Long range (LoRa) mesh networks are interesting alternatives to communication, especially when state actors are blocking internet access for various reasons.
More details about meshtastic: https://meshtastic.org/
About its current state of encryption: https://meshtastic.org/docs/overview/encryption
The documentation is a little lacking. What exactly is the range of each decide? I see the record of 100+ miles but can I easily connect people within a few miles?
What exactly does this do? Is it just a messaging app?
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Dude this is a great response. I’ve spent the last hour trying to piece together how it works and you nailed everything perfectly.
I’m a ham so familiar with radios and have been trying to setup some Wi-Fi links between friends but this seems a little more practical.
Is a few mile range possible with houses etc in the way? We’re all about a mile away from each other, although I may throw an antenna on top of my house (maybe 10m up)
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Funny. I have some Disc Lite 5s that I’ve yet to get going due to difficulty of setup. We did have plans of a little Wi-Fi mesh setup to setup a WAN.
This would just be for fun between a few friends and the price point is pretty attractive. Plus the ham in me is a little excited about messing with antennas.
I’ve done my little stupid tests. I have 2 Heltec LoRa 32 V3s both with the stock antenna. Inside the city I can get 500m on LongFast and 700m on VeryLongSlow. The other node was placed inside a building on the 1st floor.
But that’s obviously a terrible test.