this post was submitted on 04 May 2024

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No Stupid Questions

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Why don't computers have "computer-numbers" equivalent to phone numbers (lemm.ee)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by jeffhykin@lemm.ee to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world

115 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Why doesn't every computer have 256 char domain name, along with a private key to prove it is the sole owner of the address?

Edits: For those technically inclined: Stuff like DHCP seems unnecessary if every device has a serial number based address that's known not to collide. It seems way more simple and faster than leasing dynamic addresses. On top of that with VOIP I can get phone calls even without cell service, even behind a NAT. Why is the network designed in such a way where that is possible, but I can't buy a static address that will persist across networks endpoint changes (e.g. laptop connecting to a new unconfigured wifi connection) such that I can initiate a connection to my laptop while it is behind a NAT.

Yes, it would be a privacy nightmare, I want to know why it didnt turn out that way
When I say phone number, I mean including area/country code
AFAIK IP addresses (even static public ones) are not equivlent to phone numbers. I don't get a new phone number every time I connect to a new cell tower. Even if a static IP is assigned to a device, my understanding is that connecting the device to a new uncontrolled WiFi, especially a router with a NAT, will make it so that people who try to connect to the static IP will simply fail.
No, MAC addresses are not equivalent phone numbers. 1. Phone numbers have one unique owner, MAC addresses can have many owners because they can be changed at any time to any thing on most laptops. 2. A message can't be sent directly to a MAC address in the same way as a phone number
Yes, IMEI is unique, but my laptop doesn't have one and even if it did its not the same as an eSim or sim card. We can send a message to an activated Sim, we can't send a message to an IMEI or serial number

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[–] Boozilla@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

UDID is kind-of what you're talking about, but not an exact analogue.

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Every land-line phone I've had didn't carry it's number with it. The number is assigned to a fixed, immovable address. Back then it was part of a physical switching system - in the switching center, shafts would move up and down and rotate to connect one circuit to another. These were circuit-switched networks. (These were eventually replaced by digital switches).

The only number that's static on my cell phone is the EID, because it's necessary with a mobile device connecting to a radio-based network. The system needs to know how to route a connection whenever the phone moves - "which tower is it on" - which is handled by the device registering with the tower, the network then updates it's database. The phone number with a cell phone is specifically for routing user connections (essentially tells the system what subscriber is associated with a given endpoint - your phone).

None of this is required for internet connections, as you get connectivity via a router which is the Internet-facing address for other devices to see. Things were established this way initially because there's no need for an endpoint device to be directly exposed (plus hardware and software capabilities at the time).

Also, I hope to never see the day when all consumer endpoint devices are directly on the internet. That's a bad idea in so many ways (and why I argue IPv6 is generally useless for endpoint consumer devices). IP6 is great for plenty of other reasons.

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[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 1 points 6 months ago

That's what the serial numbers on the parts themselves are.

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