The Bitcoin Lightning network; What's your experience?

[CTO114]

The Bitcoin Lightning network is a unique opportunity to experience faster and safer payments at lower fees, introduced as a faster add on to make mostly micro payments.
As enticing as it may seem it's also without its own risks, as disagreements may occur between nodes

What's your experience like in using The Bitcoin's lightning network?

[BitGoba]

There’s a lot of misunderstanding about the Bitcoin Lightning. I’ve read a lot, and even on this forum, there’s plenty of incorrect information.Some people claim that the Lightning is not decentralized. Many are confused and think it’s just another layer 2 solution like those on shitcoins such as Ethereum or similar. They don’t understand that Lightning isn’t a typical layer 2 like on shitcoins , it’s more of an add-on to Bitcoin that allows transactions to happen off-chain while settlements are still done on-chain.

To use the Lightning, you need to run your own Bitcoin full node.When you open a Lightning payment channel, a 2-of-2 multisig contract is created with the counterparty.Both parties can close the channel whenever they want.The settlement will happen on-chain
You need a mini computer that runs 24/7, like a Raspberry Pi 5. There are operating systems such as Start9, Umbrel, and My Node that make it easy to run and manage a Bitcoin full node and Lightning, and they install directly on this hardware.
They provide everything you need for simple management, opening Lightning channels, and balancing them efficiently.It’s quite simple and beginner-friendly because it has an intuitive interface .

Disagreements between nodes can’t happen because there are so-called watchtowers. If your node goes offline due to a power outage or malfunction and it takes you a few days to restore it, the watchtowers monitor the state and ensure that the settlement is fair and that no one can cheat anyone.

Of course, you can use custodial wallets like Wallet of Satoshis and others, or semi-custodial solutions like Phoenix Wallet, but keep in mind that these options carry certain risks because you don’t have full control over your channels and funds, unlike running your own full node.

[IIrik11]

tbh, i don't understand n i have never used it, i just downloaded 'wallet of satoshi' wallet on my phone

because a service i used provided micro payments to lightening wallet only and that is when i downloaded the above wallet

but it is just sitting idle on my phone,, have never been used even once and i don't intend on using it in future also