Posted by cuu508 4 days ago
Would love to see something like this for Bluetooth/wifi. Maybe Wifi Aware will be that.
I think local-first networking is going to be an important part of local-first apps.
LoRa itself is sub-mbps though.
Can a wifi mesh with no internet connection be made between different routers / access points?
Really I am wondering if people cooperating by operating wifi areas t could expand quickly in more populated places.
Perhaps the trick would be to run them all the wifi networks fully open?
Yeah basically how does one create a city wide mesh with a few hundred people involved?
Does this mean Meshtastic is evolving toward a more general purpose system with multiple interfaces (not only LoRa) and other applications (beyond messaging) ?
It seems like it's really only missing a few things.
The big things needed for IoT, as I see them:
* The ability to use it as an Arduino library
* Global routing without preconfiguring the relays, as in Amazon Sidewalk or The Things Network
* Some more generic abstraction for telemetry and control, as in Mobus
* The ability for a firmware to define custom config options that the app can set(Something like a JSON schema, maybe local only because of bandwidth)
I actually started a few discussion threads on some of these, and did a few proofs of concept for the P2P global routing.
But I don't particularly want to spend much time on it unless it seems pretty clear it might actually get merged one day.
Also, a lot of nodes tend to flood their battery state for the entire network, which uses up the airtime for something that could be more important like routing information, and also wastes their battery.
Even though things like AlohaNet have been around for years, Meshtastic chose to reinvent the wheel. The primary difference is that Meshcore started with "routing" first, and then save the airtime and therefore battery for routing messages.
geerlingguy did a video on it, and it's highly worth while checking it out. I think he was kind enough to use the term "Beta".
Supposedly the new firmware from Meshtastic fixes a lot of this, but it's gonna be a while for people to upgrade, and I'm not too keen on wasting time again on something if it's not fit to work for it's stated purpose originally.
Meshtastic can also communicate over long distances by relaying through other nodes.
So what's the difference?
MeshCore started out with the concept of static router nodes as well as clients, so it performs better if there is a router nearby to use, otherwise it falls back to flooding.
It was something like this:
1. Router repeats first
2. Weakest repeating device by signal strength next
What if both of those options are in a basement, or say have a damaged antenna, or are miles in the opposite direction of where you want the signal to go?
By simply putting up a router somewhere you might be severely impacting the comms of people at your edge.
I struggled to get messages delivered with Meshtastic in my location. I'll try Meshcore when I get some time.
You can read between the lines here.
I believe the most important is to keep an option to be able to setup gateways between the different networks and if possible the messaging systems.
Like for example yggdrasil, tor, I2P dn42 and the clearnet are interconnected. What is really cool.
Have folks ever tired to even communicate with the devs? They are the most toxic group of individuals that I have ever encountered. Saying that they act like children is insulting to little kids.
As for files, not possible out of the box for most people, but tools like ATAK-Civ can make use of 'data packages' and send them over radio. I've used it to successfully send memes and map files in testing.
So if you want to move your home videos from one place to another, or if you want to have a wireless security camera with 1080p streamed video, it's the wrong choice.
But if you want to have a battery powered motion detector + environment sensor in an off grid shed 1km that way, LoRa is perfect for that.
For example: I have a Meshtastic device in my car with a small 18650 battery + plugged in to the car's USB that charges it when it's turned on. It reports the car's location and internal temperature to a Meshtastic channel. It also works as a router so if I'm inside a store with my T1000-E, it can't reach the local relay, BUT it can reach my car, which in turn can reach the relay, which again is in range of my home node - which is connected to Home Assistant.
Yes, I could just send an IM, but where's the fun in that? =)
It is intentionally designed for longer range, with lower datarates, with lower power consumption. It's in the name. "LOng RAnge".
Not to be too annoying but "Radio like LoRa" reads to me as "microwave" which includes "WiFi" which is plausibly something you use for file transfer all the time. So some more clarification would be helpful.
If power goes out, or the internet, or both, I can still contact my entire family spread all around my city, because I gave them all a node to set up in their attic / on their roof. Additionally, they all got a t-deck charged and ready to go.
When shit hits the fan, at least we can find each other.
so for example you can use esp32 lora node not only for lora low bandwidth comms but also high speed wifi transfers, for example pictures of intruders !
no just joking.