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I built a browser-based P2P file transfer tool using WebRTC

airdows.com

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Re: I built a browser-based P2P file transfer tool using WebRTC

#2

Post by SamOkampo »

Hi HN,

I built AirDows, a browser-based tool for transferring files between devices using WebRTC.

The idea is simple: open AirDows on two devices, connect them using a QR code or temporary PIN, and send files without creating an account or uploading them for later download.

AirDows attempts a direct peer-to-peer connection first. If the networks cannot establish a direct route, it uses an encrypted TURN relay. The files are not stored by AirDows.

It currently supports:

- Transfers across different networks - QR code and temporary PIN pairing - Direct-to-disk writing in supported browsers - Compatibility mode for other browsers - Large-file transfers - Transfer queues, cancellation, and resume support - PWA installation

It is an early free beta, so both devices need to remain active and performance depends on the browsers and network route.

I would appreciate honest feedback on reliability, privacy, the pairing flow, and large-file transfers.

Re: I built a browser-based P2P file transfer tool using WebRTC

#4

Post by doodlebugging »

jschveibinz wrote: post #3

You have some web page material in English, and some material in either Spanish or Portuguese. You might want to check everything twice before posting on HN.

Not the poster but I had to go check the website to see this. I believe it is in Spanish. It makes me pretty happy to realize that even though I have had little or no conversations with Spanish speakers for about 30 years I was able to understand the untranslated text. There is so much that clicked once I had the context through the words that I recognized. The rest of it began to make sense.

Thanks for that mental exercise.

Re: I built a browser-based P2P file transfer tool using WebRTC

#5

Post by ranger_danger »

What happens when TURN is inevitably needed? Many people are behind something like CG or symmetrical NAT with no direct way to talk to each other.

There are no reliable, fast AND free TURN servers (IMO), and even semi-private relays can quickly become overwhelmed or too costly to operate.

Re: I built a browser-based P2P file transfer tool using WebRTC

#6

Post by jarym »

ranger_danger wrote: post #5

What happens when TURN is inevitably needed? Many people are behind something like CG or symmetrical NAT with no direct way to talk to each other. There are no reliable, fast AND free TURN servers (IMO), and even semi-private relays can quickly become overwhelmed or too costly to operate.

Bandwidth costs money not to mention if it was truly free it would probably be an abuse vector. Cloudflare offer 1000Gb free per month - https://www.cloudflare.com/products/turn-sfu/ and pricing beyond that isn't bad either.

Re: I built a browser-based P2P file transfer tool using WebRTC

#7

Post by Uptrenda »

Hi, I built a plugin-based P2P socket system from scratch that supports TCP punch, UDP punch, random probe, TURN, and other such systems. It includes a full stack from networking, signalling, and naming, all based on open infrastructure. It's open source and licensed under MIT:

warpgate.io

Re: I built a browser-based P2P file transfer tool using WebRTC

#10

Post by SamOkampo »

imarkphillips wrote: post #8

Looks great. How long until it does P2P via Bluetooth? Like Bump did before it was shut down by Google.

Thanks, bluetooth-based file transfer is not reliable enough across modern web browsers, especially on iOS, i may explore Bluetooth for nearby device discovery in a future native companion, while keeping WebRTC as the actual transfer channel
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