A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns • Hacker News Board

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#71

Post by dvdkon » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 7:44 AM UTC

Ray20 wrote: post #22

joecool1029 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Looking at a bigger picture though, honestly I think we're seeing the end of the raw global Internet for the masses. 20 years ago, it seemed impossible, but here we are. This is defeatist. You're probably right 'for the masses' but there will always be those networking and collaborating and bypassing whatever restrictions get put in place. I have online contacts in 'firewalled' regimes that use v2ray/shadowsocks or…

>there will always be those networking and collaborating and bypassing whatever restrictions get put in place. I don't think so. It's just a question of the severity of the punishment for violating regulations. A couple of small fines for an unlicensed networking and collaborating - and there will be no one left. >There's a ton of cheap tools now that can be used for running local or citywide networks, hams have thei…

> It's just a question of the severity of the punishment for violating regulations. A couple of small fines for an unlicensed networking and collaborating - and there will be no one left.

I don't think you give people enough credit. There have been dissidents in totalitarian regimes the world over, even when the punishment was death or being sent to a labour camp.

You might think that unlicenced networking isn't important enough, but I think many people would see it as the start of China-like censorship. Especially now that we've had decades of a mostly-free Internet, I don't think people will react kindly to politicians taking it away.

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#72

Post by cess11 » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 7:47 AM UTC

Ray20 wrote: post #22

joecool1029 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Looking at a bigger picture though, honestly I think we're seeing the end of the raw global Internet for the masses. 20 years ago, it seemed impossible, but here we are. This is defeatist. You're probably right 'for the masses' but there will always be those networking and collaborating and bypassing whatever restrictions get put in place. I have online contacts in 'firewalled' regimes that use v2ray/shadowsocks or…

>there will always be those networking and collaborating and bypassing whatever restrictions get put in place. I don't think so. It's just a question of the severity of the punishment for violating regulations. A couple of small fines for an unlicensed networking and collaborating - and there will be no one left. >There's a ton of cheap tools now that can be used for running local or citywide networks, hams have thei…

The impact of that minority might still be decent.

Pirate radio isn't new, and hardware has gotten both cheaper and more sophisticated since kids drove around in cars with haywire FM transmitters.

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#73

Post by psnehanshu » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 7:50 AM UTC

CaptainFever wrote: post #61

bawolff wrote: post #32

> IPv4 addresses are limited and constantly reallocated. Most are rented and passed between hosting providers, resold between datacenters, or migrated across regions. The Iranian filtering system uses GeoIP databases and BGP information to decide which IP ranges to trust and which to block. But those records lag behind the changes. This is surprising to me. Surely iranian ISPs would have directly allocated IP space?…

I'm ignorant about this, but I'm surprised there isn't just some physical switch that just straight up airgaps all network routes going out of the country.

There is, so that's why you need to use Starlink as the exit. A Starlink terminal connects directly to a stattelite bypassing all local infrastructure. Unless Iran confiscates those terminals or shoots down those satellites, they can't block it.

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#74

Post by pazimzadeh » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 7:59 AM UTC

Aren't mesh networks the ideal case for this type of scenario?

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#75

Post by pazimzadeh » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 8:01 AM UTC

heraldgeezer wrote: post #28

[flagged]

Just

  enable
  configure terminal
  router bgp 
  neighbor  no shutdown
  end

Democracy restored.

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#76

Post by znano » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 8:03 AM UTC

psnehanshu wrote: post #73

CaptainFever wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm ignorant about this, but I'm surprised there isn't just some physical switch that just straight up airgaps all network routes going out of the country.

There is, so that's why you need to use Starlink as the exit. A Starlink terminal connects directly to a stattelite bypassing all local infrastructure. Unless Iran confiscates those terminals or shoots down those satellites, they can't block it.

Yes also typical disturbance noises seem to not work on these satellites otherwise they would've done it. probably due to them being LEO satellites. because they have stronger signals and that makes it harder for noise/jammers to overpower legitimate signals (higher signal-to-noise ratio).

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#77

Post by znano » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 8:05 AM UTC

pazimzadeh wrote: post #74

Aren't mesh networks the ideal case for this type of scenario?

Yes they should work in these scenarios but requires mass adoption to run a proper mesh network infrastructure.

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#78

Post by ethan_smith » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 8:17 AM UTC

xkcd1963 wrote: post #18

How do people do this in China?

Chinese users typically rely on Shadowsocks (a SOCKS5 proxy designed to be undetectable), custom V2Ray configurations with obfuscation, or corporate VPNs that operate in legal gray areas, though the government continuously improves detection capabilities forcing constant adaptation of circumvention techniques.

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#79

Post by znano » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 8:26 AM UTC

ethan_smith wrote: post #78

xkcd1963 wrote: post #18

How do people do this in China?

Chinese users typically rely on Shadowsocks (a SOCKS5 proxy designed to be undetectable), custom V2Ray configurations with obfuscation, or corporate VPNs that operate in legal gray areas, though the government continuously improves detection capabilities forcing constant adaptation of circumvention techniques.

Also obfs4 i believe is widely used there, either with tor or standalone(obfs4 over SSH). And dynamic port forwarding using SSH alone is widely used and fairly simple.

Re: A technical look at Iran's internet shutdowns

#80

Post by LadyCailin » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 9:33 AM UTC

dvdkon wrote: post #71

Ray20 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>there will always be those networking and collaborating and bypassing whatever restrictions get put in place. I don't think so. It's just a question of the severity of the punishment for violating regulations. A couple of small fines for an unlicensed networking and collaborating - and there will be no one left. >There's a ton of cheap tools now that can be used for running local or citywide networks, hams have thei…

> It's just a question of the severity of the punishment for violating regulations. A couple of small fines for an unlicensed networking and collaborating - and there will be no one left. I don't think you give people enough credit. There have been dissidents in totalitarian regimes the world over, even when the punishment was death or being sent to a labour camp. You might think that unlicenced networking isn't impo…

I dunno, the reaction to the anti-porn laws in Texas haven’t gotten too much pushback, as far as I’m aware. Sure, keeping kids off porn is good, but do you trust the Christian nationalist government of Texas to only define porn as the thing that needs logged identification?