FAQ - Revision history

KI5QKX: mw push

2026-03-01T00:14:52Z

mw push

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	[[Category:Reference]]		[[Category:Reference]]
			[[Category:Getting Started]]

KI5QKX: mw push

2026-02-28T23:20:38Z

mw push

KI5QKX: mw push

2026-02-27T21:47:33Z

mw push

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:47, 27 February 2026
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	* Direct radio links.		* Direct radio links.
	* IP Tunneling		* IP Tunneling

			For a current overview of how connection models coexist as independent systems, see [[Decentralization]].

	Note: Functionally, a VPN and a tunnel do much the same thing, except a VPN is designed for privacy (i.e. strong authentication and encryption), whilst IP tunnelling in the AMPRNet context is actually an all-to-all interconnected mesh of tunnels and is not encrypted (as often the data is transferred over radio).		Note: Functionally, a VPN and a tunnel do much the same thing, except a VPN is designed for privacy (i.e. strong authentication and encryption), whilst IP tunnelling in the AMPRNet context is actually an all-to-all interconnected mesh of tunnels and is not encrypted (as often the data is transferred over radio).

KI5QKX: mw push

2026-02-27T19:06:47Z

mw push

Show changes

KI5QKX at 20:29, 12 December 2024

2024-12-12T20:29:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:29, 12 December 2024
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	This FAQ was originally commenced by Steve VK5ASF, using material from earlier FAQs, from various contributors to the 44net mailing list, and from Brian Kantor.		This FAQ was originally commenced by Steve VK5ASF, using material from earlier FAQs, from various contributors to the 44net mailing list, and from Brian Kantor.



			[[Category:Reference]]

Cross: Mention that AMPRGW will throttle traffic to a tunnel when it detects errors related to that tunnel.

2024-05-03T17:24:49Z

Mention that AMPRGW will throttle traffic to a tunnel when it detects errors related to that tunnel.

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	c) AmprGW originates RIP44 broadcasts containing routing information about gateways and the AMPRNet subnets they service. The RIP44 transmissions are sent as IPIP encapsulated UDP packets for port 520 from 169.228.34.84 and sent individually to the commercial (external) address of every gateway. The packets have an inner source address of 44.0.0.1 and an inner destination of 224.0.0.9, the RIP multicast address. They are IPIP encapsulated packets, so without de-encapsulating them, the RIP is not visible to conventional routing software. Specialized software such as 'ampr-ripd' may be employed to make use of the RIP44 broadcasts, to set up AMPRNet routes.		c) AmprGW originates RIP44 broadcasts containing routing information about gateways and the AMPRNet subnets they service. The RIP44 transmissions are sent as IPIP encapsulated UDP packets for port 520 from 169.228.34.84 and sent individually to the commercial (external) address of every gateway. The packets have an inner source address of 44.0.0.1 and an inner destination of 224.0.0.9, the RIP multicast address. They are IPIP encapsulated packets, so without de-encapsulating them, the RIP is not visible to conventional routing software. Specialized software such as 'ampr-ripd' may be employed to make use of the RIP44 broadcasts, to set up AMPRNet routes.


			'''I rebooted my router and now I can't talk to the Internet, what's going on?'''

			If AMPRGW detects errors when attempting to send traffic to a tunnel's configured gateway, it will automatically throttle traffic through that tunnel for approximately one hour. This is meant to prevent endlessly sending traffic to gateways that are no longer in service. An example of the sort of errors that will trigger this are ICMP Host Unreachable messages generated by an upstream provider, such as an ISP. Empirically, several users have observed that rebooting a gateway can pause traffic long enough for this to happen. However, traffic will start flowing again in an hour or so.

	'''Can BGP, VPN, and IP tunnel hosts inter-communicate?'''		'''Can BGP, VPN, and IP tunnel hosts inter-communicate?'''

G1fef at 07:56, 25 March 2024

2024-03-25T07:56:14Z

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	'''How can I get help with AMPRNet issues?'''		'''How can I get help with AMPRNet issues?'''

	Many amateurs are willing to assist other hams. You can find them on the groups.io 44Net group here https://ardc.groups.io/g/44net		Many amateurs are willing to assist other hams. You can find some of them on the groups.io 44Net group here https://ardc.groups.io/g/44net

	'''What about 44.128.0.0/16?'''		'''What about 44.128.0.0/16?'''

G1fef at 07:55, 25 March 2024

2024-03-25T07:55:37Z

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	'''What is a VPN?'''		'''What is a VPN?'''

	VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It is a facility that enables a computer to act (using the Internet) as though is physically connected to another computer network. There are many different ways to set up a VPN, so this is beyond the scope of this FAQ. However, it always involves configuring software and accounts on a computer, to connect to the VPN server. Some amateurs who have connections to AMPRNet have set up VPN servers so that other amateurs can achieve a "virtual" connection to AMPRNet. The technical details, account details, and IP address details must be obtained from the operator of that VPN. One such VPN is listed at ~~http~~://wiki.ampr.org/wiki/AMPRNet_VPN.		VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It is a facility that enables a computer to act (using the Internet) as though is physically connected to another computer network. There are many different ways to set up a VPN, so this is beyond the scope of this FAQ. However, it always involves configuring software and accounts on a computer, to connect to the VPN server. Some amateurs who have connections to AMPRNet have set up VPN servers so that other amateurs can achieve a "virtual" connection to AMPRNet. The technical details, account details, and IP address details must be obtained from the operator of that VPN. One such VPN is listed at https://wiki.ampr.org/wiki/AMPRNet_VPN.


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	b) The pseudo driver must have a mechanism to tell it which non-44 net hosts can handle particular subsets of 44-net traffic - very few can handle the entire 44-net range! It should be noted that the information changes quite frequently, as tunnel hosts come and go, so must be updated as described below.		b) The pseudo driver must have a mechanism to tell it which non-44 net hosts can handle particular subsets of 44-net traffic - very few can handle the entire 44-net range! It should be noted that the information changes quite frequently, as tunnel hosts come and go, so must be updated as described below.

	~~http~~://wiki.ampr.org/wiki/Main_Page has links to several different ways of configuring tunnels.		https://wiki.ampr.org/wiki/Main_Page has links to several different ways of configuring tunnels.

	'''How do I obtain and maintain a list of tunnel hosts?'''		'''How do I obtain and maintain a list of tunnel hosts?'''

G1fef at 07:54, 25 March 2024

2024-03-25T07:54:47Z

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	AMPRNet stands for AMateur Packet Radio NETwork. It is a collection of amateur radio-oriented computers, connected together via a variety of technologies, including radio, Internet, and ethernet. However, all of these computers have an IP address that begins with 44 (that is, IP addresses of the form 44.0.0.0/9 or 44.128.0.0/10). For this reason, AMPRnet can also be referred to as 44Net.		AMPRNet stands for AMateur Packet Radio NETwork. It is a collection of amateur radio-oriented computers, connected together via a variety of technologies, including radio, Internet, and ethernet. However, all of these computers have an IP address that begins with 44 (that is, IP addresses of the form 44.0.0.0/9 or 44.128.0.0/10). For this reason, AMPRnet can also be referred to as 44Net.

	Some further details can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMPRNet and https://wiki.ampr.org/Main_Page		Some further details can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMPRNet and https://wiki.ampr.org/wiki/Main_Page

	'''What is AMPRNet for?'''		'''What is AMPRNet for?'''

G1fef at 07:54, 25 March 2024

2024-03-25T07:54:29Z

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	AMPRNet stands for AMateur Packet Radio NETwork. It is a collection of amateur radio-oriented computers, connected together via a variety of technologies, including radio, Internet, and ethernet. However, all of these computers have an IP address that begins with 44 (that is, IP addresses of the form 44.0.0.0/9 or 44.128.0.0/10). For this reason, AMPRnet can also be referred to as 44Net.		AMPRNet stands for AMateur Packet Radio NETwork. It is a collection of amateur radio-oriented computers, connected together via a variety of technologies, including radio, Internet, and ethernet. However, all of these computers have an IP address that begins with 44 (that is, IP addresses of the form 44.0.0.0/9 or 44.128.0.0/10). For this reason, AMPRnet can also be referred to as 44Net.

	Some further details can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMPRNet and https://wiki.ampr.org/w/Main_Page		Some further details can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMPRNet and https://wiki.ampr.org/Main_Page

	'''What is AMPRNet for?'''		'''What is AMPRNet for?'''

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	Generally, yes. Most home modem/routers have good support for VPN usage, although you mustn't use it for general internet access as it is for amateur radio use only!		Generally, yes. Most home modem/routers have good support for VPN usage, although you mustn't use it for general internet access as it is for amateur radio use only!

