[Bug]: HTTPS connection does not work. 2 operating systems 3 browsers. Does not work.

[rekcodocker]

Before submitting

• I have searched existing issues to make sure this bug hasn't already been reported
• I have updated to the latest version of the software to verify the issue still exists
• I have cleared cache/cookies/storage or tried in a private/incognito window (if applicable)

Hardware

Heltec V3

Connection Type

HTTP

Local or Hosted

https://client.meshtastic.org

Firmware Version

2.7.15.567b8ea

Operating System

Linux Mint 21 and Windows 11

Browser

Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge

Expected Behavior

I follow the instructions.
open https://client.meshtastic.org/
open a new tab.
browse to https://my-node-IP
accept all risks.
re-browse to https://my-node-ip.
confirm there IS a certificate

go to https://client.meshtastic.org/
add the IP (or meshtastic.local, does not make a difference).
Click 'test connection'

Expected: That I get a connection.

Error 'not reachable´. Every time. On three browsers on two operating systems.
HTTPS does not work.

I also can not disable the 'HTTPS' even though there is a button on the screen. That button is disabled.

Actual Behavior

I follow the instructions.
open https://client.meshtastic.org/
open a new tab.
browse to https://my-node-IP
accept all risks.
re-browse to https://my-node-ip.
confirm there IS a certificate

go to https://client.meshtastic.org/
add the IP (or meshtastic.local, does not make a difference).
Click 'test connection'

Error 'not reachable´. Every time. On three browsers on two operating systems.
HTTPS does not work.

I also can not disable the 'HTTPS' even though there is a button on the screen. That button is disabled.

Steps to Reproduce

open https://client.meshtastic.org/
open a new tab.
browse to https://my-node-IP
accept all risks.
re-browse to https://my-node-ip.
confirm there IS a certificate

go to https://client.meshtastic.org/
add the IP (or meshtastic.local, does not make a difference).
Click 'test connection'

Expected: That I get a connection.

Error 'not reachable´. Every time. On three browsers on two operating systems.
HTTPS does not work.

I also can not disable the 'HTTPS' even though there is a button on the screen. That button is disabled.

Relevant console output

Screenshots

Error:

web server is running under https:

Additional Context

1. My phone can make a connection via the wifi using the app. My laptop/browser can not.
2. There is a 'HTTPS / HTTP' switch on the screen but it is disabled. It can not be clicked.
3. My suggestion: First make it work, then make it safe. Now it simply does not work via the web/wifi
4. serial and bluetooth work.

[potassium-chloride]

Absolutely same issue.

[alexherington]

The default timeout for this reachability check is 2500ms. I've noticed in the web dev tools it always hits that timeout trying to connect to my Heltec V3. I did some benchmarking and over decent wifi (approx 6ms ping time) it takes that device ~7s to respond to the check.

We should extend the reachability timeout to maybe 10000ms, or make it configurable from the web UI. A 7 second response time is unusually long though.

The write timeout is already on the cusp of that:
READ_TIMEOUT_MS = 7000 (7 seconds)
WRITE_TIMEOUT_MS = 4000 (4 seconds)

[AlanLane]

I’ve tried connecting multiple times, and it seems to be an HTTPS permission issue that the browser cannot handle due to security policies.
I managed to connect only once by lowering all the security policies through advanced settings, but that was a one-time occurrence, as it hasn’t worked since.

We could try connecting without HTTPS, because the self-signed certificate on the device isn’t properly recognized even if we accept all the risks.

[linuxslate]

Same issue/vote for this bug.

I often have to attempt to connect multiple times, each with a long time-out delay before I can connect.

I nearly always have to browse to https://(notes local IP address)/ in a separate browser tab, and then go back to https://client.meshtastic.org/, and attempt to connect again. If I do this, I can usually connect within about 3 tries.

Note that this may be a firmware issue since browsing to the node's IP seems to be "waking up" the nodes network connection.

Note also that in all cases, the node is steadily pingable throughout the connection attempts.

Linux Ubuntu 22.04 Tried with Firefox and Chrome.

