STORE-AND-FORWARD
Messages that travel on their own schedule
What is store-and-forward?
Imagine a postal relay system, but for digital messages. You write a message and send it to your local system. At a scheduled time — maybe once a day, maybe a few times a day — your system connects to the next system along the route and hands off any mail waiting to go that direction. That system stores your message and later passes it along to the next hop, and so on, until it arrives at its destination.
This is store-and-forward: instead of requiring a live, end-to-end connection between sender and receiver, messages are stored at each hop and forwarded when the next connection is available. Nobody needs to be online at the same time. A message written in Vancouver might sit on a server overnight, travel to Seattle in the morning, reach Los Angeles by noon, and arrive at its destination in Buenos Aires by evening — all without any two systems being directly connected at the same moment.
The analogy to postal mail is deliberate. This style of networking predates the real-time internet, and it still has advantages over it: it works with intermittent or expensive connectivity, it's inherently resilient to outages, and it puts no requirement on the receiving end to be "live."
FidoNet — the network that proved it worked
In 1984, a programmer named Tom Jennings wrote a BBS program called Fido, and then wrote software that let two Fido systems call each other at night to exchange mail. A friend of his in Baltimore was running the same software. They agreed to start connecting their systems — and just like that, there was a network.
By the early 1990s, FidoNet spanned the globe. Tens of thousands of BBS systems in over 100 countries were exchanging mail, sharing message groups (called "echomail"), and distributing files — all using store-and-forward over ordinary phone lines. At its peak it carried more daily traffic than the entire early internet.
FidoNet is still running today. The network is smaller, but the same addressing scheme and protocols are in use. A message posted in a FidoNet echo group will travel the same relay path it would have in 1992, just over the internet instead of phone lines.
FidoNet's addressing uses a hierarchical structure called a "zone:net/node" address. 2:280/101 means Zone 2 (Europe), Network 280, Node 101. LovlyNet uses FidoNet Technology — the same protocol and addressing style — with its own zone number.
Why a community would use it
Store-and-forward networking is particularly valuable in a few situations:
- Intermittent connectivity — if your connection to the internet is unreliable, expensive, or limited to certain hours, store-and-forward means you can still participate fully.
- Resilience — a store-and-forward network keeps working even if parts of it go down. Messages wait and reroute.
- Shared message groups — FidoNet-style echomail lets thousands of systems share the same conversation without requiring everyone to connect to one central server. Each system gets a copy and serves it to its own users.
- Community ownership — every node in the network is independently operated. There's no central service that can decide to shut it all down.
Software and tools
BinkP Protocol
The standard protocol for transferring FidoNet mail over the internet. Named after its author. Handles authentication, compression, and reliable delivery of message packets between systems.
BinktermPHP
Our own open-source BinkP implementation in PHP. Makes it straightforward to add FidoNet Technology Network connectivity to any PHP-based BBS system.
Learn more →Synchronet BBS
Has built-in FidoNet and FTN (FidoNet Technology Network) support. One of the easiest ways to become a fully participating node in a store-and-forward network.
synchronet.com →Binkd
A standalone mailer daemon (background service) that handles BinkP mail exchange. Used by many traditional FidoNet nodes running on Linux or Windows servers.
binkd project →Archived docs: Binkd manual • User guide (RU)
Husky / HPT
Husky is a suite of FidoNet mail-processing tools. HPT (Husky Project Tosser) handles sorting incoming echomail and netmail into the right areas and passing it along. Used on Linux/Unix-based FidoNet nodes alongside Binkd.
Archived docs: HPT documentation • Fidoconfig examplesReal-world networks
LovlyNet
Our own FidoNet Technology Network. An active echo message network linking BBS systems running BinktermPHP and Synchronet. Apply to join if you're running a BBS.
Learn more →FidoNet
The original, still operating since 1984. Spans multiple zones globally. Thousands of echomail areas covering topics from technical discussions to general chatter.
fidonet.org →fsxNet
A modern FTN with relaxed rules and a friendly, active community. One of the more welcoming networks for newer BBS operators looking to get started with echomail.
fsxnet.nz →Micronet
A smaller FTN focused on vintage computing and BBS culture. Good fit for systems catering to retro enthusiasts and those who want a tightly-knit niche community.
DoveNet
A friendly FTN with a welcoming community atmosphere and diverse topics. Known for being approachable and positive in tone.
ArakNet
A smaller FTN focused on active participation and welcoming newer systems. Good starting point for BBS operators who want to join a message network with a lower barrier to entry.
Winlink
A global network that uses amateur radio and the internet together to deliver email to places without connectivity. A store-and-forward network that spans the radio spectrum.
winlink.org →For a full list of active FTN networks and their zone numbers, see the community-maintained FTN Zone IDs spreadsheet.
Get started
The easiest way into store-and-forward networking is to connect your BBS to an existing network like LovlyNet. If you're running a Synchronet or BinktermPHP system, you already have everything you need. Apply for a LovlyNet node address and start exchanging echomail.
Quick facts
- ▶ FidoNet founded: 1984
- ▶ Peak FidoNet nodes: ~40,000
- ▶ Modern protocol: BinkP over TCP/IP
- ▶ Works without live connections
- ▶ LovlyNet: our own FTN