Connecting Over the Internet

You don't need a LoRa radio to use Reticulum. The app can attach directly to a Reticulum transport node (rnsd running a TCPServerInterface) over the internet. This is the fastest way to try the app and to stay reachable when you're away from your RF neighborhood.

1. Settings → Connect → Connect over Internet (TCP).
2. Enter a host and port, or pick one of the suggested public nodes.
   • Example public node: RNS.MichMesh.net:7822
   • You can always type a custom host:port.
3. Connect. The app opens a plain TCP socket and speaks HDLC-framed Reticulum directly — no login, no upgrade handshake, no TLS.
4. (Optional) Save the host as your default.

Connecting over TCP behaves differently from a LoRa link:

• No RSSI / SNR. Those are radio metrics; over TCP the chat metadata line hides them.
• Higher hop counts. Messages typically arrive with hops > 1, since you're attached to the wider mesh rather than direct RF neighbors.
• A much bigger contact/node list. You'll see destinations from the entire connected mesh, not just devices within radio range. If it's overwhelming, use the hops filter to show only nearby destinations.

When you attach to a remote transport node, anyone running that node can observe your announces and your destination hash. This is true of any Reticulum attachment, but it's worth saying out loud: LoRa gives an off-grid intuition that TCP does not. Your messages remain end-to-end encrypted, but your presence and address are visible to the node operator and the mesh.

Choose transport nodes you trust, or run your own rnsd.

TCP and an RNode are not mutually exclusive — you can run both at once. Incoming packets from any transport feed the same packet router, so you can be reachable over RF locally and over the internet at the same time.

• Won't connect — verify the host/port is reachable from your network (some carriers/firewalls block odd ports), and that the node is actually running a TCPServerInterface.
• Connects then drops — the app does not auto-reconnect TCP at the transport layer; reconnection is handled at the app/service layer. If a connection dies, re-open it from Settings.
• No contacts appear — give it a minute for announces to arrive, and make sure you've sent your own announce so others can reach you.

See Troubleshooting for general delivery issues.