The Lightning Network FAQ

[Rath_]

I won't have any transactions from my side in the beginning, it will be only to interconnect different nodes and create better routes, later i may open some channels for transactions as well?

You might find this Lightning Network node explorer useful for choosing which node to open a channel with.

How about paying for campaigns trough LN? What you think, opening a channel with the campaign manager and close it when the campaign is over, just to boost a bit the LN?

I am quite sure we have already discussed it at some point in the ChipMixer Signature Campaign thread. There is no need to open a direct channel to the campaign manager. Connecting to one of the most popular nodes would be enough (I'm not suggesting anything more complicated since I am quite sure that most campaign participants wouldn't bother that much). The participants would have to spend their earnings in order to make room for future incoming payments. That's the biggest problem. Also, the campaign manager would have to either use a third party service to refill the channel or open another one.

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[DaveF]

Ok guys my lightning node is up and running. Any strategies while opening channels? I'm not doing it for profit (i guess you can't make any significant profits with that low fees anyway) so wonder how much to put in a channel. I won't have any transactions from my side in the beginning, it will be only to interconnect different nodes and create better routes, later i may open some channels for transactions as well?

How about paying for campaigns trough LN? What you think, opening a channel with the campaign manager and close it when the campaign is over, just to boost a bit the LN?

You can always open one to me:

03400a67375da5d5d04dd59514452ce9f0cadb2fbec65863073897d52843b61c80@whacker.cas8.com:9735

Thinking about it; someone should probably start a thread where everyone here can post their LN info for other people here to open channels to.
Kind of keeping it in the family.

-Dave

[Rath_]

If LN would allow payments without first sending a payment request (I'm hoping future versions will allow this), it could be a very cool feature for a campaign that pays for every post. Combined with a scraper, you could literally be paid a few seconds after each post!

Actually, Lightning Labs has been working on Sphinx for over a year now. lncli sendpayment command was mentioned in the LND v0.9.0 changelog so I believe it's fully working now. Note that you might have to use lncli connect before attempting to send the payment.

[darosior]

If LN would allow payments without first sending a payment request (I'm hoping future versions will allow this)

A hack for this which has been possible since the beginning is using circular payments.
The sendinvoiceless C-lightning plugin by Galizoltan allows this.

Otherwise there is keysend, as mentioned above.
But I wonder why everyone keeps calling this Sphinx.This is Sphinx (to me).

[USBitcoinServices.Com]

This is a very useful FAQ thread, but LN will need more time in order to see mass adoption, perhaps this will occur in 2024 when more people use bitcoin to buy, trade, or any type of btc tx, this will lead to people demanding for faster tx, then it will be time for LN to fully flourish.

[Carlton Banks]

If LN would allow payments without first sending a payment request (I'm hoping future versions will allow this)

A hack for this which has been possible since the beginning is using circular payments.
The sendinvoiceless C-lightning plugin by Galizoltan allows this.

Otherwise there is keysend, as mentioned above.
But I wonder why everyone keeps calling this Sphinx.This is Sphinx (to me).

I also understand Sphinx to have zero relationship with invoiceless lightning payments, although I've not heard anyone saying it does up until now

[DaveF]

Not that anyone cares that much, but my node will be down again for a while later today or tomorrow as I replace a fan.
I am starting to think that it is cursed.
But at least I am getting good at yanking it apart in a hurry to re-do it.

If you are one of the few who has a channel open to me let me know if something does not come back up properly.

-Dave

[TheNewAnon135246]

I am currently running an LND node (TOR). What is currently the most stable Android wallet that allows me to connect my own LND node? I tried Zap wallet but apparently there are issues with the Android version when running it on TOR.

[DaveF]

I am currently running an LND node (TOR). What is currently the most stable Android wallet that allows me to connect my own LND node? I tried Zap wallet but apparently there are issues with the Android version when running it on TOR.

Zeus is good.

https://zeusln.app/

I have never had it 100% stable on either tor or clearnet but, many people have so I figure that is more a Dave issue then a zeus issue.

-Dave

[TheNewAnon135246]

I tried Zeus but for some reason it's not connecting to my node. I also tried connecting with Orbot active but that didn't make a difference.

[DaveF]

I tried Zeus but for some reason it's not connecting to my node. I also tried connecting with Orbot active but that didn't make a difference.

