diff --git a/nodes/core/io/10-mqtt.html b/nodes/core/io/10-mqtt.html
index 70767edb4..db3866f28 100644
--- a/nodes/core/io/10-mqtt.html
+++ b/nodes/core/io/10-mqtt.html
@@ -187,10 +187,6 @@
                     <label style="width: auto; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 10px;" for="node-config-input-tls"><span data-i18n="mqtt.label.tls-config"></span></label><input style="width: 300px;" type="text" id="node-config-input-tls">
                 </div>
             </div>
-            <div class="form-row">
-                <input type="checkbox" id="node-config-input-usews" style="display: inline-block; width: auto; vertical-align: top;">
-                <label for="node-config-input-usews" style="width: auto;" data-i18n="mqtt.label.use-ws"></label>
-            </div>
             <div class="form-row">
                 <label for="node-config-input-clientid"><i class="fa fa-tag"></i> <span data-i18n="mqtt.label.clientid"></span></label>
                 <input type="text" id="node-config-input-clientid" data-i18n="[placeholder]mqtt.placeholder.clientid">
@@ -264,10 +260,23 @@
 </script>
 
 <script type="text/x-red" data-help-name="mqtt-broker">
-    <p>A minimum MQTT broker connection requires only a broker server address to be added to the default configuration.</p>
-    <p>To secure the connection with SSL/TLS, a TLS Configuration must also be configured and selected.</p>
-    <p>If you create a Client ID it must be unique to the broker you are connecting to.</p>
-    <p>For more information about MQTT see the <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/paho/" target="_blank">Eclipse Paho</a> site.</p>
+    <p>Configuration for a connection to an MQTT broker.</p>
+    <p>This configuration will create a single connection to the broker which can
+       then be reused by <code>MQTT In</code> and <code>MQTT Out</code> nodes.</p>
+    <p>The node will generate a random Client ID if one is not set and the
+       node is configured to use a Clean Session connection. If a Client ID is set,
+       it must be unique to the broker you are connecting to.</p>
+    <h4>Birth Message</h4>
+    <p>This is a message that will be published on the configured topic whenever the
+       connection is established.</p>
+    <h4>Will Message</h4>
+    <p>This is a message that will be published by the broker in the event the node
+       unexpectedly loses its connection.</p>
+    <h4>WebSockets</h4>
+    <p>The node can be configured to use a WebSocket connection. To do so, the Server
+       field should be configured with a full URI for the connection. For example:</p>
+    <pre>ws://example.com:4000/mqtt</pre>
+
 </script>
 
