# Response: Any-to-Any Connectivity in the Internet

DevFeed: [Response: Any-to-Any Connectivity in the Internet](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/response-any-to-any-connectivity-in-the-internet-11156.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.ipspace.net/2025/03/response-end-to-end-connectivity/>)

Published: 2025-03-27T06:45:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [ipSpace.net blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/ipspace-net-blog.md>)

Topics: [Internet](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/internet.md>), [client](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/client.md>), [networking](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/networking.md>), [firewalls](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/firewalls.md>)

Tags: [firewalls](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/firewalls.md>), [internet](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/internet.md>), [ipv6](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ipv6.md>), [nat](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/nat.md>), [protocol](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/protocol.md>)

## AI overview

The article responds to criticism of claims about the rise of NAT and argues that NATs and firewalls contributed to the Internet's client/server asymmetry. It contends that early IP networking generally provided any-to-any connectivity, while the client/server split emerged as lower-end personal computers became common and NAT gained acceptance as a pragmatic boundary between internal and public networks.

## Source excerpt

Bob left a lengthy comment arguing with the (somewhat black-and-white) claims I made in the Rise of NAT podcast. Let's start with the any-to-any connectivity: From my young millennial point of view, the logic is reversed: it is because of NATs and firewalls that the internet became so asymmetrical (client/server) just like the Minitel was designed (yes, I am French), whereas the Internet (and later the web, although a client/server protocol, was meant for everyone to be a client and a server) was designed to be more balanced. Let's start with the early Internet. It had no peer-to-peer applications. It connected a few large computers (mainframes) that could act as servers but also allowed terminal-based user access and thus ran per-user clients. Read more ...