Help & Getting Started

This page explains how to connect to your organization's network with siteaccess.io. The exact sign-in address for your organization looks like https://your-org.siteaccess.io — your administrator provides it, and the "Secure Network Access" link in your dashboard opens a version of these steps with your address already filled in.

Before you start: you need permission to install software on your device (or ask your IT team to install it for you). There is no approval step to wait for — you sign in with your work account and your device joins straight away. You will not be able to reach anything at first; that part is configured for your organization by siteaccess.io, and it is the expected first state rather than a fault.

1. Install the client

siteaccess.io uses the open-source Tailscale client to make the secure connection.

• Windows / macOS: install the Tailscale client from the official Tailscale download page.
• Linux: install tailscale using your distribution's package or the official install script.
• Android / iOS: install the Tailscale app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

Important — don't log in at tailscale.com. siteaccess.io runs its own secure coordination server. When the client asks you to log in, you must point it at your organization's siteaccess.io address (below), not the default Tailscale service. Signing in at tailscale.com will not connect you to your organization's network.

2. Connect to your organization

Point the client at your organization's address (replace your-org with yours). Some organizations answer on a specific port, in which case the address ends in something like :8080 — that port is part of the address, and omitting it fails with fetch control key: 404 Not Found. If your organization's sign-in dashboard shows you a ready-made command, use that address exactly.

Windows or Linux — open a terminal / command prompt and run:

tailscale up --login-server https://your-org.siteaccess.io

macOS — the Tailscale menu-bar app doesn't need the terminal. After installing, a Tailscale icon appears in the menu bar (top-right). If it opens a window asking you to log in to Tailscale, close or ignore it — you'll connect through your organization instead. Then hold the Option key and click the Tailscale menu-bar icon → hover over Debug → under "Custom Login Server" choose "Add Account…", enter https://your-org.siteaccess.io, and click Add Account. (Prefer the terminal? Run tailscale login --login-server https://your-org.siteaccess.io.)

Android or iOS — in the Tailscale app, open the account/settings menu, choose the option to use a custom coordination server, and enter your organization's address (https://your-org.siteaccess.io), then sign in.

3. Sign in

Your browser (or the app) opens your organization's sign-in page. Sign in with your work account — the same identity provider your organization uses (for example Microsoft or Google). After you sign in, the client connects and you'll have secure access to your organization's network.

Your privacy — an option you should know about

The Tailscale client, by default, attempts to send its own diagnostic logs to Tailscale's logging service — this happens even though siteaccess.io uses its own coordination server. These logs are about the client's operation, not the contents of your traffic. If you would prefer the client send no diagnostic logs to Tailscale, you can disable it:

• Windows: set the environment variable TS_NO_LOGS_NO_SUPPORT=true before starting Tailscale.
• macOS (open-source tailscaled) / Linux: start with the flag --no-logs-no-support, e.g. tailscale up --login-server https://your-org.siteaccess.io --no-logs-no-support.

Note: with logging disabled, Tailscale cannot provide diagnostic support for the client — which does not affect the siteaccess.io service itself.

Trouble connecting?

• Double-check the login-server address matches your organization's (https://your-org.siteaccess.io).
• Make sure you signed in with your work account, not a personal one.

Connected, but nothing responds? That is the expected first state. Joining the network and being allowed to reach a particular system are two separate things. Your device joins straight away; what it may reach is configured per organization by siteaccess.io. Until that is done, servers and shared drives will not answer — and that is not a fault on your side.

Installed, but it will not connect?

If Tailscale installed cleanly — often by your IT team — but will not actually connect, the usual cause is other security software on the same machine, not anything you did.

What that looks like: it sits on Connecting… or drops immediately; a message about "Windows network configuration failed" or "Failed to set the network category to private"; it says Connected but nothing responds and stays that way; or it worked until a security-software update. Some antivirus products also quarantine Tailscale after a new release.

What to do: don't keep retrying or reinstalling — it will not change the result. Note what you saw and when, tell your own IT team, and copy support@siteaccess.io.

For IT: there is a page written for you at siteaccess.io/it — endpoint-security settings (trusting the Tailscale adapter is the one that matters most; an application allow-rule alone is a common half-fix), the outbound firewall requirements, and how user access works.

Who to ask

You do not need to tell anyone that you have signed in. siteaccess.io is notified automatically when your account first signs in and each time you add a new device.