 <script type="text/javascript">
@@ -276,18 +285,17 @@
         defaults: {
             name: {value:""},
             broker: {value:"",required:true},
-            port: {value:1883,required:true,validate:RED.validators.number()},
+            port: {value:1883,required:false,validate:RED.validators.number(true)},
             tls: {type:"tls-config",required: false},
             clientid: {value:"", validate: function(v) {
-                    if ($("#node-config-input-clientid").length) {
-                        // Currently editing the node
-                        return $("#node-config-input-cleansession").is(":checked") || (v||"").length > 0;
-                    } else {
-                        return (this.cleansession===undefined || this.cleansession) || (v||"").length > 0;
-                    }
-                }},
+                if ($("#node-config-input-clientid").length) {
+                    // Currently editing the node
+                    return $("#node-config-input-cleansession").is(":checked") || (v||"").length > 0;
+                } else {
+                    return (this.cleansession===undefined || this.cleansession) || (v||"").length > 0;
+                }
+            }},
             usetls: {value: false},
-            usews: {value: false},
             verifyservercert: { value: false},
             compatmode: { value: true},
             keepalive: {value:60,validate:RED.validators.number()},
@@ -306,15 +314,18 @@
             password: {type: "password"}
         },
         label: function() {
-            var lab = this.name;
-            if ((lab === undefined) || (lab ==="")) {
-                var b = this.broker;
-                if (b === "") { b = "undefined"; }
-                lab = (this.clientid?this.clientid+"@":"")+b+":"+this.port;
+            if (this.name) {
+                return this.name;
+            }
+            var b = this.broker;
+            if (b === "") { b = "undefined"; }
+            var lab = "";
+            lab = (this.clientid?this.clientid+"@":"")+b;
+            if (b.indexOf("://") === -1){
+                if (!this.port){ lab = lab + ":1883"; }
+                else { lab = lab + ":" + this.port; }
             }
             return lab;
-            
-            
         },
         oneditprepare: function () {
             var tabs = RED.tabs.create({
@@ -349,10 +360,6 @@
                 this.usetls = false;
                 $("#node-config-input-usetls").prop("checked",false);
             }
-            if (typeof this.usews === 'undefined') {
-                this.usews = false;
-                $("#node-config-input-usews").prop('checked', false);
-            }
             if (typeof this.compatmode === 'undefined') {
                 this.compatmode = true;
                 $("#node-config-input-compatmode").prop('checked', true);
@@ -394,6 +401,28 @@
             $("#node-config-input-cleansession").on("click",function() {
                 updateClientId();
             });
+
+            function updatePortEntry(){
+                var disabled = $("#node-config-input-port").prop("disabled");
+                if ($("#node-config-input-broker").val().indexOf("://") === -1){
+                    if (disabled){
+                        $("#node-config-input-port").prop("disabled", false);
+                    }
+                }
+                else {
+                    if (!disabled){
+                        $("#node-config-input-port").prop("disabled", true);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            $("#node-config-input-broker").change(function() {
+                updatePortEntry();
+            });
+            $("#node-config-input-broker").on( "keyup", function() {
+                updatePortEntry();
+            });
+            setTimeout(updatePortEntry,50);
+
         },
         oneditsave: function() {
             if (!$("#node-config-input-usetls").is(':checked')) {
diff --git a/nodes/core/io/10-mqtt.js b/nodes/core/io/10-mqtt.js
index 80059858e..c98a099f9 100644
--- a/nodes/core/io/10-mqtt.js
+++ b/nodes/core/io/10-mqtt.js
@@ -90,23 +90,27 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
 
         // Create the URL to pass in to the MQTT.js library
         if (this.brokerurl === "") {
-            if (this.usews) {
-                if (this.usetls) {
-                    this.brokerurl="wss://";
-                } else {
-                    this.brokerurl="ws://";
-				}
+            // if the broker may be ws:// or wss:// or even tcp://
+            if (this.broker.indexOf("://") > -1) {
+                this.brokerurl = this.broker;
             } else {
+                // construct the std mqtt:// url
                 if (this.usetls) {
                     this.brokerurl="mqtts://";
                 } else {
-                     this.brokerurl="mqtt://";
+                    this.brokerurl="mqtt://";
+                }
+                if (this.broker !== "") {
+                    this.brokerurl = this.brokerurl+this.broker+":";
+                    // port now defaults to 1883 if unset.
+                    if (!this.port){
+                        this.brokerurl = this.brokerurl+"1883";
+                    } else {
+                        this.brokerurl = this.brokerurl+this.port;
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    this.brokerurl = this.brokerurl+"localhost:1883";
                 }
-            }
-            if (this.broker !== "") {
-                this.brokerurl = this.brokerurl+this.broker+":"+this.port;
-            } else {
-                this.brokerurl = this.brokerurl+"localhost:1883";
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/nodes/core/locales/en-US/messages.json b/nodes/core/locales/en-US/messages.json
index 346bcbbd0..c2665538d 100644
--- a/nodes/core/locales/en-US/messages.json
+++ b/nodes/core/locales/en-US/messages.json
@@ -315,7 +315,6 @@
             "keepalive": "Keep alive time (s)",
             "cleansession": "Use clean session",
             "use-tls": "Enable secure (SSL/TLS) connection",
-            "use-ws": "Enable MQTT over WebSocket connection",
             "tls-config":"TLS Configuration",
             "verify-server-cert":"Verify server certificate",
             "compatmode": "Use legacy MQTT 3.1 support"