Nodes
What is a Mysterium Node?
Nodes are devices, such as a Raspberry Pi or computer, which help power and maintain our distributed network.
Most of the internet you pay for goes to waste, sitting idle or completely unused. Peers within a distributed network like ours can easily share these excess internet resources with each other, such as storage, computing power, bandwidth and IP addresses. Any user of the network can pay to connect to your node, providing them with a VPN service, access to the open internet and a secure line of communication.
Nodes replace the traditional role of a server. You can run Mysterium's node software on Mac, Linux, Windows, DAppNode, AVADO and Raspberry Pi.
Head to mystnodes.com to get started.
How do you encrypt the network?
While both decentralised VPNs and Tor both leverage networks, Tor’s main goal and purpose is to offer anonymity. Mysterium's goal is about censorship-resistance and unblocking content.
Tor uses a different encryption method, functioning more similarly to an encrypted proxy, which means that not all traffic from your computer is going via the Tor network. As an encrypted browser, it’s only what you’re browsing or accessing through the browser that is protected (Tor essentially protects its own browser).
With a dVPN, we use VPN tunnels. This means you’re protected when you’re accessing apps, browsing content, encrypted messaging services etc. All your internet traffic is going via an encrypted VPN tunnel using UDP communication protocol.
Tor is using TCP, which is slower - sometimes up to 10 times slower!
How will running a node affect my home internet?
Running a node should have very little impact on your home internet.While you may notice from time to time that your internet is slower, it’s unlikely that any speed downgrade will be noticeable.
If it is, you can always check dashboard, or your local user interface, to see if there are any active sessions that may be affecting your connection.
Can my node be used for illegal activities? How do we protect node runners?
Verified traffic only
MystNodes offers the option to only accept verified traffic from our B2B partners who we vet and work with contractually. These businesses must use our services in accordance with their local laws. While we cannot say it’s 100% safe, it is incredibly rare and if anything illegal were to happen, our partners are required to take full responsibility.
While we do as much as possible to protect nodes and prevent “bad” traffic, in reality most of the traffic is safe. The vast majority of traffic passing through exit nodes is legal and legitimate. Additionally, all connections are secured and any traffic running through your node is encrypted.
It's also worth noting that our network is not designed to facilitate illegal activity, and the vast majority of users are law-abiding individuals who are simply seeking greater online access, privacy and security online. In fact, many journalists, activists, and researchers rely on such networks to protect their online communications and research from prying eyes.
Certain locations
Don’t enable “Public” traffic if you’re based in the following countries: Canada, U.S., UK, Italy, Australia, Germany or India.
For those who have a greater technological understanding of how to run an exit node safely and protect the privacy of their node running activities from ISPs, you are welcome to accept all “public” traffic.
Please read our guide on running an exit node.For everyday users, it’s best to select B2B traffic.
In certain countries you should not encounter issues by running a node, as their laws are much more relaxed. If you accept “public” traffic, you increase your risk factor but with it, significantly increase your earning potential.
Please make sure you’re up to date with the regulations in your country.
What fees do node runners pay?
The network takes a 20% service fee. This is the only fee charged by Mysterium, which is used to continue building, maintaining and improving the service. Its purpose is similar to other peer-to-peer platforms, like Uber or AirBnB. However, in this case it’s our smart-contract automating the payouts and fees.
Without a percentage cut, the node network must be maintained by a team voluntarily (for free), which means quality would go down and general network growth very slow.
During the BETA period of our Tokenomics 2.0, network fees are being distributed as rewards to MYST token holders who stake in the Mysterium Delegation Pool. You can learn more about that here.
Note that you will also pay blockchain transaction fees when you withdraw your earnings “on-chain”, though if you do this using a Layer 2 such as Polygon, you should only pay very little (cents at a time).
How can I maximise my earning potential?
1. Enable “B2B VPN and data transfer & B2B Data Scraping services” if you’re based in the following countries: Canada, U.S., UK, Italy, Australia, Germany or India.
