I'm wanting to buy either a Start9 box or an Apollo 2.
Does anyone have any resource for keeping your node private? Best practices, videos, guides, etc.
Thanks in advance.
Bitcoin node and lightning node usually have Tor only options in their settings/config.
FYI - Syncing Bitcoin node via Tor could take several days
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I thought syncing didn't depend on whether it was via Tor or the clearnet, as it's about outbound connections (downloading blocks from other nodes) rather than accepting inbound connections (letting other nodes download blocks from yours)?
To sync, you don't need to accept inbound connections at all.
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Tor has slower speed and more latency, it will slow things down.
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That's my understanding as well.
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You need to have a bitcoin node running first. That is the syncing part I was referring to.
The node needs to do 700GB download for blockchain info. The downloading over tor can be slow.
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Best is to use both Tor and I2P for bitcoind at the same time. https://raspibolt.org/guide/bonus/bitcoin/i2p.html
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Thank you so much for all the replies. I would like to add an edit.
I do not care about lightning at all. I'm a on-chain maxi. Does this change any recommendations?
I care about taking large on-chain payments directly to my node in the most private way possible.
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You can exclusively use someone else's UTXOs by buying channels from Magma or set it to auto-buy with Hydro.
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I'm fairly sure this is a topic covered in @DarthCoin's guides...
The tor thing mentioned is a good default option to get started.
However Tor nodes are slow and you lose a lot of performance — particularly if you plan on running Lightning, too.
With the caveat that this is a rabbit hole in itself, it’s worth looking at your home network before going the node route, particularly for the ability to route your internet through a VPN at the router level.
This way, you can run your node on clearnet and get “regular internet” performance, especially on LN, without doxing your IP.
Couple that with Tailscale for remote node access and I suspect you would be quite happy.