4 ms·

If you are on the other team, this is also a good list if you want to avoid bad neighbors. Hosts that don't ban tor nodes probably don't have a great reputatio

by TZubiri 8mo ago

If you are on the other team, this is also a good list if you want to avoid bad neighbors. Hosts that don't ban tor nodes probably don't have a great reputation.

petcat 8mo ago
Not to mention, why on earth would I ever operate a TOR relay or exit node on my home internet connection? Maybe if I could guarantee that it could only be used by journalists or political dissidents, but everything else? No. I don't need the authorities at my door every few weeks wondering why some of the most deplorable internet traffic of all time is coming from my house.
- blfr 8mo ago
  Relay nodes don't pose much risk and help mask/blend your own Tor traffic.
  - giantg2 8mo ago
    Yeah, I've run a relay node without issues for a couple years.
  - ssl-3 8mo ago
    I agree with the concept. I should not be liable for the actions of others. If someone does something nefarious using my exit node (or the free wifi at my coffee shop) then that shouldn't be my responsibility. After all, I have no way of knowing what they're up to. It may be good or it may be bad; I can't know. (I suppose I can set up a router to discard packets with the RFC 3514 evil bit set, as a show of good faith, but...) So I think the risk should be low, but that's just, like, my opinion, man. My opinion doesn't mean that the risk is in fact low. Has the risk of running an exit node ever been tested in court? Many people, myself included, simply can't afford to have that kind of experience even if we're reasonably sure that it will end up OK.
    - ikmckenz 8mo ago
      Parent comment was talking about relay nodes, not exit nodes. The risk of running a relay node is essentially zero in a free country.
      - ssl-3 8mo ago
        I appreciate the correction. It's been so long since I've looked at tor that I guess I forgot that relay nodes were a thing and conflated the two terms. Or maybe the coffee hadn't started working yet. So with the correction, I agree completely: Running relay node (a thing that deals only with indecipherably-encrypted anonymized data) is not a meaningful risk.
        vel0city 8mo ago
        IP addresses of relays are still known in the network, and IP reputation firms may flag your IP as potentially suspicious. This may or may not cause issues when dealing with orgs that filter based on "known bad IP address" lists. I've had it happen before, where everything was fine until a few days after running a tor relay (not an exit node, just a relay) everything suddenly wanted more verifications I was not a bot, some paid video services started blocking me, and a few other issues. Stopped running the node and later things cleared up.
        gzread 8mo ago
        Lists that include Tor relays are completely bogus lists, and most but not all people know this.
        vel0city 8mo ago
        It doesn't matter if you or I know it, the problem is when a vendor I'm wanting/needing to use is ignorant to the quality of their list they're using to block stuff.
    - TZubiri 8mo ago
ikmckenz 8mo ago
I think the hosts that Tor recommends against because there are already so many nodes hosted on them like OVH and Hetzner are perfectly happy with their (quite good) reputations.
superkuh 8mo ago
I've run a personal mailserver from one of the "Don't use these ASN/Companies because there are already too many tor nodes" VPS hosts for 14 years (and going). They've had excellent service, I never had a problem with my neighbors on the shared hardware, and my mail deliverability rate has been on par with other services. Just one data point for you.

by TZubiri 8mo ago

If you are on the other team, this is also a good list if you want to avoid bad neighbors. Hosts that don't ban tor nodes probably don't have a great reputation.

petcat 8mo ago

Not to mention, why on earth would I ever operate a TOR relay or exit node on my home internet connection? Maybe if I could guarantee that it could only be used by journalists or political dissidents, but everything else? No. I don't need the authorities at my door every few weeks wondering why some of the most deplorable internet traffic of all time is coming from my house.

blfr 8mo ago
Relay nodes don't pose much risk and help mask/blend your own Tor traffic.
- giantg2 8mo ago
  Yeah, I've run a relay node without issues for a couple years.
- ssl-3 8mo ago
  I agree with the concept. I should not be liable for the actions of others. If someone does something nefarious using my exit node (or the free wifi at my coffee shop) then that shouldn't be my responsibility. After all, I have no way of knowing what they're up to. It may be good or it may be bad; I can't know. (I suppose I can set up a router to discard packets with the RFC 3514 evil bit set, as a show of good faith, but...) So I think the risk should be low, but that's just, like, my opinion, man. My opinion doesn't mean that the risk is in fact low. Has the risk of running an exit node ever been tested in court? Many people, myself included, simply can't afford to have that kind of experience even if we're reasonably sure that it will end up OK.
  - ikmckenz 8mo ago
    Parent comment was talking about relay nodes, not exit nodes. The risk of running a relay node is essentially zero in a free country.
    - ssl-3 8mo ago
      I appreciate the correction. It's been so long since I've looked at tor that I guess I forgot that relay nodes were a thing and conflated the two terms. Or maybe the coffee hadn't started working yet. So with the correction, I agree completely: Running relay node (a thing that deals only with indecipherably-encrypted anonymized data) is not a meaningful risk.
      - vel0city 8mo ago
        IP addresses of relays are still known in the network, and IP reputation firms may flag your IP as potentially suspicious. This may or may not cause issues when dealing with orgs that filter based on "known bad IP address" lists. I've had it happen before, where everything was fine until a few days after running a tor relay (not an exit node, just a relay) everything suddenly wanted more verifications I was not a bot, some paid video services started blocking me, and a few other issues. Stopped running the node and later things cleared up.
        gzread 8mo ago
        Lists that include Tor relays are completely bogus lists, and most but not all people know this.
        vel0city 8mo ago
        It doesn't matter if you or I know it, the problem is when a vendor I'm wanting/needing to use is ignorant to the quality of their list they're using to block stuff.
  - TZubiri 8mo ago

ikmckenz 8mo ago

I think the hosts that Tor recommends against because there are already so many nodes hosted on them like OVH and Hetzner are perfectly happy with their (quite good) reputations.

superkuh 8mo ago

I've run a personal mailserver from one of the "Don't use these ASN/Companies because there are already too many tor nodes" VPS hosts for 14 years (and going). They've had excellent service, I never had a problem with my neighbors on the shared hardware, and my mail deliverability rate has been on par with other services. Just one data point for you.