more on the Comcast 250 GB/mo. problem

[Eugen Leitl]

On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 01:12:23AM -0400, phobos at rootme.org wrote:

> Actually, there is value to running a Tor server on residential
> broadband.  Most tcp internet usage doesn't need huge amounts of

Of course I meant that if your ISP prevents you from running a Tor
node you can still run a Tor node on a rented server, and actually
provide a much higher network value for the money.

> bandwidth; such as instant messaging, email, newsgroups, rss, etc.  I'd argue
> that most web browsing doesn't need huge amounts either, on average.  In
> bursts, yes, you want the page to download so you can start reading it.
> I know there is research out there about this topic.
> 
> It's not a competition to see who can run the highest bandwidth node.
> Although, I wonder if there is an incentive in there to publish the 10
> highest bandwidth nodes; ala
> http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/top_teams.php.  And if this would result
> in a higher quantity of high bandwidth nodes available to Tor.

There is every incentive to make people compete for being the top 10
or even top 100 node. I know I've been checking how well my node does.
 
> I've run a few 20KB Tor nodes over the years, and they do just fine
> consuming 20KB all the time. It's not like they're shunned for lack of
> bandwidth. From my own experiences, my IM, RSS, and email usage ends up
> with lots of 20KB nodes in the circuit.  The apps do just fine, and I
> never noticed any performance loss.
> 
> 1,000 20KB tor nodes on disparate residential networks vs. 10 2000KB
> nodes is the same amount of bandwidth to Tor clients, and they'll use it
> quite well. 
> 
> The fact that you run an exit relay, or any relay, is great.  
> 
> I long for the day where I own the last mile and ISPs compete on
> services and pricing to get access to it.  Or, give me 100 mb wireless
> at sane prices since you don't have to deal with so much physical last
> mile runs.

The fiber runs are inching ever closer to the network periphery (crummy
topology, should be a residential-scale mesh). The smarter companies are
laying ducts, which can be filled up with fiber (state of the art
progresses fast) after the fact.

Right now I can see a 10/50 MBit/s VDSL DSLAM box (wherein GBit Ethernet fiber(s) 
terminates) some 50-70 m outside my window. Elsewhere 100 MBit/s
or GBit/s fiber to the home is being rolled out, and that's symmetric
bandwidth. I think we'll see the network getting a lot speedier as
the residential broadband improves.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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