by Ciphas

I’m well aware that not all “dark web” users prefer the Tor network (which I’ve mentioned in a few previous posts).

As I wrote about in How to Access the Dark Web with I2P!, I2P is one of the three most popular anonymity networks at the moment, next to Tor and Freenet. Out of those three, however, it’s arguably the most complicated to use.

That aside, if you already use it, and are interested in the Android app, it’s simple to download. Go to I2P – Android Apps on Google Play, and install it.

If you’re already familiar with using Tor on Android, then you may know the browser Orfox; download that first, from Google Play – Orfox.

As with the standard version of I2P, you need to configure your proxy settings to be able to connect to it on your mobile device.

Depending on which device you have, these may be in a different area, but this tutorial explains it quite well. (With the exception that the Orweb browser is outdated.)

To sum up – you’ll need to configure your proxy settings to 127.0.0.1 (localhost), port 4444 (HTTP). After this is finished, open the I2P app again and hold down the button that says “Long press to start I2P.”

Once you’ve started I2P, the app has to find peers on the network. This should only take a few minutes at most (depending on your connection, of course).

Finally, go to the “addresses” tab. There should be some default I2P sites (eepsites) listed there. You can add others if you wish. Actually, on my device, there was only one eepsite listed by default.

If you tap on the name of one of the eepsites, it may ask you which app you want to use to open it. Obviously, the tried and true Firefox is good. You can also use Orfox, as I mentioned.

Also, if you tap the “tunnels” tab, you’ll see which client tunnels and/or server tunnels are running. By default, some of the ones that run are the I2P HTTP/HTTPS Proxy, Irc2p, and smtp.postman.i2p (simple mail transfer protocol):

You can, of course, customize it by adding your own client tunnels or server tunnels using the red “plus” button in the lower righthand corner (maybe that could be a subject for a future blog post…yesssss….).

Interestingly, the tutorial I referenced above recommends Lightning Web Browser, because it’s open-source and built for privacy, speed, and efficiency. It can also send traffic through Tor or I2P, and can be set to use DuckDuckGo or StartPage as its standard search engines. So give that one a try. If you’re curious about the source code, it’s here: GitHub: Lightning Browser.

Now, as for some other eepsites you can try out, here are some suggestions (but I haven’t vetted all of these, so some may not work):

https://sochi.i2p

https://speedie.i2p

https://sponge.i2p

https://nightfort.i2p

https://planet.i2p

https://oniichan.i2p

I hope that’s enough to get you started. Anyhow, have fun. I2P may not seem as “creepy” as Tor, but I would like to get a few more people to try it out, and maybe build more of a community on the network.

Enjoy your visit, friends!