Not sure who this will interest. I guess i just need to share lightning node operator experience. And i pay to post, so why not.
So i own the LnShortcut.ovh Lightning node (02c521e5e73e40bad13fb589635755f674d6a159fd9f7b248d286e38c3a46f8683),
and the associated lnshortcut.ovh website, where routing nodes can get advice on interesting routing nodes to connect to.
In May, the node was at 0.67 capacity, mostly in 2.5M channels, and was ~#350 on amboss and terminal.lightning.engineering. A quite good ranking for that 'small' capacity, being the living proof that my channel advice serivce probably gives usefull data. I was proud.
But in May, the node also lost internet access for 4 days...
Obviously, my best channels (one is my channel to SN lightning node) closed because they always have some HTLCs running.
Then some other channels closed because i had lost the best channels, so they got no more traffic from me.
And LND decided to sweep some of thoise new outputs with 1000+ sats fee on the transactions. I lost 500k+ sats just for sweeps.. and was left with only 0.45 capacity of the 'least performing' channels.
I have to admit i considered just closing everything and just letting it all sit on an onchain address..
But it's been a while i have not been interested in something as much is i am interested in lightning & nostr those days, so i couldn't resolve myself to stop.
So, here is my new attempt to bounce back
Updates the the lightning node
- Issues that caused the loss of internet connection were fixed. Also bringing the node a 1000mb internet connection instead of a 100M one
- Bitcoin core was updated fto version 27
- LND was updated to 0.18
- LND config was tuned to reduce issues related to HTLC expiration
- My script that adjusts channels fees will now also make use of negative inbound fees, to allow yet more organic rebalancing of the node's channels
New channels
I was fortunate to have some fiat money i could unlock at the same period. This is probably the last time i am able to significantly grow my LN capacity in BTC terms.
I reopened channels to my best lost peers. Namely :
- SN (03cc1d0932bb99b0697f5b5e5961b83ab7fd66f1efc4c9f5c7bad66c1bcbe78f02)
- XLIghtningNode (02587c51c3196667c9112c688ccd2356d1a3983610cf19118e33947830ce46e1db)
- Stinger32LND (03e086e590f2255a7423cea5dc2b8fbcaffa3d8044c26dbea84728ea4b4648e41a)
For the other channel openings, i followed my lightning channel advisor, but those ones just deserved reopening, thanks to their operators.
I also took the opportunity of losing my main channels to increase the size of the channels i now open. From the previous 2.5M channels, i will now open 5M channels.
Flash forward to now. All new finds are allocated into new channels. Capacity is 0.93, and ranking is ~315! (https://terminal.lightning.engineering/explore/02c521e5e73e40bad13fb589635755f674d6a159fd9f7b248d286e38c3a46f8683/)
Updates to the channel advisor website
Just some minor internal changes, but i take the opportunity to mention them:
- The service will now account for negative inbound fees of each lnd 0.18+ channel to calculate routing costs more precisely
- A fix in the code filtering inactive nodees which was a bit too strict, should results should now be yet more pertinent
Post Scriptum
On a side note, I might be looking for a new job as a c++ developer or devops. If it is on a project that allows LN or Nostr to find real world use cases, even better. If you hear anything, i'm interested!