MetOpen- Metropolitan Computer Solutions Open Software Site

Anonymous writes: I2p Information

A quote from the I2p Website:
"I2P is an anonymous network, exposing a simple layer that applications can use to anonymously and securely send messages to each other. The network itself is strictly message based (ala IP), but there is a library available to allow reliable streaming communication on top of it (ala TCP). All communication is end to end encrypted (in total there are four layers of encryption used when sending a message), and even the end points ("destinations") are cryptographic identifiers (essentially a pair of public keys)."

NOTE: This review was not written by MetOpen staff.

I2p 051 User Review

As a I2P user and fan here is my review of version 051. Stability is on average 24 hours or more. Speed slightly slower than tor, though nothing like the extremely slow speeds of freenet. Network compatibility, good enough for home broadband connections. Not really compatible with most dialup, work and school connections. Features and applications, i2p currently boasts bittorrent, internet relay chat, jabber instant messeging, newsgroups, email and websites. Install process is easy, though actual configuration could be made easier.

Keeping i2p running and updated is easy enough and it's web interface works well with firefox and it's various extensions such as switchproxy.

Usually there is very little congestion on the i2p network, in the magnitude of a few milliseconds. Occasionally there are problems with the network, which occur whenever a major new release is made, though 24 to 48 hours later the network is back to full strength. Minor updates rarely cause such problems and require maybe a half hour to complete. Basically the user downloads the update archive to the i2p folder and does a graceful restart of his node, through the html interface. Then 30 minutes later checks back and his node is updated and ready to use.

Is it ready for average internet users, not really. Though above average users, such as slashdot members and visitors are likely to be clueful enough for it and likely to embrace it. The i2p network size at the moment is anywhere between 100 and 200 nodes, though it would be interesting to see how well it would perform with several thousand or more nodes.

So just who will use the i2p network and why? Why average users will of course. Since users can do most of their current online activities over i2p's encrypted anonymous network, with only a slight cost in performance and speed (though considering the added security and anonymity they gain, it's really worth every millisecond and bit).

Unfortunately i2p thus so far has remained a obscure and fairly well underrated secret. Even those of us that have half a clue, don't know much about it and if asked would reply "What is i2p?".

Why would anyone possibly use i2p? With i2p you can have anonymous encrypted bittorrent, internet relay chat and more.

- Sincerely A Humble I2P Fan

NOTE: This review was not written by MetOpen staff.

Reader Submissions: I2P Review