<p>To run a full node you don't need to have opened incoming port. It will function correctly being just a "fetching" node.</p>

<p>When you are behind NAT which one you do not manage you still can achieve your node visibility in various ways:</p>

<p>1) Using third party "middleman" services. </p>

<p>as Randy mentioned, there is a dyn.com, where you install their client and then you have a domain, which will be routed to your WAN ip, even it changes all the time. I thought this service solves only dynamic WAN IP change - in this case this won't help you if your provider still is blocking incoming connections (need port forward). but probably they offer also so-called "port tunneling" with their client.</p>

<p>there's also great service by <a href="https://ngrok.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://ngrok.com/</a> , you can configure it to access your bitcoind REST api even you are behind filtered NAT.</p>

<p>Be aware that in this case all the data you exchange probably can be read by those service providers (still very unlikely)</p>

<p>2) [RECOMMENDED, most self-controlled and private option] You can use Tor hidden service. The complete guide is available here: <a href="https://2019.www.torproject.org/docs/tor-onion-service.html.en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://2019.www.torproject.org/docs/tor-onion-service.html.en</a> . In short: you spin up a tor daemon, and then create so called "tor hidden service", which basically means that you need to set in config some "tor port forwarding".</p>

<pre><code>HiddenServiceDir /var/db/tor/your/local/path/for/particular/onion
HiddenServicePort 8333 127.0.0.1:8333 #exposing to TOR network bitcoind communication port
HiddenServicePort 8332 127.0.0.1:8332 #exposing to TOR network bitcoind RPC port
</code></pre>

<p>In a <code>/var/db/tor/your/local/path/for/particular/onion</code> directory you can find <code>hostname</code> file which will be smth like <code>32j46jh46r4hy45hy435j7h47h4e6yhreu.onion</code>. Then any bitcoin node which is operating via TOR proxy will be able to connect to your node. The advantage of such approach is that you can also use remotely RPC commands in encrypted way (all data transmission is encrypted in TOR)</p>

<p>3) i'll take this question as opportinity to shill my own service <a href="https://bitclouds.sh" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://bitclouds.sh</a> - you can spin up full bitcoin node which will be pre-synced and available on regular internet. Reliable and 24/7 connected, because located in high-grade datacenters. You have full control of such node, it has TORed outgoing connections out-of-box, you are able to RPC remotely (but be aware of risks when allowing remote RPC, its not reccomended and remote calls are not enabled by default on bitclouds - you need to change line in bitcoin.conf). Here's more info: <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin-software/bitbsd-clouds/tree/master/bitcoind" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/bitcoin-software/bitbsd-clouds/tree/master/bitcoind</a> (non-custodial, keys and configs under your control). Thanks to underlying filesystem (ZFS) i am using i am able to offer such bitcoind "containers" just for 66 sats per hour, so it is even cheaper to run on old PC at home. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-18T14:22:39.503Z
2019-11-18T14:38:39.813Z
2019-11-18T14:38:39.813Z
baysx
<p>i am  using verizon fios and have attemped to connect to full node. verizon said that i can n0t do it on their router and would need to purchase a 3rd party router and daisy chain to theirs. Any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T21:19:27.457Z
Do you want to connect from the laptop to a (other person's) full node or do you want to run your own full node on the laptop?
tempo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T21:31:02.227Z
In any case what did they say why it won't work? You might try out, probably the hotline employees aren't the Bitcoin experts. If you want to run your own node I'd only recommend if the laptop has good RAM and has an SSD (for speed reasons) - however the SSD won't live as long as usally I heard because the Bitcoin node is doing so many write operations...
tempo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T21:39:55.510Z
What is the actual issue with using their router? Does it not allow you to customize the port forwarding rules?
chytrik
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-16T23:03:23.190Z
You seem confused. You can run a full node on your laptop just fine, regardless of what router you have. You may be unable to let other nodes connect to you, but that is just charity to the network, and not doing doesn't make your node any less full or any less useful.
Pieter Wuille
<full-node>
can i run a full node on a laptop without a 3rd party router?
arodicus
# can i run a full node on a laptop without a 3rd party router?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-11-16)

i am using verizon fios and have attemped to connect to full node. verizon said that i can n0t do it on their router and would need to purchase a 3rd party router and daisy chain to theirs. Any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks.

**Tags:** full-node

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do you want to connect from the laptop to a (other person's) full node or do you want to run your own full node on the laptop?  
> **username_1**: In any case what did they say why it won't work? You might try out, probably the hotline employees aren't the Bitcoin experts. If you want to run your own node I'd only recommend if the laptop has good RAM and has an SSD (for speed reasons) - however the SSD won't live as long as usally I heard because the Bitcoin node is doing so many write operations...  
> **username_2**: What is the actual issue with using their router? Does it not allow you to customize the port forwarding rules?  
> **username_3**: You seem confused. You can run a full node on your laptop just fine, regardless of what router you have. You may be unable to let other nodes connect to you, but that is just charity to the network, and not doing doesn't make your node any less full or any less useful.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-11-18. Score: 1

To run a full node you don't need to have opened incoming port. It will function correctly being just a "fetching" node.

When you are behind NAT which one you do not manage you still can achieve your node visibility in various ways:

1) Using third party "middleman" services.

as Randy mentioned, there is a dyn.com, where you install their client and then you have a domain, which will be routed to your WAN ip, even it changes all the time. I thought this service solves only dynamic WAN IP change - in this case this won't help you if your provider still is blocking incoming connections (need port forward). but probably they offer also so-called "port tunneling" with their client.

there's also great service by <https://ngrok.com/> , you can configure it to access your bitcoind REST api even you are behind filtered NAT.

Be aware that in this case all the data you exchange probably can be read by those service providers (still very unlikely)

2) [RECOMMENDED, most self-controlled and private option] You can use Tor hidden service. The complete guide is available here: <https://2019.www.torproject.org/docs/tor-onion-service.html.en> . In short: you spin up a tor daemon, and then create so called "tor hidden service", which basically means that you need to set in config some "tor port forwarding".

```
HiddenServiceDir /var/db/tor/your/local/path/for/particular/onion
HiddenServicePort 8333 127.0.0.1:8333 #exposing to TOR network bitcoind communication port
HiddenServicePort 8332 127.0.0.1:8332 #exposing to TOR network bitcoind RPC port

```

In a `/var/db/tor/your/local/path/for/particular/onion` directory you can find `hostname` file which will be smth like `32j46jh46r4hy45hy435j7h47h4e6yhreu.onion`. Then any bitcoin node which is operating via TOR proxy will be able to connect to your node. The advantage of such approach is that you can also use remotely RPC commands in encrypted way (all data transmission is encrypted in TOR)

3) i'll take this question as opportinity to shill my own service <https://bitclouds.sh> - you can spin up full bitcoin node which will be pre-synced and available on regular internet. Reliable and 24/7 connected, because located in high-grade datacenters. You have full control of such node, it has TORed outgoing connections out-of-box, you are able to RPC remotely (but be aware of risks when allowing remote RPC, its not reccomended and remote calls are not enabled by default on bitclouds - you need to change line in bitcoin.conf). Here's more info: <https://github.com/bitcoin-software/bitbsd-clouds/tree/master/bitcoind> (non-custodial, keys and configs under your control). Thanks to underlying filesystem (ZFS) i am using i am able to offer such bitcoind "containers" just for 66 sats per hour, so it is even cheaper to run on old PC at home.


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