Anywherelan

Anywherelan (awl) is a decentralized mesh VPN, comparable to tinc or Tailscale, that connects devices at the IP level without central coordination. The application creates a private peer-to-peer network, automatically traverses NAT, and allows routing traffic through remote peers as a SOCKS5 proxy, all with end-to-end encryption.

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• Fully peer-to-peer network. Anywherelan operates without third-party servers. Data connections are established directly between the user's devices, eliminating central points of failure or surveillance. The network organizes itself dynamically.
• Integrated SOCKS5 proxy. The proxy feature allows routing application traffic through a remote device within the private network. This enables, for example, browsing from a mobile phone using the internet exit of a computer located in another country.
• Built-in DNS resolution. Anywherelan assigns custom domain names (e.g., office-desktop.awl) to each device on the network. The system resolves these names automatically, removing the need for numeric IP addresses.
• NAT traversal. The software incorporates mechanisms to establish direct connections even behind restrictive routers or firewalls. When a direct connection fails, traffic is redirected through encrypted community relays.
• Cross-platform support. Anywherelan clients are available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android. Configuration synchronization across operating systems is done via QR codes or exchange files.
• Public key authentication. Each device generates a cryptographic key pair. Identity and authorization are based exclusively on these keys, without shared passwords or centralized authentication servers.
• Relay mode. In situations where direct communication is impossible (e.g., symmetric NAT), nodes can act as relays. Data travels encrypted through a third device authorized by the user.
• Subnet routing. Anywherelan can advertise entire local subnets (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24) within the mesh network. This allows access to local network devices (printers, NAS servers) from any remote node.
• No dependency on coordination servers. Unlike solutions like Tailscale, awl does not require a central coordinator. Peer discovery can be performed via static node lists or DHT.
• End-to-end encryption. All traffic between peers is encrypted with modern algorithms (ChaCha20-Poly1305). Session keys are negotiated using the Noise protocol, ensuring confidentiality and mutual authentication.
• Command-line interface and graphical mode. The program offers both a graphical interface for visual management and a daemon for systems without a GUI. Configuration can be done via editable text files.
• IPv4 and IPv6 support. The VPN works natively with both internet protocols, tunneling traffic from legacy and modern applications without additional modifications.

Development of Anywherelan began in 2020 by a team of independent developers focused on privacy and decentralization. The program's core is written in Go (Golang), a language chosen for its concurrency performance and ease of cross-platform compilation. The application is distributed under a source-available license, allowing security audits while maintaining certain proprietary components related to the user interface.

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