Suitable Uses of 44Net Address Space
44Net supports amateur radio, digital communication, technical education, research, and experimentation.
A good 44Net use is usually:
- Lawful
- Non-commercial
- Operated by amateur radio operators
- Connected to amateur radio, technical learning, experimentation, community service, or public benefit
The examples below are guidelines, not hard rules.
Personal Projects
- Homelabs
- Personal stations
- Remote station access
- Learning network engineering
- Software development
- Hardware projects
- Personal servers
Learning by building, operating, and maintaining systems is a valid amateur activity. A personal project does not need to serve a wider audience to be appropriate.
Group Projects
- Amateur radio club infrastructure
- Repeater systems
- Packet radio networks
- Mesh networks
- Regional or area networks
- Shared station facilities
- Collaborative technical projects
Clubs, regional groups, and informal teams can use 44Net for shared systems. Groups do not need special credentials or formal classifications.
Education, Community, and Outreach
- ARISS activities
- Scouting programs
- School and university projects
- Hamfest exhibits and demonstrations
- Training exercises
- Educational workshops
Outreach often involves people who are not yet licensed amateurs. That is fine when the activity introduces amateur radio, teaches technical skills, or gives people hands-on experience.
Event Support
- Charity bike rides
- Fun runs
- Community events
- Public service communications
- Temporary event infrastructure
- Emergency communications exercises
44Net can support public-service activities when amateur radio operators remain responsible for the systems involved. The intent is amateur radio participation, not general-purpose Internet service for the public.
Self-Hosted Services
- Websites
- Wikis
- Software repositories
- APRS services
- Amateur radio applications
- Publicly accessible servers
- Personal Internet services
Operating Internet-connected services is a natural use of globally routable addresses. Amateur-radio-related services are encouraged, but services do not need to be exclusively radio-specific if they are lawful, non-commercial, and consistent with 44Net’s purposes.
Research and Experimentation
- HamSCI projects
- Network measurement
- Protocol development
- Routing experiments
- Software development
- Hardware development
- Testbeds and prototypes
- Academic research
44Net is a place for real engineering, whether RF or IP. Projects that involve scanning, probing, or other potentially disruptive activity should be carefully limited, lawful, and coordinated with the 44Net community.
- DNS services
- Time servers
- Authentication systems
- Monitoring tools
- Software repositories
- Development tools
- VPN gateways
- Routing infrastructure
Shared infrastructure that others can build on is welcome. These projects may serve the 44Net ecosystem even when they do not directly serve end users.
Questions About a Project
If you are unsure about a project, ask:
- Does the project support amateur radio, technical education, experimentation, research, or community service?
- Is the project lawful and non-commercial?
- Are amateur radio operators responsible for operating and managing the resources involved?
- Does the project contribute to learning, communication, technical advancement, or public benefit?
If the answer is generally yes, the project likely fits 44Net.