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Posted by pcarroll 3 days ago

Show HN: Netrinos – A keep it simple Mesh VPN for small teams(netrinos.com)
I'm the founder at Netrinos. I built a WireGuard-based mesh VPN because remote access has always been a pain. After years of SSH tunnels, IPsec headaches, and the ssh log horror movie, I wanted something simpler: install, sign in, get work done.

Netrinos creates a LAN-like overlay network across your devices. Connections are direct P2P via WireGuard, with no central server routing traffic. Each device gets a stable IP and DNS name (pc.you.netrinos.com). When direct connections fail, they fall back to a relay server that's still encrypted end-to-end. We can't see your traffic.

The most challenging problem to solve was NAT traversal. UDP hole punching works most of the time. The rest is a cocktail of symmetric NAT, CGNAT, and serial NATs. We use STUN-style discovery and relay fallback for the edge cases. I was surprised by how unreliable low-end ISP routers really are, and how much technical wizardry it takes to hide that behind a clean, simple UX.

Our stack is a Go backend for client and server, WireGuard kernel mode for Linux and Windows (macOS is userspace), Wails.io for cross-platform UI. WireGuard does all the heavy lifting. Go ties it all together.

Popular use cases include: RDP to home PCs, accessing NAS without exposing it, and SSH into headless Linux boxes. One customer manages hundreds of IoT devices in the field, eliminating the need to deal with customer routers.

We just released Pro with multi-user, access control, and remote gateway routing. Personal is free (up to 100 devices).

I'd love to hear what you expect from a simple mesh VPN, what's missing from current tools, and what's lacking from your remote access setup. Use code HNPRO26 for a 30-day trial of Pro.

https://netrinos.com

84 points | 56 commentspage 2
focusgroup0 17 hours ago|
>We use STUN-style discovery and relay fallback

How does your relay compare to Tailscale's (DERP)?

pcarroll 13 hours ago|
We implement STUN and TURN/DERP using native WireGuard rather than separate protocols.

Netrinos uses a central rendezvous server that participates in WireGuard handshakes solely to collect your devices' public endpoints and share that information with your other devices. When a device roams to a new location, the server learns the new endpoint and updates the other devices in your account.

When direct P2P fails, Netrinos falls back to a relay server. The relay is a WireGuard peer, but it does not have the keys to decrypt your traffic. Your devices negotiate keys directly with each other, so the relay just forwards opaque encrypted packets.

If you are particularly security conscious, you can host your own relay server. Enable it with a checkbox in the app. This could be a home PC with a stable connection, or a $5 cloud server account.

Updated: Original answer did not address DERP

Can_K 21 hours ago||
Full disclaimer: huge Linux fanboy here.

Not really related to the product itself, but your landing page design looks close to the official Microsoft style which I dont have the best memories of..

It might be intentional to show the "seamless integration" to Windows users but my penguin loving soul got scared!

pcarroll 19 hours ago|
Thanks for that feedback. I share your feelings about Linux. It never occurred to us that it would be reminiscent of old MS days. We were going for "clean and uncluttered".

If it makes you feel better, all core development for Netrinos is done on Linux. Then, the code is adapted to work on macOS and Windows. Almost all of the code is cross-platform, including the UI. Only the implementation details are platform specific.

e.g. Linux uses nftables. MacOS uses pfctl. Windows, we had to write our own packet filter to avoid touching the often misconfigured Windows Firewall.

drcongo 12 hours ago||
I only use Tailscale for two features - one is having every machine on the network use a logical name of the pattern {projectname}-{environment} ie: `ssh me@hn-prd` and the other is exit nodes. I couldn't work out from your site if either of these two things is doable here.
pcarroll 11 hours ago|
Each device on your account gets a private static IP address in the network 100.x.x.x. The name is static as long as the device lives on your account.

Each also gets a friendly DNS name in the form device.account.2ho.ca (try finding a short domain these days).

So yes, you can...

$ ssh user@server.myaccount.2ho.ca

C:\ net use S: \\server.myaccount.2ho.ca\Home

etc.

drcongo 10 minutes ago|||
Ah, that's a shame - my OCD loves the short, domainless names we get on Tailscale.
Grimblewald 8 hours ago|||
Well, given you can set your vpn server to also relay dns requests, and have that same server resolve any *.myspecialtld requests makes that a breeze. I run a whole invite only "internet" of sorts doing this with a plain wireguard server (video streaming, webmail, chatbot, personal websites, forums etc) finding a short domain is easy as pie.
nodesocket 18 hours ago||
I use Twingate both for personal use (my home) and to access AWS EC2 servers (no public ips) and really love it. Very polished, easy setup. How does Netrinos compare?
pcarroll 13 hours ago|
We do have some comparisons on our site...

https://netrinos.com/compare

Thanks

Daniel_31 7 hours ago||
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Daniel_31 17 hours ago||
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Daniel_31 17 hours ago||
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cboyardee 18 hours ago|
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