# Using password for RNodeInterface?

_Help · started by oliverg on Mon, Oct 12, 2026 8:14 PM_

Tags: Question, RNode, Help

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## Original post

**oliverg** · Mon, Oct 12, 2026 8:14 PM

Hi,

I have flashed a Heltec V4 board with RNode firmware, configured it for Wifi ("rnodeconf /dev/ttyACM0 --wifi STATION --ssid my_open_hotspot"), and configured rnsd on a computer to use an interface with type=RNodeInterface and port=tcp://<Heltec IP> . This works well - nice!

But the Wifi hotspot is public (no password), and there may be other people connected to it. My understanding is that anyone could use this Heltec device on their own (and I guess only one rnsd instance can use the Heltec at a time?). Is there a way to protect TCP access to the Heltec by some password or key, so that not everyone can connect their rnsd to it?
It's probably not a big risk :-) but it feels weird to have a completely open device on an open network.

Thanks, and thanks for building Reticulum!
Oliver

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## Reply 1

**burger** · Wed, Oct 14, 2026 8:02 PM

The antenna on that thing is not good.
People wont probably see it at all

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## Reply 2

**burger** · Wed, Oct 14, 2026 8:03 PM

have you tried appending --psk "password" to it?

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## Reply 3

**bb7d0fe2** · Fri, Oct 16, 2026 2:51 PM

do you think others on the net will be able to use your rnode? they have to first find the node ip, then use their rnsd and connect your rnode....just improbable, also if a rnode is occupied by an instance of rnsd using it, it will be unavailable for other. disable transport and shared instance also for this special case for extra security, but... :D

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## Reply 4

**oliverg** · Fri, Oct 23, 2026 7:58 PM

**burger** wrote:
> have you tried appending --psk "password" to it?

No, I haven't used that option; my understanding is that --psk only sets the password for Wifi (which I want to leave empty, because the Heltec should connect to an open Wifi hotspot).

For now I have flashed Microreticulum on the Heltec and configured it for Transport Mode, so that it can run stand-alone without a separate PC. But this makes it difficult to see what's happening on the node or to learn about Reticulum; so I'm looking to configure the Heltec to start its own Wifi hotspot (with --wifi AP) and have the PC connect to the Heltec over a separate Wifi connection. Or alternatively use Bluetooth, but that might be finicky to set up reliably on a headless PC.

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