# Hopbits

> Hopbits is a distributed internet measurement network combining independent residential ISP and datacenter Linux & Docker nodes to measure website uptime, regional latency, and IP geolocation signals.

Hopbits connects two vantage-point types in one measurement plane: residential connections (real last-mile ISP routes) and datacenter nodes (stable infrastructure baselines). Node operators run a bounded, non-proxy Linux or Docker client to execute cryptographically signed network checks and earn contribution points; engineering, hosting, and IP intelligence teams consume the resulting uptime, latency, and location signals via a web dashboard and REST API.

## Core Signals

- **Uptime Monitoring**: Multi-perspective HTTP, TCP connect, and ICMP ping reachability checks across independent ASNs to confirm regional vs. global outages, with outage email alerts and HMAC-signed webhooks.
- **Latency Intelligence**: Response-time comparison (DNS, TCP, TLS, HTTP TTFB, and ICMP RTT) between residential last-mile ISPs and datacenter baselines across countries and autonomous systems.
- **IP Location Signals**: Active speed-of-light latency-bounded geolocation (`POST /v1/geolocate`) from calibrated reference vantages to assess IP location confidence, verify country claims, and flag GeoIP database mismatches.

## Node Safety & Architecture

- **Not a Proxy**: The Hopbits node client (`hopbits-agent`) never carries customer browsing or arbitrary proxy traffic. It executes only root-certified, bounded measurement jobs (`http`, `tcp_connect`, `icmp_ping`).
- **Linux & Docker First Release**: Builds a local distroless container from the SHA-256-verified `hopbits-agent` binary and runs unprivileged (`UID 65532`, `--cap-drop ALL`, `--read-only`) with strict daily bandwidth budgets and private-range / RFC1918 / link-local target blocks.
- **Dollar-Priced Business Experience**: Conventional web dashboard and REST API (`https://api.hopbits.io`), with double-entry credit accounting and no crypto wallet required.

## Key Links

- [Home — Overview, Signals, Roadmap & FAQ](https://hopbits.io/)
- [Documentation Overview](https://hopbits.io/docs)
- [Linux & Docker Node Quick Install Guide](https://hopbits.io/docs/run-a-node/quick-install)
- [REST API Reference](https://hopbits.io/docs/api)
- [Live Network Status](https://hopbits.io/status)
- [One-Line Node Installer Script](https://hopbits.io/install.sh)
- [Create Account](https://hopbits.io/register)
- [Sign In](https://hopbits.io/login)
- [Extended Technical & FAQ Reference for LLMs](https://hopbits.io/llms-full.txt)
- [Privacy Policy](https://hopbits.io/privacy)
- [Terms of Use](https://hopbits.io/terms)
- [Hopbits Community Discord](https://discord.gg/7ePkNxYMd4)