What is the Torus?
In the mid-90s, searching for web content was often a bit of a chore and was driven primarily by shared links from friends or groups, or by long lists of hyperlinks on home pages. Then we got webrings.
A webring was beautifully simple: a circle of websites, linked together by moderators or website owners who shared a common passion. You'd land on a page about vintage synthesisers or Novell NetWare drivers, and at the bottom, you'd find a small navigation bar. Next. Previous. Random. Click, and you'd tumble into another corner of someone else's obsession.
There was no ranking. No optimisation. No engagement metrics. Just people who cared about a subject, they reachedreaching out to thelike-minded website owners of those websites and agreedagreeing to link to each other.
Webrings were roads of discovery powered by trust. If you loved this subject or web site,website, then you might love the next one too. It could be hit-and-miss, but you'd spend an evening clicking through a ring of sites about electronic music or X-windows, each one handmade in notepad, and each one someone's labour of love.
So
What is the nekotopiaTorus?
As an extension of the 'ring', wethe aimTorus to bringbrings passionate people together again. The modern Internet is hostile to clear-text websites or telnet services. We built the torusTorus to supply a framework for these legacy, insecure platforms.
The Torus is Nekotopia's private mesh network — a secure overlay that connects members across the globe using WireGuard tunnels through our infrastructure.
Think of it as your own private internet. Every member gets a unique IP address on the Torus. You can reach other members' services, and they can reach yours — all without exposing anything to the public internet.
Key Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| End-to-End Encryption | All traffic between members is encrypted using WireGuard. We route the packets, but we cannot read them. |
| Private Addressing | Your services receive a private IP address accessible only to other Torus members. |
| Optional Public Access | Pro accounts can get a dedicated public IPv4 address, making services accessible from the internet too. |
| Low Latency | Traffic routes through AWS infrastructure with typical latencies of 20-100ms within Europe. |
| Always On | Once configured, your connection stays up. No manual reconnection needed. |
How Traffic Flows
When you send traffic to another Torus member:
- Your device encrypts the packet using WireGuard
- The encrypted packet travels to our central router
- The router forwards it to the destination member's tunnel
- Their device decrypts it
We see encrypted packets moving between tunnels. We cannot inspect the contents.