	== Routing and ~~Tunneling~~ ==		== Routing and tunneling ==
	=== What is IP ~~Tunneling~~? ===		=== What is IP tunneling? ===

	The information that traverses the Internet does so as "packets" of data, traveling over a variety of routes, between a source and a destination. Each packet contains a header, which tells all the devices along the route information such as the source and destination, plus the payload, which is the data to actually be transferred. Clearly, there must be a path all the way from the sources to the destination, and back.		The information that traverses the Internet does so as "packets" of data, traveling over a variety of routes, between a source and a destination. Each packet contains a header, which tells all the devices along the route information such as the source and destination, plus the payload, which is the data to actually be transferred. Clearly, there must be a path all the way from the sources to the destination, and back.
	AMPRNet consists of small, non-connected groups of computers, that would otherwise not be able to connect to one another. However, since internet devices along the route really don't care about the contents of the payload section, you can put a completely new packet into that section, including an entirely different header, and its own payload section. That second header has source and destination addresses completely different from the first header - all that is required is that the first destination recognizes the encapsulated packet, de-encapsulates it, and forwards it to the second header destination. Return traffic follows a corresponding process. In that way, 44-net hosts can communicate with other 44-net hosts, by means of encapsulating their data packets in packets to non-~~44net~~ hosts. This is called tunneling (or encapsulating). A later section in this FAQ discusses installing a tunnel.		AMPRNet consists of small, non-connected groups of computers, that would otherwise not be able to connect to one another. However, since internet devices along the route really don't care about the contents of the payload section, you can put a completely new packet into that section, including an entirely different header, and its own payload section. That second header has source and destination addresses completely different from the first header - all that is required is that the first destination recognizes the encapsulated packet, de-encapsulates it, and forwards it to the second header destination. Return traffic follows a corresponding process. In that way, 44-net hosts can communicate with other 44-net hosts, by means of encapsulating their data packets in packets to non-44Net hosts. This is called tunneling (or encapsulating). A later section in this FAQ discusses installing a tunnel.
	Tunneling is probably the most commonly used method of accessing AMPRNet.		Tunneling is probably the most commonly used method of accessing AMPRNet.

	=== How does AMPR over IP tunnel actually work? ===		=== How does AMPR over IP tunnel actually work? ===

	AMPR nodes are actually not connected via a single tunnel but via a large mesh network of tunnels. Suppose user1 has public IP address 198.51.100.1 and user2 has 203.0.113.1. These two can normally communicate over the internet. However, if both users have a ~~44net~~ IP address, user1 can encapsulate the 44 packet into an outer packet and send it to 203.0.113.1. Similarly, user2 can encapsulate the IP packet with the ~~44net~~ addresses and send it to 198.51.100.1. In Linux (and most other systems), this is accomplished using a single ipip device and adding a route using the "nexthop" statement. When a packet is pushed into the ipip device, the outer IP header is added and sent to the router in the nexthop statement. A list of all AMPR users is required and this can be either accomplished by downloading a simple textfile and adding the routes manually or by using RIP44, as discussed in the FAQ section below.		AMPR nodes are actually not connected via a single tunnel but via a large mesh network of tunnels. Suppose user1 has public IP address 198.51.100.1 and user2 has 203.0.113.1. These two can normally communicate over the internet. However, if both users have a 44Net IP address, user1 can encapsulate the 44 packet into an outer packet and send it to 203.0.113.1. Similarly, user2 can encapsulate the IP packet with the 44Net addresses and send it to 198.51.100.1. In Linux (and most other systems), this is accomplished using a single ipip device and adding a route using the "nexthop" statement. When a packet is pushed into the ipip device, the outer IP header is added and sent to the router in the nexthop statement. A list of all AMPR users is required and this can be either accomplished by downloading a simple textfile and adding the routes manually or by using RIP44, as discussed in the FAQ section below.

	=== What is BGP ~~Routing~~? ===		=== What is BGP routing? ===

	The Internet has millions of different computers connected to it, each having an address. Devices called routers deliver traffic between computers and can send "advertisements" to other routers to tell those other routers about the locations of some of those addresses. The protocol used is called BGP, Border Gateway Protocol. If you are fortunate enough to have a computer that can send BGP advertisements, then you can advertise that your computer is part of the AMPRNet address range, and hence receive AMPRNet traffic.		The Internet has millions of different computers connected to it, each having an address. Devices called routers deliver traffic between computers and can send "advertisements" to other routers to tell those other routers about the locations of some of those addresses. The protocol used is called BGP, Border Gateway Protocol. If you are fortunate enough to have a computer that can send BGP advertisements, then you can advertise that your computer is part of the AMPRNet address range, and hence receive AMPRNet traffic.
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	There are three main mechanisms:		There are three main mechanisms:

