• Current Fidonet Structure

    From Tom Moore@1:135/205 to All on Sat Jan 24 21:50:38 2026
    Hi,
    How does the current Fidonet structure work based on two main points in today's world?
    1. Does Fidonet largely retain the original structure where bbs's in a
    certain state connect to a hub in the same state?
    In my case FL there seems to be a large bbs structure so there is a hub
    here.
    When it comes to message routingdoes the FL hub connect to the national
    / zone hub?

    2. Based on the internet not having toll charges anymore and Fidonet not
    being as large as it use to be have we moved to who ever can do / wants
    to do certain jobs handle routing functions?
    The Fidonet documents have not been updated in over 30 years so I'm not exactly sure what is the same / different based on the current
    conditions on the ground.

    Thanks,
    Tom


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  • From Nick Andre@1:229/426 to Tom Moore on Sat Jan 24 22:53:49 2026
    On 24 Jan 26 21:50:38, Tom Moore said the following to All:

    When it comes to message routingdoes the FL hub connect to the national
    / zone hub?

    Echomail is mostly peered/meshed but Netmail mostly follows the NC/RC/ZC routing topology.

    Nick

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  • From Tom Moore@1:135/205 to Nick Andre on Sun Jan 25 12:23:31 2026
    Nick Andre wrote to Tom Moore <=-

    On 24 Jan 26 21:50:38, Tom Moore said the following to All:

    When it comes to message routingdoes the FL hub connect to the national
    / zone hub?

    Echomail is mostly peered/meshed but Netmail mostly follows the
    NC/RC/ZC routing topology.

    Hmm, peered/meshed.
    Are their any bbs's that are able to provide secondary echo feeds that
    might not be attached to the same hub that I am to provide a second path
    way?
    Also how would this work for outbound traffic? Would I still be limited
    to sending outbound messages though my single hub?

    Tom


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  • From Nick Andre@1:229/426 to Tom Moore on Sun Jan 25 12:29:52 2026
    On 25 Jan 26 12:23:31, Tom Moore said the following to Nick Andre:

    Hmm, peered/meshed.
    Are their any bbs's that are able to provide secondary echo feeds that might not be attached to the same hub that I am to provide a second path way?

    Yes, lots.

    Also how would this work for outbound traffic? Would I still be limited
    to sending outbound messages though my single hub?

    Yes.

    Nick

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  • From Stephen Walsh@3:633/280 to Tom Moore on Mon Jan 26 10:04:52 2026
    Hello Tom!

    25 Jan 26 12:23, you wrote to Nick Andre:

    When it comes to message routingdoes the FL hub connect to the
    national / zone hub?

    Echomail is mostly peered/meshed but Netmail mostly follows the
    NC/RC/ZC routing topology.

    Hmm, peered/meshed.
    Are their any bbs's that are able to provide secondary echo feeds that
    might not be attached to the same hub that I am to provide a second
    path way? Also how would this work for outbound traffic? Would I still
    be limited to sending outbound messages though my single hub?

    The only thing that will/needs to go via a single hub (uplink) is netmail.
    That does follow a set path called "Routing", unless the message is sent direct.

    Echomail though, can and does go via many different paths.

    Due to ftn messages having SEEN-BY lines, if your system has already seen the message it wont get sent to you again.

    These lines here show the path your message took to get here. It's also showing what systems saw the message.

    SEEN-BY: 135/115 205 222/2 263/1 280/464 633/280 281 3634/12
    PATH: 135/205 115 3634/12 222/2 263/1 280/464 633/280

    Here is the system's that mine send to for this area: 3:712/848, 2:280/464, 1:229/426, 3:770/1 are all out of net
    systems, so each will be sent this message, along with the nodes in net633.

    "3:633/267 3:633/410 3:633/509 3:633/418 3:633/2744 3:633/420 3:633/422 3:633/414 3:633/281"

    To give you further information, 3:633/2744 could also be sending this message to other links.




    Stephen


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  • From Kurt Weiske@1:218/700 to Tom Moore on Mon Jan 26 07:46:07 2026
    Tom Moore wrote to Nick Andre <=-

    Echomail is mostly peered/meshed but Netmail mostly follows the
    NC/RC/ZC routing topology.

    Hmm, peered/meshed.
    Are their any bbs's that are able to provide secondary echo feeds that might not be attached to the same hub that I am to provide a second
    path way?
    Also how would this work for outbound traffic? Would I still be limited
    to sending outbound messages though my single hub?

    @nick, I'd be curious to see how much netmail you route? I'd think with
    binkp, most people could crashmail and forget it. It's not like we're
    paying pennies a minute for an LD call anymore?

    I set up an outbound wildcard rule to crashmail 1:ALL years ago.


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  • From Tom Moore@1:135/205 to Kurt Weiske on Mon Jan 26 12:23:15 2026
    Kurt Weiske wrote to Tom Moore <=-

    Tom Moore wrote to Nick Andre <=-

    Echomail is mostly peered/meshed but Netmail mostly follows the
    NC/RC/ZC routing topology.

    Hmm, peered/meshed.
    Are their any bbs's that are able to provide secondary echo feeds that might not be attached to the same hub that I am to provide a second
    path way?
    Also how would this work for outbound traffic? Would I still be limited
    to sending outbound messages though my single hub?

    @nick, I'd be curious to see how much netmail you route? I'd think
    with
    binkp, most people could crashmail and forget it. It's not like we're
    paying pennies a minute for an LD call anymore?

    My issue is with making sure I receive messages from the public echos.
    Also there are some echos that a bbs has that I wish to peer with that
    my main hub does not have.
    I am trying to figure out the proper way to setup this peering.
    Should I have them set me up as a point node to them or can I login to
    them with my regular node number.

    Thanks,
    Tom

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  • From Nick Andre@1:229/426 to Kurt Weiske on Mon Jan 26 12:37:38 2026
    On 26 Jan 26 07:46:07, Kurt Weiske said the following to Tom Moore:

    @nick, I'd be curious to see how much netmail you route? I'd think with

    On average between 25 to 100 Netmails a month both in-zone and out of zone. There are some InterBBS game attaches and some "Nulls" that get counted.

    I publish real-time stats from D'B on my website for the morbidly curious...

    binkp, most people could crashmail and forget it. It's not like we're
    paying pennies a minute for an LD call anymore?

    My observation is that most people are just happy to accomplish having things working with one uplink, usually meaning Route *.* to that person. Someone applying for a node number and getting mail working is "good enough" for them.

    A lot of mailer software is documented this way, ie. fill-in-the-blanks with the details of your Hub. Setting things up to Crash goes above the bother or understanding of many people.

    Nick

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  • From Nick Andre@1:229/426 to Tom Moore on Mon Jan 26 12:43:51 2026
    On 26 Jan 26 12:23:15, Tom Moore said the following to Kurt Weiske:

    My issue is with making sure I receive messages from the public echos.
    Also there are some echos that a bbs has that I wish to peer with that
    my main hub does not have.
    I am trying to figure out the proper way to setup this peering.

    Its very simple... Just configure each peer as a linked system.

    Do not strip Seen-by's and do not use a Point address.

    If you receive an Echo that is not meant for distribution elsewhere, it is on you to make sure it does not end up forwarded to other systems in your setup.

    Nick

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