How to Access Your WSL2 Web Apps from Mobile Devices & LAN

Logifire — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 22:10:47 +0000

If you use WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) for web development, you've likely hit this wall: you start a development server (Vite, Next.js, Node, Django, Docker), open http://localhost:3000 on your Windows host, and everything works seamlessly.

Then you grab your mobile phone or another device on the same Wi-Fi network to test responsive design or mobile-specific behavior... Connection Refused or Request Timed Out.

I spent hours struggling with this exact issue before discovering why standard Windows Firewall solutions don't work for WSL2. Here is a clear explanation of the root cause and a simple, automated fix.

The Root Cause: Why Standard Firewall Rules Fail

WSL2 does not run as a native Windows process. It operates inside a lightweight Hyper-V Virtual Machine behind a virtual network adapter.

Because of this architecture:

Classic Windows Defender Firewall rules (wf.msc or New-NetFirewallRule) apply to the host OS, not to traffic passing into the Hyper-V virtual network.
Even if you allow port 3000 in wf.msc or configure port forwarding, the Hyper-V Firewall isolation layer blocks incoming traffic originating from your LAN.

To allow external network traffic into WSL2, Windows requires specific Hyper-V firewall rules created via New-NetFirewallHyperVRule using WSL's specific VMCreatorId. These rules live in a separate firewall store and do not show up in the classic wf.msc GUI.

The Solution: A Simple 1-Command Fix

To streamline this process, I created an open-source utility script that automatically resolves the WSL Hyper-V container ID, creates persistent Hyper-V firewall rules, and manages port exposure effortlessly.

📦 Download Ready-to-Use Package: Release 0.1 (wsl-hyperv-firewall.zip)

🔗 GitHub Repository: Logifire/wsl-hyperv-firewall

Step-by-Step Guide: Accessing WSL2 from Mobile

Step 1: Bind Your Dev Server to `0.0.0.0`

By default, most development servers only listen on 127.0.0.1 (localhost). You must instruct your server to listen on all network interfaces:

Vite / Vue / Svelte: npm run dev -- --host 0.0.0.0
Next.js: npm run dev -- -H 0.0.0.0 -p 3000 (or npx next dev -H 0.0.0.0)
Python HTTP Server: python -m http.server 8000 --bind 0.0.0.0
Node.js / Express: Ensure your app uses app.listen(3000, '0.0.0.0')

Step 2: Open the Port in Hyper-V Firewall

Download wsl-hyperv-firewall.zip from the latest release and extract it (or clone the repository).
Right-click wsl-hyperv-firewall.bat and select Run as administrator.

You can run commands directly from PowerShell/CMD:

# Syntax: .\wsl-hyperv-firewall.bat add <port>
.\wsl-hyperv-firewall.bat add 5173

(Alternatively, running wsl-hyperv-firewall.bat without arguments launches an interactive prompt where you can simply type add 5173).

Step 3: Find Your Windows Local IP Address

In PowerShell or CMD on Windows, check your LAN IP address:

ipconfig

Look for IPv4 Address under your active Wi-Fi or Ethernet adapter (e.g., 192.168.1.150).

Step 4: Connect from Your Mobile Device

Ensure your mobile device is connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Open your browser on the phone and navigate to:

http://192.168.1.150:5173

Your dev server running inside WSL2 will now load immediately!

Managing Your Rules

You can list all active Hyper-V rules created by the script or remove them when you finish testing:

# List active WSL Hyper-V rules
.\wsl-hyperv-firewall.bat list

# Remove rule when testing is complete
.\wsl-hyperv-firewall.bat remove 5173

Note: Rules created with New-NetFirewallHyperVRule are persistent across reboots, so you don't need to re-add them every time you restart your machine.

Summary

If you are developing inside WSL2 and need mobile or cross-device network testing on your LAN, traditional firewall tweaks won't cut it. Opening ports via New-NetFirewallHyperVRule is the clean, native Windows solution.

Download the zip archive or check out the full source code on GitHub:
👉 github.com/Logifire/wsl-hyperv-firewall

Feel free to star the repo or drop a comment if this solved your WSL2 networking headaches!

Written with AI assistance.

DEV Community: Logifire