Networking

Your node must have access to the internet to download episodes, and connect to the IPFS network. Network indicators display the quality of your internet connection.

Umbrel Status Screen

On Umbrel, the first two Network indicators display connectivity for downloading podcasts via HTTP & HTTPS protocols. If either of these are Red, you will not be able to download podcast episodes. Check that your firewall or internet router isn't blocking ports 80 (http) or 443 (https) to your Umbrel.

The 3rd IPFS indicator shows the number of peers connected to your node. Color indicates the quality of your connection on the IPFS network. 0-100 peers = Red/Poor. 100-400 peers = Yellow/Good. 400+ peers = Green/Best.

IPFS If your connection is Red, it's likely your internet connection is slow or blocked by your firewall/router. IPFS uses port 4001 (both tcp/udp) to connect to other peers on the IPFS network. This port must be granted access to the internet. Check that your firewall/router isn't blocking port 4001 to your Node. IPFS will run behind NAT (Network Address Translation), but will not run over TOR like other apps.

IPFS If your connection is Yellow, it could be better. IPFS will function behind a firewall that allows NAT, but it could function better if other nodes connect directly to your Node on port 4001. You can configure your firewall/router with "port forwarding" to direct traffic arriving on port 4001 (both tcp/udp) to your device on your local network.

IPFS If your connection is green, your network is likely setup correctly (Congratulations!). The more peers you connect, the better/faster episodes can be pinned & played back to podcast clients.

StartOS Properties Panel

StartOS, has a similar Red/Yellow/Green indicator on the properties panel showing the status of your IPFS node. The Umbrel values/colors above apply to this indicator as well.

You can test your incoming port here. The response should be OPEN! if everything is working correctly. Closed may be a valid configuration, but your IPFS node isn't running. Stealth means the port is still being blocked by your firewall or ISP.