To be a “full” member of the Nexa network, you’ll want to configure your machine to provide blockchain data to wallets that need it.
Typically, this is not much bandwidth since the load is distributed across everybody and since dedicated machines handle much of it.
However, it is still useful for individuals to do this, because it will help resiliancy during network outages and it increases the
proportion of anonymous honest nodes providing accurate data.
To get inbound connections for Nexa require that port 7228 be port forwarded (TCP protocol). Also forward port 20001 to enable Rostrum (blockchain data services for light clients). If you don’t know how to do this, see below!
How to become a “full” member of the Nexa network?
To do this, you need to open certain ports in your internet router. How to accomplish this is different for every router & there are very likely guides for your specific router on the internet that may do a better job than the following more general description:
First, go to your router’s management web page (hopefully you remember what you set your router password to!!!) and figure out what IP your computer is being assigned. You’ll often find this in a section called “network map” or “local network” or “clients”. Or you can find it by looking in the networking details on your computer itself. Note your computer’s MAC (looks like aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff) and IP address (looks like a.b.c.d, or maybe aaaa:bbbb:cccc:dddd…).
Now your router typically assigns the same IP address to the same computer, but to guarantee that that happens, you want to look in your router’s web page for a section called “DCHP” or “Address Reservation”, and then add an entry containing the MAC and IP address of your computer.
Next, look for something called “Port Forwarding”, often located in the “gaming” or “NAT forwarding” section of your router’s web site.
Add an entry with your computer’s IP address, “External Port” as 7228, “Internal Port” as 7228, and protocol as “TCP” (or all).
Next add another entry, again with your computer’s IP address, “External Port” as 20001, “Internal Port” as 20001, and protocol as “TCP” (or all).
That’s it! External computers should now be able to ask you for Nexa blockchain data! Thanks!