No idea, I would think that it would be some connectivity issue to your node then since nothing is connecting to it.
I have no clue what to check :-(

If nobody can help you here, you might want to post on github to see if anyone can help there.

-Dave

[TheNewAnon135246]

I tried Zeus but for some reason it's not connecting to my node. I also tried connecting with Orbot active but that didn't make a difference.

No idea, I would think that it would be some connectivity issue to your node then since nothing is connecting to it.
I have no clue what to check :-(

If nobody can help you here, you might want to post on github to see if anyone can help there.

-Dave

I got Zap to work but only only local ip lndconnect uri (not Tor) so I can use Zap while on my WiFi. Tor is causing most issues I suppose so I'll wait until more compatible wallets become available.

[Carlton Banks]

I am currently running an LND node (TOR). What is currently the most stable Android wallet that allows me to connect my own LND node? I tried Zap wallet but apparently there are issues with the Android version when running it on TOR.

What you (likely) need is to set your LND node up as a Tor "Hidden Service". This will give your node a .onion IP address to connect to using your Android wallet, I don't think it's possible to make an incoming connection to a standard Tor IP. Using a tor hidden service is actually a really easy way to get a permanent & reachable IP address for any device, and for any reason.

[darosior]

I am currently running an LND node (TOR). What is currently the most stable Android wallet that allows me to connect my own LND node? I tried Zap wallet but apparently there are issues with the Android version when running it on TOR.

What you (likely) need is to set your LND node up as a Tor "Hidden Service". This will give your node a .onion IP address to connect to using your Android wallet, I don't think it's possible to make an incoming connection to a standard Tor IP. Using a tor hidden service is actually a really easy way to get a permanent & reachable IP address for any device, and for any reason.

To follow-up here are the setup instructions

Install tor (`apt install tor` if you are on a Debian-like >= 9), add this to your /etc/tor/torrc:

Code:

ControlPort 9051
CookieAuthentication 1
CookieAuthFileGroupReadable 1

HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/my-service_v3/
HiddenServiceVersion 3
HiddenServicePort 1234 127.0.0.1:9735 # Change the port at will

Then restart it (`systemctl restart tor@default`), and

Code:

cat /var/lib/tor/my-service_v3/hostname

will give you the address of your hidden service which you can connect to.

If that helped with your remote control consider running a Tor ralay or bridge ! 

[Wind_FURY]

How to deploy a cloud-based Lightning node, in the easiest way possible, in common cloud-computing services, that can run 24/7? Asking for a friend.

Suggested easy LN node software, cloud-computing service, and other suggestions welcome.

[LoyceV]

cloud-computing services

Slightly related: when I tried to run Bitcoin Core on a cheap VPS, it kept getting killed. This link explains how to get around this. It's written for a Forkcoin, but also worked on the real Bitcoin:

The minute the service provider sees the bitcoin daemon running they kill it.

A dedicated cloud provider that charges you for CPU cycles probably won't have this problem, but a cheap VPS will.

[darosior]

How to deploy a cloud-based Lightning node, in the easiest way possible, in common cloud-computing services, that can run 24/7? Asking for a friend.

Suggested easy LN node software, cloud-computing service, and other suggestions welcome.

BTCPayServer, I guess ?
Lightning Network page: https://docs.btcpayserver.org/features/lightningnetwork

[Wind_FURY]

I believe we need a complete, newbie-friendly guide for easy node deployment for the cloud, with careful suggestions for how to open/maintain channels, "for fun, and maybe profit".

[darosior]

I believe we need a complete, newbie-friendly guide for easy node deployment for the cloud, with careful suggestions for how to open/maintain channels, "for fun, and maybe profit".

BTCPay are hard to beat to the deploy-a-complete-Bitcoin-stack-in-three-commands game, I think. 

[Wind_FURY]

I believe we need a complete, newbie-friendly guide for easy node deployment for the cloud, with careful suggestions for how to open/maintain channels, "for fun, and maybe profit".

BTCPay are hard to beat to the deploy-a-complete-Bitcoin-stack-in-three-commands game, I think. 

OK, I will check his progress, or if he wasn't lazy and actually started setting up everything.

Do you have suggestions for a cheap cloud-computing service that's friendly to Bitcoin/Lightning?