# Mqtt broker. Payed or is it safe to open a port to public?

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/mqtt-broker-payed-or-is-it-safe-to-open-a-port-to-public/19679>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [28 December 2019 12:52 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/mqtt-broker-payed-or-is-it-safe-to-open-a-port-to-public/19679 "2019-12-28T12:52:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RogierQ](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/rogierq/32/3211_2.png) [@RogierQ](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/RogierQ)\
**Post date:** [28 December 2019 12:52 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/mqtt-broker-payed-or-is-it-safe-to-open-a-port-to-public/19679/1 "2019-12-28T12:52:39Z")

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Hi!  
Not directly a NR related question but i only use mqtt with Nodered  
I want to do things with mqtt outside my house. Is it safe to open a public port or is it more safe to use a payed service?? Anyone experience with this?  
Or any advice how to protect my mqtt broker to ugly bad programmers from the darkside?

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**Author:** ![Paul-Reed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/paul-reed/32/66906_2.png) [@Paul-Reed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Paul-Reed)\
**Post date:** [28 December 2019 13:16 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/mqtt-broker-payed-or-is-it-safe-to-open-a-port-to-public/19679/2 "2019-12-28T13:16:47Z")

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> [@RogierQ](#):
>
> I want to do things with mqtt outside my house.

What sort of things?

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**Author:** ![RogierQ](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/rogierq/32/3211_2.png) [@RogierQ](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/RogierQ)\
**Post date:** [28 December 2019 13:43 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/mqtt-broker-payed-or-is-it-safe-to-open-a-port-to-public/19679/3 "2019-12-28T13:43:09Z")

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Send and receive sensor data from sensors around the city

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**Author:** ![Paul-Reed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/paul-reed/32/66906_2.png) [@Paul-Reed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Paul-Reed)\
**Post date:** [28 December 2019 14:59 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/mqtt-broker-payed-or-is-it-safe-to-open-a-port-to-public/19679/4 "2019-12-28T14:59:22Z")

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The safest way would be to enable TLS encryption between clients & broker.  
That's why I asked 'What sort of things', because you would need to add a TLS CA certificate to each of the clients, and depending upon the clients that's not always possible.

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**Author:** ![RogierQ](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/rogierq/32/3211_2.png) [@RogierQ](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/RogierQ)\
**Post date:** [28 December 2019 16:42 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/mqtt-broker-payed-or-is-it-safe-to-open-a-port-to-public/19679/5 "2019-12-28T16:42:35Z")

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aha ok clear, all wil;l be with a raspberry pi so i guess that wont be a problem? I am not very used to that part

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**Author:** ![Paul-Reed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/paul-reed/32/66906_2.png) [@Paul-Reed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Paul-Reed)\
**Post date:** [28 December 2019 17:08 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/mqtt-broker-payed-or-is-it-safe-to-open-a-port-to-public/19679/6 "2019-12-28T17:08:57Z")

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Setting up MQTT TLS isn't the easiest task to do... but this guide could help you create the certificates [http://www.steves-internet-guide.com/mosquitto-tls/](http://www.steves-internet-guide.com/mosquitto-tls/)  
If you scroll towards the bottom of the blog, Steve has even written a shell script which makes it even easier.

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**Author:** ![RogierQ](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/rogierq/32/3211_2.png) [@RogierQ](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/RogierQ)\
**Post date:** [28 December 2019 19:13 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/mqtt-broker-payed-or-is-it-safe-to-open-a-port-to-public/19679/7 "2019-12-28T19:13:46Z")

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Cool! Even with a link. Thanks Paul!