Bandwidth Sharing

Bandwidth sharing lets a participant make unused internet capacity available for approved traffic in exchange for compensation. In a peer-to-peer proxy network, the participant’s connection acts as an exit for traffic assigned by the network.

A destination sees the public IP of the shared connection because that connection makes the final request. IP geolocation databases can infer an approximate country or region from the address. They do not reveal a precise home location, and the participant does not expose files, browsing history, or local network contents merely by relaying proxy traffic. Sharing software still needs isolation and access controls so it cannot reach unrelated local resources.

Participants should understand what traffic is allowed, how usage is measured, what network resources the application consumes, and how to pause or remove it. They may also need to consider data caps, connection performance, and their internet provider’s terms. Compensation should be stated in measurable units rather than described as a guaranteed income.

PacketStream uses real residential Packeters in its peer-to-peer network and pays them $0.10 per GB of bandwidth used. See the share bandwidth page for the PacketStream participation details.

Related terms: peer-to-peer proxy network and exit node.