Why doesn’t every computer have 256 char domain name, along with a private key to prove it is the sole owner of the address?
For those technically inclined: With VOIP I can get phone calls even without cell service, even behind a NAT. Why is the network designed in such a way where that is possible, but I can’t buy a static address that will persist across networks endpoint changes (e.g. laptop connecting to a new unconfigured wifi connection) such that I can initiate a connection to my laptop while it is behind a NAT.
Edits:
- Yes, it would be a privacy nightmare, I want to know why it didnt turn out that way
- When I say phone number, I mean including area/country code
- AFAIK IP addresses (even static public ones) are not equivlent to phone numbers. I don’t get a new phone number every time I connect to a new cell tower. Even if a static IP is assigned to a device, my understanding is that connecting the device to a new uncontrolled WiFi, especially a router with a NAT, will make it so that people who try to connect to the static IP will simply fail.
- No, MAC addresses are not equivalent phone numbers. 1. Phone numbers have one unique owner, MAC addresses can have many owners because they can be changed at any time to any thing on most laptops. 2. A message can’t be sent directly to a MAC address in the same way as a phone number
- Yes, IMEI is unique, but my laptop doesn’t have one and even if it did its not the same as an eSim or sim card. We can send a message to an activated Sim, we can’t send a message to an IMEI or serial number
It’s called a MAC address.
The problem with it is mostly routing.
The osi model has 7 layers of connection to form a proper internet connection.
The MAC address exists but doesn’t leave the physical network. The MAC address is used to physically connect your computer to the router, and it defines your piece of hardware.
The IP address can change, because your computer can connect to different networks.
If you tried to route everything with a MAC address, (which isn’t possible, but for arguments sake we will pretend it is) the problem is that when you take your phone with its MAC address off your wifi and on to your work wifi, Where would the registry be? How would the Internet know how to find your phone? Do you just log into one giant global registry so that everyone can find your phone when they are trying to communicate with it? That would be a giant fucking database and everyone would always be trying to use it.
Routing is a big and complex problem, and these things didn’t work with ipv4
They do work better with IPv6. IPv6 adresses don’t need to change like ipv4 for a bunch of reasons.
From a philosophical level, the Internet was designed for people to be anonymous and make relatively anonymous connections. You wanted to be flexible enough that you can just be assigned a new number and work with that new number quickly.
This is a really simple explanation, and I got some basic facts wrong just for ease of understanding, but the principals are correct.
This is a solved issue called EUI-64 IPv6 addressing. It is a privacy nightmare.
Yeah I addressed that IPv6 CAN do it, but you’re right.
Philosophically, I don’t want people or companies following me around that much, hence the “private MAC addresses” that came out a few years ago
I hate to break it to you but MAC randomisation has been around since 2007. Fuck we are getting old.
Shut your filthy mouth! 😝
And before that, a bad firmware flash could garble the MAC.
And before that, a bad firmware flash could garble the MAC.
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Every phone number has one owner, but MAC addresses can have many owners. They’re categorically different.
The same way phone calls try to find a phone when its powered off. Attempt, and then fail under a timeout.
Same place as the phone number registry. Or the domain name registry.
Yep the domain name registry and cell phone registry very much are AFAIK
The domain registry is NOT, and it’s categorised by various tld’s the scope of the routing is MUCH higher traffic.
Your cell phone is run by a provider and has maybe 0.0000001% as much lookups as routing would have.
These things are all done in various tree light structures to try and eliminate central points of failure . The Internet was designed to try and resist failure, and you are creating some central failure points.
Even if you created several of them, synchronisation issues would be Basically impossible to fix or take up unbelievable amounts of bandwidth
This I’m interested in, because its at the edge/limits of my knowledge when it comes to domains and cellular networking.
Are you saying if cell phones had a larger address space, let’s say 32 digits base 10, and every device was given a cell phone number, it would overwhelm the existing infrastructure?