Port 1071 is officially registered with IANA for BSQUARE-VOIP, a Voice over Internet Protocol service associated with BSquare Corporation's embedded systems work. Available on both TCP and UDP, this port represents a specific era in networking history when companies building VoIP into specialized devices registered their own dedicated ports.
What Is BSQUARE-VOIP?
BSQUARE-VOIP was a VoIP implementation associated with BSquare Corporation, a Seattle-based company that was the leading Windows CE distributor in North America during the early 2000s.12 BSquare specialized in helping manufacturers build embedded systems—handheld devices, industrial equipment, and specialized hardware running Windows CE and later Windows Embedded platforms.
During the early 2000s VoIP boom, BSquare worked with Microsoft as a system integrator partner to deploy VoIP capabilities on Windows CE-based devices.3 They registered port 1071 for their VoIP implementations, giving their software a dedicated channel through firewalls and network infrastructure.
The Registered Ports Range
Port 1071 falls in the registered ports range (1024-49151). These ports are assigned by IANA to specific services upon application by requesting organizations. Unlike well-known ports (0-1023) which require special privileges to bind to, registered ports can be used by regular user applications.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, hundreds of companies registered ports for their proprietary protocols and services. Port 1071 is one of these registrations—a formal claim that "this number belongs to our service."
Why This Port Exists
In the early 2000s, VoIP was fragmentary. Instead of a few dominant protocols, dozens of companies built their own VoIP implementations, each with custom signaling, codecs, and network requirements. BSquare, working at the intersection of embedded systems and telecommunications, needed a way for their VoIP traffic to traverse corporate firewalls reliably.
The solution was simple: register a port number. Once IANA assigned port 1071 to BSQUARE-VOIP, network administrators could open that specific port to allow the traffic through. It gave the service legitimacy and a permanent address in the Internet's namespace.
What Happened to BSquare?
BSquare Corporation was founded in 1994 and became a Windows Embedded Partner of the Year for 2001.4 The company provided operating system licenses, development tools, training, and integration services for embedded systems developers and manufacturers.
After years in the embedded systems market, BSquare shifted focus toward IoT and fleet management software. In 2023, the company was acquired by Kontron and delisted from Nasdaq.5 The company's products evolved and eventually disappeared, but port 1071 remains registered in IANA's database—a small monument to the embedded VoIP era.
Is This Port Still Used?
Probably not. BSQUARE-VOIP was tied to specific BSquare products and implementations from the early 2000s. Those systems are largely obsolete now, replaced by modern VoIP protocols like SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) which uses ports 5060 and 5061.
However, the registration still stands. Unless explicitly relinquished or reclaimed by IANA, port 1071 remains officially assigned to BSQUARE-VOIP. In practice, you're unlikely to encounter traffic on this port unless you're maintaining very old embedded systems.
Checking What's Using Port 1071
On Linux or macOS:
On Windows:
If something is listening on port 1071, it's either:
- A legacy BSquare VoIP implementation (rare)
- Another application using the port unofficially
- Malware or an unauthorized service
Why Unassigned and Obscure Ports Matter
The Internet has 65,535 available ports. Not all of them carry the world's traffic. Ports like 1071 exist in the long tail—registered to specific services that served specific purposes at specific moments in time.
These ports tell the history of the Internet. Each registration represents a company that believed their protocol mattered enough to claim a permanent number. Some of those bets paid off (port 3389 for Remote Desktop Protocol). Others faded into obscurity (port 1071 for BSQUARE-VOIP).
But the registrations remain, a permanent record of what people were building and what they thought the Internet would need. Port 1071 is a reminder that the Internet isn't just the dominant services we see today—it's also the accumulated residue of thousands of experiments, most of which didn't survive.
The Time Capsule
Port 1071 is a time capsule from 2000-2005, when:
- Windows CE was the future of embedded devices
- Every VoIP vendor had their own protocol
- Companies registered ports optimistically, assuming their service would scale
- BSquare was the number one Windows CE distributor in North America
The world moved on. VoIP consolidated around SIP and RTP. Windows CE became Windows Embedded, then largely disappeared. BSquare pivoted to IoT, then was acquired.
But port 1071 remains. If you ever see traffic on it, you've found something genuinely old—or something pretending to be.
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