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For privacy-minded types and people in repressed parts of the world, Tor is a valuable tool. The anonymity-enabling onion routing service does have a few drawbacks, however, including its sometimes sub-optimal connection speeds. Tor's browsing speeds have gotten noticeably better over recent months and years, and the poor connections may disappear completely if a proposal that's currently under consideration is adopted: actually paying people and organizations with fast connections to act as a Tor exit relay.
The proposal was actually put forth by Tor founder Rodger Dingledine, who has been vociferously against paid relays for years. He recently dove into Tor data, however, and found that Tor clients -- which randomly connect to available exit relays -- connect to the five fastest available servers about a quarter of the time thanks to Tor's built-in load balancing. More capable connections get more Tor client attention, which makes sense from a congestion standpoint, but Dingledine worries that it could adversely affect the diversity of the overall Tor network.
Dingledine suggests that by offering to pay a monthly fee to hosts who operate a high speed exit relay, more people may be inclined to offer their connection for Tor use. The more speedy relays there are, the more diversified the load balancing becomes, making the overall Tor use experience that much faster and more diverse.
Of course, the plan will only work if it attracts people and organizations with high speed connections: to that end, Dingledine suggests offering $100/mo. to folks who can supply speeds of at least 100Mbps. (Other rates will also be considered.) To people who think the figure seems high, Dingledine offers the following:
We should keep in mind that the primary cost of running an exit relay is effort, not dollars: it takes dedication to find an ISP who will host it, and to hold that ISP's hand when an abuse complaint arrives. Or said another way, hosting costs are in many cases not the biggest barrier to running an exit relay.
The Tor Project has already lined up a backer for paid relays; the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the group behind the Voice of America website, has agreed to fund 125-plus fast exit relays over the next year once the details are hammered out. Dingledine warns that Tor can't become dependent on paid exit relays to the point that it crumbles if funding is yanked, however.
You can read Dingledine's entire paid node proposal here. Be warned: it's long.
Do you think the proposal for paying high-speed Tor server operators is a good idea, or do you think it could lead to the demise of Tor as we know it?
Comments are closed on this article
GoldenMonkey
July 27, 2012 at 3:58am
I would totally do this, but I wonder what kind of bandwith these hosts usually use up monthly.
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captainjack
July 25, 2012 at 5:51pm
I really need a lesson on how internet speed works for a residential user. I know that you're never going to get the speed you pay for because of all the choke-points (router, wiring, traffic, etc). But I don't understand how this works in relation to the servers uploading the content. Don't you also depend on the speed at which the files are being sent by the host? With all these factors how is it possible to download at true 100Mbps? Any links explaining this stuff would be appreciated.
Citizen Snips
July 25, 2012 at 9:49pm
One of the things that having high-speed relays (especially exit nodes) is that that they can serve many more pages into the TOR network. If 1000 users are all trying to access the internet through one exit node, it pays to have it be as fast as possible.
whathuhitwasntme
July 25, 2012 at 2:55pm
you wont find 100mbs residential in the states but Japan,Asia, Europe its becoming very common for blazing speed. It's just greed and the refusal to update old lines here by the telecoms that keep America in the slow lane on the internet.
myh1tlist101
July 25, 2012 at 4:04pm
In places with FIOS access you can find 100 mbps. My household had 100mbps ever since we bought our Dell Dimension 8400 in 2002.
Engelsstaub
July 25, 2012 at 12:16pm
I'd be down if my connection met the requirements. Unfortunately it does not.
USraging
July 25, 2012 at 1:27pm
100Mbps is kinda rare for a home user. Maybe someone lucky that has fios can benefit from this, or is involved in the google experiment.
myh1tlist101
July 25, 2012 at 4:01pm
My household has 100 mbps hmmm...It's odd seeing people drool over FIOS My zip code and several others near by were the original beta testers for FIOS so our who's going to get FIOS next war has mostly ended and we've had it for several years! It is by far the best provider however it is a pain to get set up right as the people at Verizon can never keep track of the features you want (they messed up phone, TV, and internet!). Once you work out the kinks however, the performance is great and the price is unbeatable.
jnite
July 25, 2012 at 12:02pm
I was curious what is considered high-speed connection. Then I saw "at least 100Mbps". Dang! My concept of fast speed is way off when 100Mbps is the minimum.
Valor958
July 25, 2012 at 12:30pm
Well some lucky places can get 300Mbps access now ^_^ Man... download entire series in just hours instead of weeks lol.
Neufeldt2002
July 25, 2012 at 1:18pm
I believe that they are looking for a min of 100Mbps upload speed.
