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m A lot of this was duplicated on the "How to get connected" page so
 
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So. To get ON Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net (hereby referred to as CGHMN for easier reference) you'll need a few things.
If you would like to sign up for CGHMN, please [https://signup.cghmn.org/ follow the signup page instructions]


# A retro computer/virtual machine or a device that can be ultimately terminated via ethernet. Using other networking standards like 802.11, Token Ring, AUI, BNC or others is totally fine, but you'll need to ultimately bridge them to Ethernet to talk to the device running Wireguard
# A device that can run the Wireguard and (optionally) Gretap protocols. Wireguard is a VPN stack that is used to encrypt traffic and connect your retro devices securely to the network over the internet. Gretap is used for tunneling "non TCP/IP" protocols, like IPX. Useful if you want to play DOOM or run other non-TCP/IP software, '''''but not required!'''''
# To '''have fun!''' Seriously. This project is meant to bring back the joy of the web as it existed in the 90's and 2000's. If you aren't having fun, we need to fix that.


For Step 2 you can use any kind of device that runs '''''Linux/BSD''''' such as a Raspberry Pi or others. Virtual Machines (such as Proxmox) are absolutely supported and encouraged!
Once that's done, you can go here to [[How to Get Connected|get connected]]. The page has numerous different resources for different types of devices, as well as a quick-start guide for OpenWRT based devices.




 
Happy retro computing!
For users looking to connect physical machines, you will need a hardware device. We recommend something like the [https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-ar300m/ GL.iNet Shadow]. This device retails for around $30~ US dollars on retailers such as Amazon and can push 40 megabits of bandwidth to CGHMN over Wireguard. This is more than sufficient for a significant number of retro machines. This device has been deployed by Cursed Silicon and other users and has been successfully tested at-scale hosting 15 simultaneous users at the Seattle Interim Computer Festival retro computing event.
 
 
Another option (if you have one) is the Raspberry Pi. Every Pi version through the original Pi 1 to the current Pi 5 [https://openwrt.org/toh/raspberry_pi_foundation/raspberry_pi is supported by OpenWRT]. Adding a cheap USB LAN adapter makes this an attractive option if you have a spare "old Ras Pi laying around"
 
 
The third option is to run a virtual machine as your CGHMN gateway. We provide support primarily for '''''Proxmox''''' but other virtualization stacks such as VMware, Virtualbox and Hyper-V will work, but may require manual configuration by the user. '''This option is best suited for users wanting to run servers (websites, old game servers etc) as running old OSes in Proxmox comes with a significant graphics performance penalty''' 
 
We recommend running the [https://openwrt.org/ OpenWRT] router distribution regardless of which above option you choose. This supports an enormous array of hardware (including running as a VM) and even comes with a [https://cghmn.snep.zip/connect.sh ready-made script] written by our network architect, Snep. This script can be run on a device running OpenWRT to configure it directly for access to CGHMN.
 
Once installed in either a VM or on a physical device such as the GL.iNet Shadow, the device can be SSH'd into and the following commands can be run to begin configuration for CGHMN access.
 
# <code>wget <nowiki>https://cghmn.snep.zip/connect.sh</nowiki></code>
# <code>ash setup-cghmn.sh</code>
# Follow the prompts
# [https://signup.cghmn.org/ Send us your Wireguard] '''Public Key''' on the signup page so we can add you to the network!
 
 
Finally if you're particularly proficient with Linux or Networking (or both) you can opt to run your own hardware configured to your specifications. We don't directly provide support for vendors like Microtik, Unifi or others, but during the closed testing we've done in past, users have been able to set these vendor devices up and successfully connect. [https://github.com/CGHMN/config-examples Example configurations are available here] however are untested except by the user who submitted them. Please reach out to the committer for assistance if the configuration scripts do not work.
 
Once again, to clarify: CGHMN '''''does''''' '''''not specifically require using "real" vintage hardware''''' as doing so can be impractical for a number of reasons. A lot of users (including Cursed Silicon and others) use virtualization, particularly to run [[Services people are running|services on the network]] efficiently or to quickly test out applications and features. '''Connecting a modern computer (EG a Windows 10 or 11 PC) to the network while not disallowed will encounter a lot of issues due to the age of the servers and services it is communicating with and is discouraged'''

Latest revision as of 19:46, 5 November 2025

Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net is now in OPEN BETA! That means if you're reading this, you've either found our signup page, been sent an email, or just stumbled across this page on the Wiki.


Either way, welcome!


If you would like to sign up for CGHMN, please follow the signup page instructions


Once that's done, you can go here to get connected. The page has numerous different resources for different types of devices, as well as a quick-start guide for OpenWRT based devices.


Happy retro computing!