Distributed Metrics
Why are some protocols disabled?
What to do when your Bitping Node shows disabled protocols or some capabilities are failing
Overview
Your Bitping Node runs several different network protocols to perform jobs on the Bitping network. Each protocol is tested at startup to confirm it works on your device. If a protocol fails its startup check, it will show as disabled in the Bitping Desktop app or on the Nodes dashboard.
Having some protocols disabled doesn’t mean your node is broken — it just means your node won’t receive jobs for those specific protocols. However, the more protocols you have enabled, the more jobs your node can accept and the more you can earn.
What Are the Protocols?
Your node checks the following capabilities at startup. Each has its own dedicated troubleshooting guide — pick the one that matches the protocol you’re trying to fix.
| Protocol | What It Does | Debug Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Ping (ICMP) | Sends ICMP echo requests to measure latency and packet loss | Ping (ICMP) |
| HTTP | Makes HTTP/HTTPS requests to test website availability and response times | HTTP |
| DNS | Performs DNS lookups to verify domain name resolution from your location | DNS |
| Video Streaming (HLS) | Downloads HLS video segments to measure streaming performance and bandwidth | Video Streaming (HLS) |
| Traceroute | Traces the network path to a destination hop-by-hop (powered by trippy) | Traceroute |
| Bandwidth Sharing (Proxy) | Routes network traffic through your node as a proxy | Bandwidth Sharing |
| WASM Compute | Executes lightweight WebAssembly programs for custom test logic | WASM Compute |
General Troubleshooting Steps
If multiple protocols are disabled or you’re seeing unexpected failures, work through these before diving into a per-protocol guide:
- Restart your node — some capability checks can fail due to transient network issues at startup. A restart will re-run all checks
- Check your internet connection — make sure you have a stable connection. Try loading a website in your browser
- Update your node — make sure you’re running the latest version. Older versions may have bugs that affect capability detection
- Check your firewall — overly restrictive firewalls can block outbound traffic. Bitping doesn’t require any inbound ports, but it does need outbound access to the internet on standard ports (80, 443)
- Check your DNS — many protocol failures stem from DNS resolution problems. See our Troubleshooting Connectivity guide
Reading the Capabilities Display
In the Bitping Desktop app and on the Nodes dashboard at app.bitping.com/nodes, each protocol is shown as an icon:
- Bright icon — protocol is enabled and working
- Dimmed icon — protocol is disabled or failed its startup check
- Hover/tap the icon — if a protocol is disabled, the tooltip will show the error message explaining why
If you see an error message you don’t understand, include it when contacting support — it helps us diagnose the issue faster.
Need More Help?
If you’ve tried the steps above and your protocol-specific guide and still have protocols disabled, reach out to our support team at [email protected] or join our Telegram group with:
- Your Bitping Node version
- Your operating system and architecture (e.g. Ubuntu 24.04 x86_64, Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit)
- Which protocols are disabled and any error messages shown
- The output of
bitpingd run(the first few lines showing capability checks)
