coturn on Kubernetes Without hostNetwork

Problem

TURN servers traditionally require hostNetwork because they relay media over a wide UDP port range (49152-65535). This pins the server to a single node, prevents rolling updates, and wastes cluster flexibility.

Context / Trigger Conditions

• Deploying a TURN/STUN server for WebRTC applications on Kubernetes
• Want the TURN pod to be schedulable on any node
• Need to avoid hostNetwork for better availability and scheduling

Solution

Key insight: Narrow the relay port range

A home lab with ~20 concurrent WebRTC viewers needs ~40 relay ports (2 per viewer). Use 100 ports (49152-49252) instead of 16K. This makes it practical to expose via a K8s LoadBalancer service.