diff --git a/cmd/waku/flags.go b/cmd/waku/flags.go
index e60a498d6..071c3f840 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/flags.go
@@ -177,13 +177,13 @@ var (
 		Destination: &options.CircuitRelay,
 		EnvVars:     []string{"WAKUNODE2_CIRCUIT_RELAY"},
 	})
-	ForceUnreachable = altsrc.NewBoolFlag(&cli.BoolFlag{
-		Name:        "unreachable",
-		Usage:       "Force the node to be unreachable. WARNING: This flag is created for testing circuit relay and is not meant to be used in production",
-		Value:       false,
+	ForceReachability = altsrc.NewStringFlag(&cli.StringFlag{
+		Name:        "force-reachability",
+		Usage:       "Force the node reachability. WARNING: This flag is created for testing circuit relay and is not meant to be used in production. Use 'public' or 'private'",
+		Value:       "",
 		Hidden:      true,
-		Destination: &options.ForceUnreachable,
-		EnvVars:     []string{"WAKUNODE2_UNREACHABLE"},
+		Destination: &options.ForceReachability,
+		EnvVars:     []string{"WAKUNODE2_REACHABILITY"},
 	})
 	ResourceScalingMemoryPercent = altsrc.NewFloat64Flag(&cli.Float64Flag{
 		Name:        "resource-scaling-memory-percentage",
diff --git a/cmd/waku/main.go b/cmd/waku/main.go
index c260fb9bf..9c93b3f03 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/main.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/main.go
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func main() {
 		ExtMultiaddresses,
 		ShowAddresses,
 		CircuitRelay,
-		ForceUnreachable,
+		ForceReachability,
 		ResourceScalingMemoryPercent,
 		ResourceScalingFDPercent,
 		LogLevel,
diff --git a/cmd/waku/node.go b/cmd/waku/node.go
index e0d0fbf63..0f5e68732 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/node.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/node.go
@@ -170,10 +170,18 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 		libp2pOpts = append(libp2pOpts, libp2p.EnableRelayService())
 	}
 
-	if options.ForceUnreachable {
-		logger.Warn("node forced to be unreachable!")
-		libp2pOpts = append(libp2pOpts, libp2p.EnableRelay(), libp2p.ForceReachabilityPrivate())
+	if options.ForceReachability != "" {
+		libp2pOpts = append(libp2pOpts, libp2p.EnableRelay())
 		nodeOpts = append(nodeOpts, node.WithCircuitRelayParams(2*time.Second, 2*time.Second))
+		if options.ForceReachability == "private" {
+			logger.Warn("node forced to be unreachable!")
+			libp2pOpts = append(libp2pOpts, libp2p.ForceReachabilityPrivate())
+		} else if options.ForceReachability == "public" {
+			logger.Warn("node forced to be publicly reachable!")
+			libp2pOpts = append(libp2pOpts, libp2p.ForceReachabilityPublic())
+		} else {
+			failOnErr(errors.New("invalid reachability value"), "Reachability")
+		}
 	}
 
 	if options.UserAgent != "" {
diff --git a/cmd/waku/options.go b/cmd/waku/options.go
index e1bd026f3..904bdd55a 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/options.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/options.go
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ type NodeOptions struct {
 	AdvertiseAddresses           []multiaddr.Multiaddr
 	ShowAddresses                bool
 	CircuitRelay                 bool
-	ForceUnreachable             bool
+	ForceReachability            string
 	ResourceScalingMemoryPercent float64
 	ResourceScalingFDPercent     float64
 	LogLevel                     string