44Net is the long-running amateur radio network built around the 44.0.0.0/8 address space, used and maintained by licensed amateurs and supported through shared stewardship.

This page provides deeper 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 direct reachability, 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 ecosystem. As connectivity methods changed, the same address space supported routing experiments, infrastructure projects, and community-built services across many kinds of links.

In 2019, a portion of legacy AMPRNet address space was sold. The proceeds enabled the creation and 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 additive rather than substitutive. New technologies have layered onto earlier practices, while the core idea — learning by operating real networks — has remained consistent.

For firsthand historical background, see The 44Net Origin Story.

Why Public Address Space Matters

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

services can be directly reachable without depending only on NAT traversal
routing, naming, and security practices can be tested in realistic conditions
projects can grow from one host to routed subnets and multi-site networks

In short, 44Net makes it possible to conduct experiments under real operational conditions rather than only in isolated lab environments.

Stewardship Model

44Net is sustained by a shared model:

ARDC provides legal stewardship, fiduciary continuity, and organizational support
participants operate systems, run services, maintain links, and collaborate on best practices

This balance keeps the network stable enough to build on over time, while remaining open to experimentation and change.

44Net does not operate as a centrally delivered service. It more closely resembles shared infrastructure that participants help maintain and build upon. Address space and core infrastructure persist over time, while individual projects come and go. The network continues because participants treat it as something worth maintaining for those who come after them.

Related pages:

Participation Norms

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

experimentation and learning are encouraged
non-commercial use and community benefit are expected
operators are expected to run their systems responsibly
unused resources are returned so others can build

Ways People Encounter 44Net

People often arrive at 44Net through a specific project, community, or technical path. Those first impressions are real, but they represent only one part of a larger ecosystem.

Some encounter 44Net through regional RF networks such as HamWAN or other microwave and mesh efforts. Others first see it through services like IRLP, experimentation platforms, research collaborations, or connection methods such as 44Net Connect. Each reflects a different facet of the same shared network.

Because participation is decentralized, 44Net does not look the same everywhere. For some operators it centers on RF networking. For others it involves routing, infrastructure experimentation, public services, or learning how real networks operate. No single project or approach defines the whole 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.

44Net is best understood not as one application or technology, but as a long-running environment where independent projects contribute to a shared and evolving network.

Terminology and Quick Facts

44Net and AMPRNet are often used interchangeably.
44Net is not one single topology; it is many independently operated systems connected through shared addressing and community coordination.
Participation spans a wide technical range, from a single reachable node to independently operated routed infrastructure.
Both RF-linked and Internet-transported approaches are used across the ecosystem.