	# Log on to the ~~portal~~ (as described above) and navigate to the "Gateways/List" section that permits downloading of the "encap" file. Download that file, and use a script on the computer to turn it into commands that update the configuration of the tunnel device.		# Log on to the Portal (as described above) and navigate to the "Gateways/List" section that permits downloading of the "encap" file. Download that file, and use a script on the computer to turn it into commands that update the configuration of the tunnel device.
	# Receive the encap file by mail, and use a script to process it. You can register for this email on the ~~portal~~ "Gateways/Options" page.		# Receive the encap file by mail, and use a script to process it. You can register for this email on the Portal "Gateways/Options" page.
	# Receive and process "broadcasts" of configuration data that are available. This information is broadcast to all gateways listed on the ~~portal~~. There is a software package called "ampr-ripd" that enables this process		# Receive and process "broadcasts" of configuration data that are available. This information is broadcast to all gateways listed on the Portal. There is a software package called "ampr-ripd" that enables this process

	=== Can BGP, VPN, and IP tunnel hosts inter-communicate? ===		=== Can BGP, VPN, and IP tunnel hosts inter-communicate? ===
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	# AmprGW originates RIP44 broadcasts containing routing information about gateways and the AMPRNet subnets they service. The RIP44 transmissions are sent as IPIP encapsulated UDP packets for port 520 from 169.228.34.84 and sent individually to the commercial (external) address of every gateway. The packets have an inner source address of 44.0.0.1 and an inner destination of 224.0.0.9, the RIP multicast address. They are IPIP encapsulated packets, so without de-encapsulating them, the RIP is not visible to conventional routing software. Specialized software such as 'ampr-ripd' may be employed to make use of the RIP44 broadcasts, to set up AMPRNet routes.		# AmprGW originates RIP44 broadcasts containing routing information about gateways and the AMPRNet subnets they service. The RIP44 transmissions are sent as IPIP encapsulated UDP packets for port 520 from 169.228.34.84 and sent individually to the commercial (external) address of every gateway. The packets have an inner source address of 44.0.0.1 and an inner destination of 224.0.0.9, the RIP multicast address. They are IPIP encapsulated packets, so without de-encapsulating them, the RIP is not visible to conventional routing software. Specialized software such as 'ampr-ripd' may be employed to make use of the RIP44 broadcasts, to set up AMPRNet routes.

	== Address ~~Allocation~~ and DNS ==		== Address allocation and DNS ==
	=== How do I get an address allocation? ===		=== How do I get an address allocation? ===

	If you connect to an existing VPN or existing radio network, it is likely that the operators of those facilities will already have address ranges established and will allocate your address(es). If you wish to establish a new tunnel or BGP-based link, then the process is handled by a semi-automated process on our ~~portal~~. The steps are:		If you connect to an existing VPN or existing radio network, it is likely that the operators of those facilities will already have address ranges established and will allocate your address(es). If you wish to establish a new tunnel or BGP-based link, then the process is handled by a semi-automated process on our Portal. The steps are:

	# Register using your callsign on the ~~portal~~ [https://portal.ampr.org portal.ampr.org]		# Register using your callsign on the Portal [https://portal.ampr.org portal.ampr.org]
	# Log in and navigate to the Networks page.		# Log in and navigate to the Networks page.
	# Click on your country. A list of regions/subnets may appear; if so, click on the appropriate one.		# Click on your country. A list of regions/subnets may appear; if so, click on the appropriate one.
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	=== Can I have a domain name entry for my AMPRNet host? ===		=== Can I have a domain name entry for my AMPRNet host? ===

	Yes. Currently, domain name requests are handled by the area coordinators - contact details are on the ~~portal~~. Note: the old email robot facility no longer functions.		Yes. Currently, domain name requests are handled by the area coordinators - contact details are on the Portal. Note: the old email robot facility no longer functions.

	=== What about IPv6? ===		=== What about IPv6? ===
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	Many amateurs are willing to assist other hams. You can find some of them on the groups.io 44Net group here [https://ardc.groups.io/g/44net 44Net on groups.io]		Many amateurs are willing to assist other hams. You can find some of them on the groups.io 44Net group here [https://ardc.groups.io/g/44net 44Net on groups.io]

	== Policy and ~~Network Constraints~~ ==		== Policy and network constraints ==
	=== Why can’t I route my 44Net allocation directly from home? ===		=== Why can’t I route my 44Net allocation directly from home? ===

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	== Credits ==		== Credits ==

	This FAQ was originally commenced by Steve VK5ASF, using material from earlier FAQs, from various contributors to the ~~44net~~ mailing list, and from Brian Kantor.		This FAQ was originally commenced by Steve VK5ASF, using material from earlier FAQs, from various contributors to the 44Net mailing list, and from Brian Kantor.

	[[Category:Reference]]		[[Category:Reference]]