# Can i become a full functioning node without public IP? **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [March 29, 2021, 6:53am UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/can-i-become-a-full-functioning-node-without-public-ip/10643 "2021-03-29T06:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mahfujasif](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@mahfujasif](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/u/mahfujasif)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 6:53am UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/can-i-become-a-full-functioning-node-without-public-ip/10643/1 "2021-03-29T06:53:45Z")
I have installed ipfs client on my pc, which does not have a public IP. Now from other node they can not connect to my node( via command `ipfs swarm connect my-peer-id`). As a result they can not always get my uploaded files(pinned).So do i must have a public IP to seamlessly add/get file, connect nodes to the network? ---
**Author:** ![hsn10](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.ipfs.tech/hsn10/32/3711_2.png) [@hsn10](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/u/hsn10)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 7:56am UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/can-i-become-a-full-functioning-node-without-public-ip/10643/2 "2021-03-29T07:56:15Z")
You do not need public IP to get files from network. To share your content this helps a bit. You will insert your content to DHT and be accessible via other node. While content you announced will be found in dht easily, connection to your node will often fail with _no routing_ error. “EnableAutoRelay”: true, “EnableRelayHop”: false, You can try requesting your content from ipfs gateway. Sometimes you will need to retry request several times and wait like 15 minutes until your node will be reached. This is same for bit torrent. ---
**Author:** ![mahfujasif](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@mahfujasif](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/u/mahfujasif)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 8:32am UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/can-i-become-a-full-functioning-node-without-public-ip/10643/3 "2021-03-29T08:32:28Z")
Thanks for your reply. But without public IP other nodes can not directly connect with me right? Because when i command `ipfs swarm connect my-peer-id` i am getting error like undialable ---
**Author:** ![kotovalexarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@kotovalexarian](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/u/kotovalexarian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/can-i-become-a-full-functioning-node-without-public-ip/10643/4 "2021-03-29T11:11:29Z")
Can port forwarding with UPnP help? My IP is not static, but it is the same long enough (many days). From my experience, my content is always accessible. Is port forwarding with UPnP enabled by default? ---
**Author:** ![hsn10](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.ipfs.tech/hsn10/32/3711_2.png) [@hsn10](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/u/hsn10)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 11:14am UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/can-i-become-a-full-functioning-node-without-public-ip/10643/5 "2021-03-29T11:14:53Z")
I use this addr format in connect: `ipfs swarm connect /ip4/104.131.131.82/tcp/4001/p2p/QmaCpDMGvV2BGHeYERUEnRQAwe3N8SzbUtfsmvsqQLuvuJ` You need to get and broadcast “relay” version of your address otherwise others cant reach your node behind NAT. I have same experience as person in following post. Sometimes your node broadcasts its relay address version but most times it does not. What might help is to enable “EnableRelayHop” on your other node with public ip and swarm connect to it. Other possibility is to try setup ipv6 tunel from [https://www.tunnelbroker.net/](https://www.tunnelbroker.net/) it works behind some but not all NAT boxes. What might help in future is TOR transport because tor nodes behind NAT can reach each other. In current state you need to setup some kind of port forwarding (upnp, ssh, tor, vpn, router port forward) to become “full” node. i dont think autorelay feature is very reliable. Its just for emergency use if you are only node hosting something and other persons are willing to wait a lot to get your content it might work after long time (even hours). Then your content will replicated and become more easily accesible. Its same for bit torrent if there are no seeders without NAT then its very difficult to get missing parts. Bit torrent has advantage of retrying downloads even for weeks as long torrent is in download queue while ipfs gets tired of retrying. > [@Feature AutoRelay](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/feature-autorelay/5094): > > I am wondering how I can use the new feature AutoRelay. According to the release notes, it is more or less just set in the configuration the EnableAutoRelay to true. (Nothing has to be done on a specific server, at least that what I understood). So when I have a node with a public IP address (and of course the newest version of IPFS) and a node behind a NAT (router). After a period of time, the node behind the NAT should broadcast “relay” addresses (ipfs id comand) when it is connected to… ---
**Author:** ![hsn10](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.ipfs.tech/hsn10/32/3711_2.png) [@hsn10](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/u/hsn10)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 1:02pm UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/can-i-become-a-full-functioning-node-without-public-ip/10643/6 "2021-03-29T13:02:36Z")
use _ipfs id_ to check if you broadcast relay address or not. it looks like … **/p2p-circuit/** /ip4/212.47.230.100/tcp/28512/p2p/Qme8g49gm3q4Acp7xWBKg3nAa9fxZ1YmyDJdyGgoG6LsXh/p2p-circuit/p2p/12D3KooWJhNL7ez… You might try to collect addresses of nodes providing these circuits and swarm connect to them. Let me know if it helped.