshine →
Client Moonlight
Open-source game streaming client. Connects to Sunshine and displays your PC's screen. Available on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and even Chromebooks.
Get Moonlight →
Network Tailscale
Creates a private encrypted tunnel between your devices. Your laptop can reach your home PC at a static IP (100.x.x.x) from anywhere in the world. Free for personal use.
Get Tailscale →
Power Smart Plug (optional)
A WiFi smart plug lets you turn your PC on remotely from your phone. Set your BIOS to "Restore on AC Power Loss" and tapping the plug boots your machine.
TP-Link Kasa →
Setup Guide
Install Sunshine on your home PC
Download from GitHub, run the installer. It auto-configures as a Windows service — starts on boot, no login required.
Install Tailscale on both devices
Sign up, install on your PC and laptop. Run tailscale up on both. They'll get static IPs (100.x.x.x) that work from any network.
Configure BIOS for remote boot
Enter BIOS (press DEL/F2 on boot). Find "Restore on AC Power Loss" and set to ON. Now when the smart plug gives it power, it boots automatically.
Install Moonlight on your laptop
Download from moonlight-stream.org. Add your home PC by its Tailscale IP. Pair with the PIN code Sunshine shows.
Connect and play
Open Moonlight, select your PC, choose Desktop or a specific game. Stream at 1080p60 or 4K60 depending on your connection.
SSH — Full Remote Control
With Tailscale + SSH enabled on your home PC, you can troubleshoot and manage it from terminal — no stream needed.
ssh your-user@100.x.x.x
tasklist | findstr "game"
net stop sunshinesvc && net start sunshinesvc
shutdown /s /t 0
Pro Tips
Latency: On good wifi (5GHz), expect 15-30ms total latency. Playable for everything except competitive FPS.
Bandwidth: 1080p60 uses ~30 Mbps. 4K60 uses ~80 Mbps. Most dorm wifi handles 1080p fine.
Controller: Plug a controller into your laptop — Moonlight forwards it to your PC. Xbox, PS5, and generic controllers all work.
Multiple monitors: Sunshine can stream just one monitor. Set it in the Sunshine web UI (localhost:47990).
Power bill: A gaming PC at idle draws ~60W. Playing remotely draws the same as playing locally. Turn it off with SSH when done.
Use Claude to Set It Up
Want an AI to walk you through the whole setup? Use this Claude Code skill:
claude "Help me set up Moonlight + Sunshine game streaming to my college laptop"