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?
Edits: For those technically inclined: Stuff like DHCP seems unnecessary if every device has a serial number based address that’s known not to collide. It seems way more simple and faster than leasing dynamic addresses. On top of that 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.
- 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
Even paying for a static IP its not like a phone number which is discoverable behind a NAT without extra router configuration.
Have you ever tried roaming with a cellphone…?
Yep, and I can verify my phone number didnt change when roaming, people could still call me.
Your roaming is the extra configuration you speak of, and is usually an extra fee…… that’s the “static” part
Usually the phone number changes though. My phone number is 070Xxxx… here in Sweden, but my folks in law need to call 004670xxxx to call me unless they are visiting in which case 070xx works again
You’re right it depends on the definition of phone number, and I edited the original post to try and be more clear that I meant the phone number including the country code and area code.
If you’re talking about something other than country/area code though, then that’s news to me.
That’s like saying “why isn’t my phone number that I set up on my own POTS network usable on the international telephone system?”
If you’re behind NAT, you aren’t technically on the Internet; that’s why you need Network Address Translation in the first place.
IPv6 fixes this by letting every conceivable device have its own address on the Internet, but that comes with its own security and privacy issues, so it’s rarely used.