8 ms·

In the LoRA/radio device sense, Meshtastic[1] is probably the easiest to get started with. It's the biggest player in the space, has devices that come pre-inst

by agent86 8mo ago

In the LoRA/radio device sense, Meshtastic[1] is probably the easiest to get started with. It's the biggest player in the space, has devices that come pre-installed and configured, the most likely chance of making contact with someone else, etc. MeshCore[2] is the other major player. It's newer and tends to have been adopted by communities that have run into issues with large Meshtastic networks. If you meant PC-based mesh networking, I'll leave someone more knowledgeable to speak about that :). [1] - https://meshtastic.org/ https://meshtastic.org/ [2] - https://meshcore.co.uk/ https://meshcore.co.uk/

blep-arsh 8mo ago
I've had some experience with both Meshtastic and Reticulum, and Meshtastic software was mostly unusable for me even with 3-node networks. E.g. a node sends a message and gets a successful delivery notification from the receiver but the receiver fails to display the message to the user. Reticulum was mostly working fine. Haven't tried MeshCore yet.
- fragmede 8mo ago
  Meshtastic also doesn't really... work. Let me qualify that. You can get a couple of nodes for cheap, and you can (with a bit of work) get messages to go between them. The problem is coordination between nodes is required for the network as a whole to work. Specifically, user adjustable node -local settings can overwhelm the network for everyone else around you. Defcon "solves" this by providing firmware to flash with preconfigured settings tuned for the event. But hopefully this makes the problem obvious - in some other scenario that you might hope to use them - and TBC, my goals for a long range, non-cellular network mesh network are for connectivity during a hurricane/flood/firestorm/earthquake/tornado/etc. An open implementation is preferred, because it drives down the cost of hardware and lets users purchase the grade of hardware they want. But if it doesn't work, an imperfect proprietary solution(s) available now > hypothetical perfect future solution.
  - mytailorisrich 8mo ago
    Lora, especially on regulated bands that are the most used ones, is designed for very small, very infrequent messages. It isn't suited for real-time chat (nevermind secure) and so I think you can't really make it work while respecting transmission regulations. There are lora modules that work on the 2.4GHz ISM band but then you probably need to consider whether Bluetooth is not a simpler choice if range is not the no. 1 concern.
    - BSDobelix 8mo ago
      >It isn't suited for real-time chat (nevermind secure) It is encrypted on private channels and direct messages. >and so I think you can't really make it work while respecting transmission regulations. I don't know from where your information's are from, but for sure not from reality. Voice encryption/scramble on Amateur-Band's is not allowed, everything else is ok.
      - mytailorisrich 8mo ago
        I know what features it claims to have. The question is how well this can work on bands (US915, EU868) that very strictly limit the amount of time a device may transmit. IMHO you can't really have interactive chat on a mesh network over lora in those bands.
        BSDobelix 8mo ago
        >I know what features it claims to have. Yeah...no i don't think so. >IMHO you can't really have interactive chat on a mesh network over lora in those bands. Devices allow 10% Airtime on ISM here (EU) that's about 300 messages (with 255 characters) per hour, and yes interactive chat is possible with around 20 seconds of lag. EDIT: I stop here, so much half knowledge that sounds educated but is in fact just wrong and TBH not even sure if i talk to a selfhosted AI. Have a good Day.
        mytailorisrich 8mo ago
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
MarsIronPI 8mo ago
My dream would be to have something like Yggdrasil[0] over some kind of mesh-based transport. Yggdrasil already does a good job with routing, it just needs a mesh-based transport IMO. [0]: https://yggdrasil-network.github.io https://yggdrasil-network.github.io
jkingsman 8mo ago
Big fan of MeshCore; been using it recently and it Just Works. Especially where I am in the USA Pacific Northwest, the mesh is always hopping with conversation. I have run into delivery issues a single digit number of times over hundreds of messages.

by agent86 8mo ago

blep-arsh 8mo ago

I've had some experience with both Meshtastic and Reticulum, and Meshtastic software was mostly unusable for me even with 3-node networks. E.g. a node sends a message and gets a successful delivery notification from the receiver but the receiver fails to display the message to the user. Reticulum was mostly working fine. Haven't tried MeshCore yet.

fragmede 8mo ago
Meshtastic also doesn't really... work. Let me qualify that. You can get a couple of nodes for cheap, and you can (with a bit of work) get messages to go between them. The problem is coordination between nodes is required for the network as a whole to work. Specifically, user adjustable node -local settings can overwhelm the network for everyone else around you. Defcon "solves" this by providing firmware to flash with preconfigured settings tuned for the event. But hopefully this makes the problem obvious - in some other scenario that you might hope to use them - and TBC, my goals for a long range, non-cellular network mesh network are for connectivity during a hurricane/flood/firestorm/earthquake/tornado/etc. An open implementation is preferred, because it drives down the cost of hardware and lets users purchase the grade of hardware they want. But if it doesn't work, an imperfect proprietary solution(s) available now > hypothetical perfect future solution.
- mytailorisrich 8mo ago
  Lora, especially on regulated bands that are the most used ones, is designed for very small, very infrequent messages. It isn't suited for real-time chat (nevermind secure) and so I think you can't really make it work while respecting transmission regulations. There are lora modules that work on the 2.4GHz ISM band but then you probably need to consider whether Bluetooth is not a simpler choice if range is not the no. 1 concern.
  - BSDobelix 8mo ago
    >It isn't suited for real-time chat (nevermind secure) It is encrypted on private channels and direct messages. >and so I think you can't really make it work while respecting transmission regulations. I don't know from where your information's are from, but for sure not from reality. Voice encryption/scramble on Amateur-Band's is not allowed, everything else is ok.
    - mytailorisrich 8mo ago
      I know what features it claims to have. The question is how well this can work on bands (US915, EU868) that very strictly limit the amount of time a device may transmit. IMHO you can't really have interactive chat on a mesh network over lora in those bands.
      - BSDobelix 8mo ago
        >I know what features it claims to have. Yeah...no i don't think so. >IMHO you can't really have interactive chat on a mesh network over lora in those bands. Devices allow 10% Airtime on ISM here (EU) that's about 300 messages (with 255 characters) per hour, and yes interactive chat is possible with around 20 seconds of lag. EDIT: I stop here, so much half knowledge that sounds educated but is in fact just wrong and TBH not even sure if i talk to a selfhosted AI. Have a good Day.
        mytailorisrich 8mo ago
deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]

MarsIronPI 8mo ago

My dream would be to have something like Yggdrasil[0] over some kind of mesh-based transport. Yggdrasil already does a good job with routing, it just needs a mesh-based transport IMO. [0]: https://yggdrasil-network.github.io https://yggdrasil-network.github.io

jkingsman 8mo ago

Big fan of MeshCore; been using it recently and it Just Works. Especially where I am in the USA Pacific Northwest, the mesh is always hopping with conversation. I have run into delivery issues a single digit number of times over hundreds of messages.