decentralized/mesh/private networks
(1) By cashmere on 2026-09-13 22:57:32 [source]
What type of "alternative" networks do you use and why?
I know some of us here use NetBird to create their own private network to access devices that live behind a NAT. There is also Tailscale, though I personally don't trust them.
At some point I was really interested in a way to access my devices without relying on my VPS or a third-party service such as Tailscale.
Here is a brief list of what I've found so far over the years. All of them allow you to access devices behind a NAT.
Tor Project
Not many people know that you can use the Tor network to access a device you couldn't normally reach because it has a static IP. It's decentralized, so it's very hard to have a single point of failure. It's the biggest decentralized network and has been around for years. The downside is, of course, the network speed.
I2P
It's somewhat similar to Tor in its decentralized aspect, though it has many improvements such as faster connections. The network itself is based on P2P instead of nodes, so as you connect to I2P you also contribute a small portion back, and it's much more personal than Tor. I never tried to set up my own I2P instance, but I will probably take a closer look.
Yggdrasil
This has been by far my favorite decentralized network. Its sole purpose is to create a decentralized mesh network. They leave you the choice of what you do on top of the network.
It's very straightforward to get things up and running. I had to figure out the initial setup once, but since then I have Yggdrasil on every one of my devices (even my Android phone), so whenever I want to access my devices without thinking too much about it, it's just ready to go.
Again, the "downside" is that you have to limit access to your services through a firewall manually. Nonetheless, it's pretty straightforward: you get a unique IPv6 address which you have to set on a whitelist. It took me a little time to figure it out, but then it made sense. Sadly, the upstream docs aren't that great at explaining it.
(2) By joshuablais on 2026-09-14 02:02:01 in reply to 1 [link] [source]
Don't you also run a reticulum node? I have to play around with this far more, the furthest I've gone is using selfhosted Netbird mesh for ssh access/VPN for my machines. Might have to ygggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg it up.
(4) By cashmere on 2026-09-15 22:39:25 in reply to 2 [link] [source]
ygg is cumbersome to set up as every foss project. but if you tinker with it for some hours you will see the endless possibilities which you could have. the most exciting part for me is that you don't rely on a vps anymore.
(7) By SquatnDog on 2026-09-22 17:21:14 in reply to 2 [link] [source]
Could you explain ygggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg? Is it a replacement for a common service?
(8) By cashmere on 2026-09-25 22:46:58 in reply to 7 [link] [source]
it's a p2p network based on ipv6 which let's you connect to other peers in a way such as tailscale but it's not tied to any corporation and it's 100% backed by it's community. what you built, host and serve on top of it is up to you.
(3) By SquatnDog on 2026-09-15 20:31:16 in reply to 1 [link] [source]
I tried tailscale for a minute, but I really don't like being forced to sign-in with a GAM account. As for reticulum, I'm playing around with it. I just received a LoRa antenna in the mail. I plan to connect by radio-only to see if I have any supporting neighbors. I'm using WireGuard for my home as my OPNsense firewall has it built-in and easy to use. What I like about the ios client is the on-demand setting, which immediately connects the VPN when I walk out of the house.
(5) By cashmere on 2026-09-15 22:41:28 in reply to 3 [link] [source]
there is a worldwide map for lora afaik. i would check it out and see where the next antenna in your neighbourhood is.