NewNode is an offline messenger, too
December 21, 2022
March 5, 2023
NewNode can work offline, without using a public network infrastructure. You can use NewNode to message when you are hiking in a remote area, when you are in a foreign country where mobile Internet access is expensive, during natural disasters which affect the network infrastructure, or during government-initiated Internet shutdowns.To achieve offline connectivity, NewNode uses local radio - that is, Bluetooth and WiFi - to find other devices that have NewNode (the technical term is “peers”) in the vicinity. Any device with NewNode-enabled applications can be a peer, for example NewNode VPN or mobile apps built with NewNode Kit.Local radio works on distances of up to 100 meters, but the network can be much wider. NewNode is built using P2P (peer-to-peer) principles, which means that local radio connections are chained together. The more peers present in a given location, the more reliable the network becomes, and the better the bandwidth. Our core team used to work at BitTorrent in its heyday. BitTorrent is also a P2P network. Users of BitTorent know of its peculiar property: the more participants there are in a P2P network, the better the bandwidth and speed become. This contrasts with traditional hub-and-spoke networks, which are prone to capacity overload, as anyone who attended a sold out football match or a rock concert can attest. In fact, NewNode may be an ideal network for such events!NewNode isn’t an “offline only” messenger, and its benefits are not limited by its offline capabilities. When a regular internet connection is available, NewNode will use it. NewNode can also bypass censorship - there are no central servers to block, so censors cannot have a “blacklist” of IPs to be blocked. And NewNode peers which do have internet connectivity can share it with their peers in their local P2P network. For example, one person in your family who purchased a local SIM card during your trip abroad can make sure your NewNode messages are delivered to recipients across the world.
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