Hacker News Reader

Comment by hooloovoo_zoo | Hacker News Reader

I've been wondering lately if it's possible to have an Uber-style fiber service where people sign up to serve as nodes and then users pay a nearby node to connect. This would skirt what seems to be the major roadblock to installing fiber -- city regulations -- by having too many people running improvised fiber lines to enforce the rules. Is this just not possible?

View on HN

You'd need some kind of mesh network, rather than a tree network to get anywhere near enough reliability. I'd also guess that passing through a node might cause some slowdowns that kinda stack up. There still is a major privacy issue with peeps that are nodes. And maintenance is going to be a bitch.

That said, those are all hypotheticals. Don't let my imagination stop anyone trying this.

> I'd also guess that passing through a node might cause some slowdowns that kinda stack up.

Not really. Fiber has bandwidth to spare. It might add some latency tho, if there are a lot of hops.

> There still is a major privacy issue with peeps that are nodes.

Encryption is a thing.

> And maintenance is going to be a bitch.

Yes.

Is it possible to encrypt the destination and source IP in a packet header? Honest question, and, if not, it seems like arbitrary nodes could monitor traffic to and from neighboring nodes and their source/destinations.

Yes. There are various options from Layer 1 encryption to VPNs.

No, it is not possible.

Unless you plan to do this purely on private property, you are going to have to negotiate and pay for access to public right of way.

Also, even if you only did this on private property and did not cross any roads or other public spaces, you'd be SOL if your neighbor wasn't a node and they didn't feel like giving you permission to cross their property.

Interesting points, but I just wonder if there is sufficient will to stop large numbers of determined "drivers" from ignoring the rules. Uber drivers could be said to be violating rules, but Uber is still successful.

Well, unless you bury your wires, sooner of later somebody is going to find out you did the dirty deed. Then all they have to do is follow the cable to your house and fine you.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com