Cannot establish a secure WebSocket connection

[Brent]

Hey there, I’m new to Render and I’ve been trying to deploy my NodeJS project at kinnetik.onrender.com. Other than the WebSockets, it seems to be working fine. However… the entire project is based around the WebSockets. I’ve been reading the following posts:

Connect via websockets

Hi there @Aaron_Wilson, Yes it is possible I have tried it myself !! here is a picture of the server receiving messages [server] here is a picture of a client sending messages [client] here is the code used for the simple ws server Sample codes for those who want to try here is the code for the client <script> var conn = new WebSocket('wss://sok.onrender.com'); conn.onopen = function(e) { console.log("Connection established!"); }; setInterval(() => { …

WebSockets issue connecting to Node Express App

Hello Evan, I was able to replicate the error you are having when using the Free plan. We are taking a look to see why this is the case. Update: We are looking at why the web sockets are not working with our Free Plan and we will pick up this thread early next week. In the meantime, you could try running your api on the Starter plan.

The error I get in the console isn’t really helpful either: RoomSceneController.js:18 WebSocket connection to 'wss://kinnetik.onrender.com/' failed:

I tried the following:

• Installing Serve with npm install serve
• Setting environment variables and accessing them through process.env.{NAME}
• Creating the WebSocket without port, const socket = new WebSocket("wss://kinnetik.onrender.com");
• Creating the WebSocket with ports, const socket = new WebSocket("wss://kinnetik.onrender.com:9999");. I tried my custom port 9999 and 10000. Both were set accordingly in the Environment variables of the Render project.

As this is my first somewhat advanced NodeJS project and the first time I’m here on Render, I’m (already) out of ideas of what to try next. What are some ideas to try next? Thanks in advance!

[Brent]

So I’ve found the solution. I rewrote the application according to this answer on StackOverflow, and now it works like a charm. I still don’t know what caused the error, although I suspect it has something to do with the ports.

[Jason-Render]

The port your application uses, (9999, 10000, etc.) is only relevant locally. Via public connections to your domain, Render only routes the standard web ports to your application.

If you reference a public domain name, whether your own custom domain name or the app’s name with onrender.com, only ports 80 or 443 will ever be answered.