Back to Knowledge Base

FAQ: Required Ports for M-Lab Nodes

Edit

Why M-Lab nodes must use ports 80 and 443 and what happens if those ports are blocked.

beginner BYOS Node OperationsNode ConfigurationNetworking

Q: Can I change the ports that my M-Lab node uses? I need to use different ports than 80 and 443.

A: No, you cannot change the required ports. M-Lab nodes must use ports 80 and 443 because:

  • The M-Lab Locate Service returns test URLs specifically for these ports
  • Google Search integration requires these standard HTTP/HTTPS ports
  • M-Lab monitoring automatically checks port 443 availability
  • Nodes with blocked ports 80/443 are automatically removed from production

Running a Custom NDT Server

If you want to run your own NDT server with custom ports, that is possible, but it would not be part of the M-Lab platform and would not receive traffic from M-Lab clients.