diff --git a/community.list b/community.list
index 181e015..64f3658 100644
--- a/community.list
+++ b/community.list
@@ -13,15 +13,13 @@ netleo
 ntop[0-1][0-9]
 #
 #   *  Note that fixed-name communities may not contain one of the following characters
-#      . ^ $  * + ? [ ] \
+#      . * + ? [ ] \
 #      as otherwise, they are interpreted as regular expression
 #
 #   *  Only fixed-name communities are supported for header encryption (-H)
 #
 #   *  Regular expression support the following placeholders
-#      '.'        Dot, matches any character                           (meaningless, as full matches only)
-#      '^'        Start anchor, matches beginning of string            (meaningless, as full matches only)
-#      '$'        End anchor, matches end of string
+#      '.'        Dot, matches any character
 #      '*'        Asterisk, match zero or more (greedy)
 #      '+'        Plus, match one or more (greedy)
 #      '?'        Question, match zero or one (non-greedy)
diff --git a/src/n2n_regex.c b/src/n2n_regex.c
index 627e0f4..6bae9b5 100644
--- a/src/n2n_regex.c
+++ b/src/n2n_regex.c
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@
  * Supports:
  * ---------
  *   '.'        Dot, matches any character
- *   '^'        Start anchor, matches beginning of string
- *   '$'        End anchor, matches end of string
+ *   '^'        Start anchor, matches beginning of string -- NOTE: currently disabled (checking for full matches anyway)
+ *   '$'        End anchor, matches end of string         -- NOTE: currently disabled (checking for full matches anyway)
  *   '*'        Asterisk, match zero or more (greedy)
  *   '+'        Plus, match one or more (greedy)
  *   '?'        Question, match zero or one (non-greedy)
@@ -154,8 +154,8 @@ re_t re_compile(const char* pattern)
     switch (c)
     {
       /* Meta-characters: */
-      case '^': {    re_compiled[j].type = BEGIN;           } break;
-      case '$': {    re_compiled[j].type = END;             } break;
+//    case '^': {    re_compiled[j].type = BEGIN;           } break; <-- disabled (always full matches)
+//    case '$': {    re_compiled[j].type = END;             } break; <-- disabled (always full matches)
       case '.': {    re_compiled[j].type = DOT;             } break;
       case '*': {    re_compiled[j].type = STAR;            } break;
       case '+': {    re_compiled[j].type = PLUS;            } break;
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ re_t re_compile(const char* pattern)
             case 's': {    re_compiled[j].type = WHITESPACE;       } break;
             case 'S': {    re_compiled[j].type = NOT_WHITESPACE;   } break;
 
-            /* Escaped character, e.g. '.' or '$' */
+            /* Escaped character, e.g. '.' */
             default:
             {
               re_compiled[j].type = CHAR;
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ re_t re_compile(const char* pattern)
 
 void re_print(regex_t* pattern)
 {
-  const char* types[] = { "UNUSED", "DOT", "BEGIN", "END", "QUESTIONMARK", "STAR", "PLUS", "CHAR", "CHAR_CLASS", "INV_CHAR_CLASS", "DIGIT", "NOT_DIGIT", "ALPHA", "NOT_ALPHA", "WHITESPACE", "NOT_WHITESPACE", "BRANCH" };
+  const char* types[] = { "UNUSED", "DOT", "BEGIN", "END", "QUESTIONMARK", "STAR", "PLUS", "CHAR", "CHAR_CLASS", "INV_CHAR_CLASS", "DIGIT", "NOT_DIGIT", "ALPHA", "NOT_ALPHA", "WHITESPACE" , "NOT_WHITESPACE", /* "BRANCH" */ };
 
   int i;
   int j;
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ static int matchstar(regex_t p, regex_t* pattern, const char* text, int* matchle
       return 1;
     (*matchlength)--;
   }
-  
+
   *matchlength = prelen;
   return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/sn.c b/src/sn.c
index 2470e8f..f19bfb8 100644
--- a/src/sn.c
+++ b/src/sn.c
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ static int load_allowed_sn_community(n2n_sn_t *sss, char *path) {
     has_net = ( sscanf (line, "%s %s", cmn_str, net_str) == 2 );
 
     // if it contains typical characters...
-    if(NULL != strpbrk(cmn_str, ".^$*+?[]\\")) {
+    if(NULL != strpbrk(cmn_str, ".*+?[]\\")) {
       // ...it is treated as regular expression
       re = (struct sn_community_regular_expression*)calloc(1,sizeof(struct sn_community_regular_expression));
       if (re) {