It sucks how everything feels like a toy. I think meshtastic is the closest thing to a “product”. They made a bunch of bad architectural decisions that are haunting them now like how nodes broadcast its info.
Because they are toys. For real work it makes so much more sense to use the internet. With the new satellite tech you can reach the internet everywhere.
Mesh radio is a fun way to chat with radio nerds in your area. Not a serious infrastructure.
So what’s the real solution for when Starlink is too expensive and too high power? I really want to solution for remote mountaineering communication that’s not just GMRS. And what about remote weather sensors? I really don’t need a full internet connection just to send a tiny payload every 5 minutes.
Meshtastic should be the obvious answer for this but in my limited experience the app(s) and code are buggy on even the most typical hardware. Wish it wasn’t the case but it is.
We may see a day when the internet is not available, or when interacting with it represents an unacceptable risk. It's a good idea to know how to set up your own.
I've been tinkering with the tech to make city-wide flrc meshes joined together over the internet, my estimates are that it should be at least able to support thousands of users per region.
It doesn't surprise me. This is a deep networking problem and very few CS people know anything about networking or how to design clean, fast, low-overhead network protocols and systems.
If IP were designed today the packets would have 500+ bytes of plain text JSON as headers and the spec would support hundreds of extensions.
And also them calling out Andy for they key? Stupid.
The official Android app (blessed by the "community") still has in-app purchases up. It gates the remote repeater management, afair one of the things Andy's MeshOS app for TDeck is gating.
The underlying protocol is open source, but the companion app isn't.
Yes, in the current version of Meshcore app it's possible to manage the repeater without the key, after a wait period, but that changed recently and they still nudge towards in-app purchase.
Similarly Andy's firmware* can be used for free, without purchasing a key, unless the user wants the full functionality.
*is it even his, considering it's been AI-generated?
A big mess. Also the network is a big mess, now I understand why.
It sucks how everything feels like a toy. I think meshtastic is the closest thing to a “product”. They made a bunch of bad architectural decisions that are haunting them now like how nodes broadcast its info.
Because they are toys. For real work it makes so much more sense to use the internet. With the new satellite tech you can reach the internet everywhere.
Mesh radio is a fun way to chat with radio nerds in your area. Not a serious infrastructure.
So what’s the real solution for when Starlink is too expensive and too high power? I really want to solution for remote mountaineering communication that’s not just GMRS. And what about remote weather sensors? I really don’t need a full internet connection just to send a tiny payload every 5 minutes.
Meshtastic should be the obvious answer for this but in my limited experience the app(s) and code are buggy on even the most typical hardware. Wish it wasn’t the case but it is.
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We may see a day when the internet is not available, or when interacting with it represents an unacceptable risk. It's a good idea to know how to set up your own.
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> not a serious infrastructure
I've been tinkering with the tech to make city-wide flrc meshes joined together over the internet, my estimates are that it should be at least able to support thousands of users per region.
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It doesn't surprise me. This is a deep networking problem and very few CS people know anything about networking or how to design clean, fast, low-overhead network protocols and systems.
If IP were designed today the packets would have 500+ bytes of plain text JSON as headers and the spec would support hundreds of extensions.
Is there a better designed mesh project like those two getting built that you know of? Reticulum?
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Have you seen that IPvwhatever proposal from a handful of weeks back that has OAuth/OIDC in packet spec
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Usability wise Meshcore is better due to static routing and enabling (far) longer paths.
And also them calling out Andy for they key? Stupid.
The official Android app (blessed by the "community") still has in-app purchases up. It gates the remote repeater management, afair one of the things Andy's MeshOS app for TDeck is gating.
The underlying protocol is open source, but the companion app isn't.
Yes, in the current version of Meshcore app it's possible to manage the repeater without the key, after a wait period, but that changed recently and they still nudge towards in-app purchase.
Similarly Andy's firmware* can be used for free, without purchasing a key, unless the user wants the full functionality.
*is it even his, considering it's been AI-generated?
A big mess. Also the network is a big mess, now I understand why.