[tor-relays] Middle relay IP blocking

[s7r]

lists at for-privacy.net wrote:
> On Samstag, 5. August 2023 08:40:42 CEST Marco Predicatori wrote:
>> securehell at gmail.com wrote on 8/4/23 01:46:
>>> I tried reporting a similar issue a few months ago (post wasn’t approved
>>> by
>>> moderator). I was running a relay from my home ISP. After a short while
>>> certain websites became inaccessible from other computers in my home
>>> network that shared the same public IP. After trial and error with other
>>> IP addresses (non-Tor) I realized commercial gateway services had
>>> blacklisted our IP address.
>>
>> Same here, middle node. In order to access some sites, I have to shut down
>> briefly my modem in order to obtain a new IP, and for a while all goes
>> smoothly again.
> 
> Hi @all,
> 
> Just my 2 cents. Is this worth the hassle?
> Calculate your power consumption 24x7x30 @home.
> 
> For 1-5$ you can get a VPS.
> This exit has 1GB RAM and 1CPU and costs $3.50/month
> https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/376DC7CAD597D3A4CBB651999CFAD0E77DC9AE8C
> 
> Search or ask for offers on LEB & LET:
> https://lowendbox.com/
> https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/185210/tor-relay-bridge
> 
> $websearch: cheap vps unlimited bandwidth
> IONOS 1,-EUR/Month - 1GB RAM - 1vCore unlimited bandwidth - prepaid (=no contract term)
> https://www.ionos.de/server/vps
> 
> Dedicated server for $15 per month: 4 Cores/4 threads - 16GB DDR3 - 5 usable IPv4  :-)
> https://www.nocix.net/cart/?id=261

While all the above is true, a thing to remember is to make sure we 
don't end up all renting too many VPS'es or dedicated servers in the 
same places / same AS numbers - we need network diversity, it is a very 
important factor, more AS numbers, more providers, more physical 
locations, etc. So, running at home is super good and recommended from 
this perspective, provides us with the diversity we need, however not 
being to login to online banking to pay an electricity bill because of a 
middle relay is also way too annoying.. however who can afford the 
hassle should definitely run a middle relay or bridge at home (even Exit 
relay, I do run an Exit relay at my office place and I had one police 
visit in like 8 years or so).

The problem here is with the people who treat 1 IP address = 1 person, 
this assumption which is 3 decades old should disappear once and 
forever. I cannot imagine what kind of an IT/security expert would use a 
black list (haha) that contains Tor relays (double haha) and also 
applies same restrictions to *middle* relays (triple haha). There are so 
many ways to properly handle an IP address that sends 
robotic/unrequested traffic which are so obvious I'm not going to spam 
the list to enumerate them.

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