Hi i have been running my node for awhile now but have only recently wanted to start using a vpn permanently. When i do this my Node drops to the minimum 8 outbound connections and drops all inbound, is there a way round this? i'm presuming that this is because my IP has changed?
Since you are (likely) not the only person using the VPN your node is no longer reachable from the outside and is thus limited to 8 connections.
Thanks Shorena i do get that, are you saying then a Bitcoin core node cant be run if using a vpn service permanently?
No, you can run a node without accepting connections from the outside. No matter from which direction the connection was established, the traffic can flow in both directions. You will still get all the data and run a full node. You are just no longer available to SPV clients like multibit.
Thanks for that, i was just always under the impression that to be classed a "full node" you had to be excepting incoming connections.
Some people claim that, but I and at least one core developer disagree. Feel free to find your own way, but for me the "full" in full node means, "fully verifying" which has nothing to do with the number of connections (should be at least 1 though) or which way they are established. If you prefer more connections you could also modify the code slightly to make core establish more outbound connections.
