end2end? (was: RE: Where NAT disenfranchises the end-user ...)

Joel Jaeggli joelja at darkwing.uoregon.edu
Fri Sep 7 18:25:13 UTC 2001


On Fri, 7 Sep 2001, Mike Batchelor wrote:

>
> NAT rewrites certain packet data fields (src addr, src port, sometimes mac
> addr).  So does a ordinary router (ttl decrement).  One breaks end2end, the
> other does not.  What is the difference?
>
> I think you will find that a definition of "end2end" is a lot more squishy
> than you want it to be.

Actually I think It's very simple... in a world were potentially any
device can be a tcp based server the fredom to connect to it regardless of
what network it's behind is critical... if all my devices are on different
networks, behind different nats connecting between them becomes very
hard... if we have for example, my cell phone behind a nat at my cell
provider, my home computer, behind my home nat because my provider will
only give me one ip, and my home nat behind my provider nat, because my
provider doesn't have enough v4 address space, how do I initiate a
connection between my cell phone and my home-computer, or vice-versa, if
we add a third device, my laptop sitting behind a broadband wireless
providers nat how do I interconnect them, that fact that they're all ip
enabled has in fact bought me squat.

end-to-end is the freedom to initiate a connection between any two tcp
enabled devices. something which some of us take for granted in the ip
world, but which is being rapidly eroded.

joelja


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