- AMPRNet / HamNet routing is quite complicated for a non-IT guy. BGP
requires huge equipment and skills. IPIP requires hacking protocol redirect on Internet boxes. Those are not easy things for people operating a voice repeater or hotspot. They just build a Pi image, plug the machine, and it works. Why should they bother with complex addressing ?
We have quite some repeaters that are connected via AMPRnet. We normally use MikroTik routers. I do not consider these "huge equipment" and they are not difficult to configure with BGP. I have some example configs for setting up an endpoint with L2TP/IPsec tunnel to our gateway router and using BGP to advertise their own subnet. This is much easier to get going than IPIP, for example there is no need to touch the existing internet router (open ports/protocols not required). This even makes it suitable for installation on buildings where the owner may make available some guest internet access but would not want you to tweak their network to pass IPIP. The advantage of using BGP even in this trivial case is that the network can now be extended when the opportunity arises without having another hurdle of complexity. A WiFi link to another station can be added, e.g. in some cases people have an internet connection at an amateur nearby the repeater, and then a WiFi link to the repeater itself.
I would be all for rolling out such a system worldwide to replace the IPIP mesh. Routers (e.g. MikroTik CHR that can run as a VPS) in datacenters all over the world interconnected with a static tunnel mesh and offering VPN service for local amateurs to connect, and routing using BGP on private AS (this only routes AMPRnet, not full internet). In different places those routers could have the AMPRnet subnet(s) for that region announced on internet, like we do for 44.137.0.0/16 and others do for other country networks. And each of those can offer different VPN technologies so you are able to follow the trend of the day without having to do a migration in the entire network.
Rob PE1CHL