About 44Net

This page provides historical background and context. For onboarding and connection paths, start with Getting Started, Ways to Connect, and the Main Page.

What 44Net is and is not

44Net is shared technical infrastructure used and maintained by the people who participate in it. Participants operate systems on publicly routable IPv4 space, enabling projects that require stable addressing and Internet-visible services.

44Net is not a consumer ISP product or a managed hosting platform. Participants run and maintain their own systems, coordinate with one another, and contribute to the long-term health of the network.

History and origins

44Net traces back to 1981, when Hank Magnuski requested IP address space from Jon Postel for amateur packet radio networking. The project became widely known as AMPRNet, and the term is still used today.

Over time, those early packet-radio experiments expanded into a broader system. Yes, there are still a few 1200bps VHF links out there, but today, people use high-speed microwave, fiber, and satellite to connect systems across neighborhoods, regions, countries, and around the world.

In 2019, a portion of AMPRNet address space was sold. The proceeds established long-term funding of ARDC, which supports ongoing 44Net operations as well as broader grants for open communications and digital infrastructure.

The evolution has been cumulative. New technologies have layered onto earlier practices, while the core idea — learning by operating real networks — has endured.

For more historical background as told by people who were there at the beginning, watch The 44Net Origin Story.

Why public addresses?

Using publicly routable space changes what you can learn and build:

• Services can be directly reachable without depending on NAT traversal.
• Networks can operate independently of any single hosting provider or transit network.
• Routing, naming, and security practices can be tested in realistic conditions.
• Projects can grow from a single host to routed subnets and multi-site networks.

In short, 44Net makes it possible to work under real operational conditions rather than only in isolated lab environments. This is especially important for learning about how the Internet works, and for building projects that need to be visible and reachable by others.

Stewardship model

44Net is sustained by a shared model:

• ARDC bears the legal, fiduciary, and organizational responsibilities of maintaining the address space.
• Participants operate systems, run services, maintain links, and collaborate on project development.

This balance helps keep the network stable enough to build on for the long term, while remaining open to experimentation and change in the short term.

44Net does not operate as a centrally delivered service. The network is sustained by participants who treat it as something worth maintaining for those who come after them.

Related pages:

• Governance
• Policies
• Contributing

Participation norms

Over the years, several practices have become common across the 44Net community:

• Experimentation and learning are encouraged.
• Sharing knowledge and working in the open are valued.
• Non-commercial use and community benefit are expected.
• Operators take responsibility for running their systems responsibly.
• Unused resources are returned so others can build.

Ways people encounter 44Net

People often arrive at 44Net through one project or technical path before discovering the broader ecosystem.

Some encounter it through regional RF networks or IPIP Mesh links. Others encounter it through services such as IRLP, AREDN, HamNET, or 44Net Connect. Because participation is decentralized, 44Net looks different from place to place, and no single project or approach defines the network.

The underlying infrastructure exists so many kinds of efforts can coexist. Address space, routing, and coordination provide continuity, while participants shape what the network becomes through the systems they choose to build and maintain.

The spirit of 44Net is the spirit of amateur radio. Many operators first encounter ham radio through a single activity — voice repeaters, HF contesting, digital modes, emergency communications, or building hardware — yet amateur radio as a whole is defined by the diversity of what participants choose to explore. In the same way, 44Net can be one thing or many things. It becomes what its participants build with it over time.

Think of 44Net less as a single application or technology and more as a long-running environment where independent projects contribute to a shared, evolving network.

What’s in a name?

People use several names when talking about it, often reflecting how they first encountered it or which aspect they are thinking about at the moment. In practice, these terms overlap more than they differ.

Many participants use 44Net when describing the present-day community and the evolving ecosystem of projects built on the address space. The name tends to emphasize participation and collaboration.

AMPRNet is still widely heard, especially when discussing the origins of amateur packet radio networking or the early history of the network. For some operators the term carries historical continuity, while others use it interchangeably with 44Net still today.

Operators also refer to network 44 when speaking specifically about the IP address block itself — a habit that dates back to the original Class A allocation. In conversation, the phrase often serves as a neutral shorthand that avoids implying any particular project or technology.

Rather than strict definitions, these names reflect different perspectives on the same long‑running system. What matters in practice is the shared infrastructure and the community of people who continue to build on it.