Set up Mosh for changing networks

Mosh helps an interactive terminal recover from temporary network interruptions and changes between Wi-Fi and mobile data. ConnectBot includes the client; your remote machine needs compatible mosh-server software.

Get ConnectBot on Google Play to get started.

Prepare the server

First confirm that you can connect over SSH with your username and password or SSH key. Mosh uses SSH to sign in and start the server process, then uses UDP for terminal traffic.

On Debian or Ubuntu, an administrator can install the server package with:


sudo apt-get install mosh

Allow inbound UDP traffic for the Mosh ports on the server’s firewall and any intervening network firewall. The default range is 60000–61000; the SSH port must also remain reachable. See the official Mosh installation and usage instructions for other systems and port configuration.

Add a Mosh connection

Add a connection in ConnectBot and choose mosh in the protocol selector.
Enter the same hostname, username, and SSH port that work for your SSH connection.
Use the same password or authorized SSH key. Leave Mosh-specific settings at their defaults unless your server requires a different server path or UDP port.
Save, then open the host from the Host List.

If it does not connect

If SSH login works but Mosh stalls, check that mosh-server is installed and available on the server’s command path, and that UDP traffic can reach it. A network that permits SSH may still block UDP.

Mosh supports interactive terminals; use SSH connections for port forwarding. Mosh can recover while the server process and client session remain alive. For work that should survive closing the app or a server-side session ending, use a terminal multiplexer such as tmux on the server.

Read more about roaming and network requirements in the official Mosh documentation , or see connection help.