<blockquote>
  <p>When a node requests one of it's neighbours for a list of it's peers, that node responds with a list of all of it's neighbours.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>No it doesn't. It responds with list of nodes that its aware of being claimed exist.  It likely isn't connected to any of the nodes it returns and probably has never connected to many of them. Many of them may not even be real. (though some of them will be, because it does make an effort to include at least some that it has previously connected to)</p>

<p>There is no direct way to get information about a node's peers, and ways to do so are considered a security compromise (if not the most cosmically critical one).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-19T11:27:42.447Z
As part of some experimentation I'm doing, I am trying to find out which one of my neighbors is the most connected to i.e has the most connections to it. Is there any way that I can confirm how many connections a neighboring node has?
DonalDraper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-18T02:53:33.213Z
2019-02-18T03:47:07.220Z
2019-02-18T03:47:07.220Z
G. Maxwell
<p>It returns some plausible peers, not all of its peers. </p>

<p>You have no way of knowing any specific details about them, if they’re sybil, not operational, or not useful. The software tries to work out what is most optimal for outgoing connections based on its own criteria, and doesnt trust this information for anything besides a hint towards where other peers are located. </p>

<p>There is no optimization towards finding peers which are “better connected”, closer in latency any similar criteria. To optimize for latency for example would allow for attacks where you surround a node with a swathe or lower latency peers you control. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-18T02:15:44.080Z
2019-02-18T02:15:44.080Z
Claris
<p>When a node requests one of it's neighbours for a list of it's peers, that node responds with a list of all of it's neighbours. I'm just wondering is there a way to confirm that those nodes are actually his neighbours and not random/bad nodes?</p>

<p>Or is there an easier way to determine which of your neighbours is the most connected i.e has the most connections to it?</p>

<network><peers><p2p>
How to confirm how many peers a node has?
DonalDraper
# How to confirm how many peers a node has?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-02-17)

When a node requests one of it's neighbours for a list of it's peers, that node responds with a list of all of it's neighbours. I'm just wondering is there a way to confirm that those nodes are actually his neighbours and not random/bad nodes?

Or is there an easier way to determine which of your neighbours is the most connected i.e has the most connections to it?

**Tags:** network, peers, p2p


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-02-18. Score: 6

> When a node requests one of it's neighbours for a list of it's peers, that node responds with a list of all of it's neighbours.

No it doesn't. It responds with list of nodes that its aware of being claimed exist. It likely isn't connected to any of the nodes it returns and probably has never connected to many of them. Many of them may not even be real. (though some of them will be, because it does make an effort to include at least some that it has previously connected to)

There is no direct way to get information about a node's peers, and ways to do so are considered a security compromise (if not the most cosmically critical one).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: As part of some experimentation I'm doing, I am trying to find out which one of my neighbors is the most connected to i.e has the most connections to it. Is there any way that I can confirm how many connections a neighboring node has?  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2019-02-18. Score: 4

It returns some plausible peers, not all of its peers.

You have no way of knowing any specific details about them, if they’re sybil, not operational, or not useful. The software tries to work out what is most optimal for outgoing connections based on its own criteria, and doesnt trust this information for anything besides a hint towards where other peers are located.

There is no optimization towards finding peers which are “better connected”, closer in latency any similar criteria. To optimize for latency for example would allow for attacks where you surround a node with a swathe or lower latency peers you control.


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