Have you made a Lightning Network transaction yet?

[gentlemand]

If so, how did it go? Was it completely painless? Did it fail? Which setup did you use to do it?

I have attempted it once with a site selling game codes. I couldn't get it to work, for reasons I can't quite remember, and haven't tried again since.

I did get things working well with the test version on here - https://starblocks.acinq.co  but the real deal may well have many more demands.

Is it something you have plans to get into soon or are you already balls deep?

[BitHodler]

I have done so through various clients, but there honestly isn't much that can go wrong here. You basically tell the third party node to open a funded channel to another node, and that's it.

All the payments moving back and forth are smooth. The real problem is payment routing, and that's where most transactions of mine don't go through. Maybe I should try with my own node one at a later point.

Considering that I transact with the same parties over and over again, my open channels directly to them work as they should be working. I can't say I'm using it on a daily basis, but at least once or twice a week.

I mostly use the mobile client called Bitcoin Lightning Wallet from anton kumaigorodski that can be found in the Android store.

[gentlemand]

The real problem is payment routing, and that's where most transactions of mine don't go through.

Yup. I think that's where my one attempt fell apart. After that I noticed the store had a new thingy so perhaps that cured it. As far as I can tell the much vaunted centralisation of hubs hasn't happened and I haven't heard of any major names in BTC setting anything up yet.

At this stage of the game there's still plenty I haven't bothered to wrap my head around. The place I transact with most is, whisper it, Bitpay and it's pretty clear that those pricks will be the last people in the world to consider using it. Hopefully we'll get a decent payment processor who does until that pie in the sky day when no one needs or wants to move money back into toilet paper.