2. Have a strong and stable internet connection.
3. Run your node 24/7; some user sessions can be very long and if you are disconnected from a client, they will be reconnected to a more competitive node, which means losing that client.
4. Double-check your configuration and ensure users can access your node. Your node service should be reported as online both in NodeUI and mystnodes.com website.
Note that prices will be set based on a supply and demand algorithm for each region. The algorithm will assess the node type, which considers factors such as region, IP location (residential / non-residential), and quality.
Note that Mysterium isn’t particularly demanding of your CPU, it cares more about bandwidth. If you’re not getting traffic, it could be because your node is poorly configured E.g. Your router is blocking Mysterium traffic, which you’ll need to correct by downloading the Mysterium VPN app and check the connection.
Where do I check and withdraw my earnings?
You can find:Total earnings (last 30 days) on Nodes list
Total earnings and Balance available to withdraw on Node's internal NodeUI: http://[ip-of-your-node]:4449
Your unsettled earnings will be automatically settled once you reach 5 MYST. If you wish, you can manually settle your Balance from Node's internal NodeUI to your external wallet address at any time: http://[ip-of-your-node]:4449
What are "Total earnings", "Unsettled earnings" and "Balance" I see in the NodeUI?
Total earnings - these are your all time earnings from this node before settlement and withdrawal fees.
Unsettled earnings - These are confirmed earnings which are not settled to your Balance yet. Settlement to Balance is done either automatically when 5 MYST is reached or manually when SETTLE button is clicked.
Applicable settlement fees -Network settlement fee: 20% (fixed fee).Blockchain transaction fees: dynamic depending on blockchain conditions and congestion.
Balance - these are your earnings after settlement fees. This balance can be withdrawn to your external wallet at any time.
Example - Let's say your Unsettled earnings reached 5 MYST and are being settled to Balance. In this case 1 MYST will be deducted as 20% network settlement fee plus blockchain fees which are dynamic.
Why does my Node show as Offline on the Nodes List?
Please try these steps to troubleshoot:
1. Make sure Node is running for at least 10 minutes.
2. Make sure Node is ONLINE in NodeUI at [ip-of-your-node]:4449.
3. Make sure Node's identity is available in Discovery service.
Attach your Node identity to this link: https://discovery.mysterium.network/api/v3/proposals?include_monitoring_failed=true&provider_id=[node-identity].
If it loads your Node's info then it means it's available to VPN consumers.
4. If none of the above work, please contact our support team, state which of the above steps fail and also include your Node's identity, version and OS for troubleshooting
The onboarding flow did not work, I could not claim my node?
If the new onboarding flow did not work then try going to your NodeUI at [ip-of-your-node]:4449 and claim manually by entering your API key which you can find at Your profile.
Network Pricing Rules
Mysterium Network prices are dynamic and set automatically by algorithm based on supply and demand for each region. The important factor is the proportion between consumer demand and number of nodes in a certain region. In case there is a shortage of nodes, price would go up, while if demand is low and there is node surplus then price would be lower. It could be compared to Bolt’s surge pricing, where demand determines price based on the availability of the network.
The formula for pricing: Base Price X Load CoefficientLocation, quality and node type (residential or non-residential IP) also influences the prices. For example, residential IPs are more valuable compared to data center IP thus they will cost more and generate more revenue.The system will have adaptive pricing and evaluate the current MYST value. If token prices fluctuate, then the base price will adjust automatically.
Note that Mysterium isn’t particularly demanding of your CPU, it cares more about bandwidth. If you’re not getting traffic, it could be because your node is poorly configured E.g. Your router is blocking Mysterium traffic, which you’ll need to correct by downloading the Mysterium VPN app and checking the connection.
Can nodes see traffic?
In theory, this is possible. It holds with the same potential as Tor, which is that an exit node could potentially see traffic if a user is looking at unencrypted sites (eg. A site without HTTPS). The person running the exit node would have to have a sophisticated understanding and tools in order to do this, so it’s not a huge concern for network users.