EDIT: Additional information:
Android Client App usually connects within one or tries without connecting to the IP first.

[roberthadow]

I observe similar behavior with client.meshtastic.org.

I use Heltec ESP32 units in both v3 and V4. I can connect with my Android by http, serial, and Bluetooth (after I turn off network). I can connect from the CLI using either USB or http. Until V2.6.11, I used to connect to devices via http when the web server was installed by the flasher to the device. Now, there is a minimal web server on the device. I get this in my browser: "Web server is running. // The content you are looking for can't be found. Please see: FAQ. //
admin.

client.meshtastic.org connects fine by serial, when only one Meshtastic device is connected. When two are connected, you have to figure out which port to use. V3 and V4 use different USB setups.

No, I cannot use client.meshtastic.org to connect via http to any device, even after I have established a session with that URL from my Chrome browser.

[ssoto]

Same behaviour here.

Ussing macOS Tahoe 26.3 and Chrome 145.0.7632.160 with a Heltec ESP32 v3 device.

This is the browser console. I suspect it is something related with https and the certificate:

I validated that the IP is valid with a console ping command. I don't know the port for testing with telnet.

I am open for testing.

[ssoto]

Update of my last comment: I cloned the repository and run web locally. I got running it and adding my node.

The issue was related with the https certificate. The device is using a self signed certificated. I loaded into the web browser into https://192.168.0.122 (my local network device IP) and accepted that the certificate is not valid. Then I got this:

Once accepted, I got then a valid connection test. I couldn't reproduce it in https://client.meshtastic.org/ because I cannot uncheck https.

[roberthadow]

Additional challenge with client.meshtastic.org. I tried a Bluetooth connection this morning.

This connection type requires Web Bluetooth. Please use a supported browser, like Chrome or Edge.

I am using Chrome, the latest version, in Ubuntu.

[rekcodocker]

I’ve tried connecting multiple times, and it seems to be an HTTPS permission issue that the browser cannot handle due to security policies. I managed to connect only once by lowering all the security policies through advanced settings, but that was a one-time occurrence, as it hasn’t worked since.

We could try connecting without HTTPS, because the self-signed certificate on the device isn’t properly recognized even if we accept all the risks.

This.

The 'HTTPS on/off' button is inoperable. On my local lan I would easily accept HTTP if it just worked.
The disabled button does not even give me the option to turn HTTPS off.
Mind you, there is no access control on the node - no password or anything. Anyone who is on my Lan can reach and control the device, so what on earth is HTTPS trying to protect??

I say: First make it work, then make it safe. Otherwise you might as well disable the entire web-interface and call it 100% secure.

[alexherington]

I think there are 3 issues:

1. If the client is served over HTTPS, the browser will block requests from the page to HTTP endpoints. This is standard browser mixed-content protection. Because of that, the HTTP toggle in the UI is disabled when the client itself is loaded over HTTPS.
   

   web/packages/web/src/components/Dialog/AddConnectionDialog/AddConnectionDialog.tsx

   Line 392 in c729d3b

   disabled={!!isURLHTTPS}

2. The node exposes its API over HTTPS with a self-signed certificate. Even if the browser allows you to manually proceed when visiting the node UI, programmatic requests from JavaScript may still fail unless the certificate is trusted by the OS/browser trust store. There appears to be some logic related to handling this here:
   

   web/packages/web/src/pages/Connections/useConnections.ts

   Line 256 in c729d3b

   ? `Cannot reach HTTPS endpoint. If using a self-signed certificate, open ${conn.url} in a new tab, accept the certificate warning, then try connecting again.`

3. The connectivity test currently times out after 2500 ms:
   

   web/packages/web/src/pages/Connections/utils.ts

   Line 43 in c729d3b

   export async function testHttpReachable(url: string, timeoutMs = 2500): Promise<boolean> {

   
   Depending on node load or WiFi latency, the API may take longer than this to respond, which could cause false negatives during the connection test.

Issues 1 and 2 are largely inherent browser / TLS constraints, but 3 seems fixable by increasing the timeout or making it configurable.