I’ve been anxiously awaiting delivery of my gotenna mesh units, hoping to take them on an upcoming trip and cruise around AK. The most recent word I’d rec’d was that I could expect delivery sometime in August. Our flight to the cruise leaves very early from the NYC area the morning of 2 Aug, so it seemed likely they’d be delivered while we were away.
After making mention of that in another thread, and without asking for any priority treatment, one of the gotenna support folks saw my post and went the extra mile to get my units shipped in time for us to hopefully receive them before we leave. I was impressed with that, as such proactive concern for customers has been rare in my experience. (At this point, I’d only expect a delay in the event of extremely bad weather or road closures).
I’m now waiting in patient excitement for delivery.
I’m not sure I should mention names, (the folks involved know who they are), so I’ll offer a big “THANK YOU SO MUCH” to gotenna support.
I wanted to comment that each cruise ship is constructed of of different materials and so we have seen many varying results. Most recently we had a Mesh beta tester who used goTenna Mesh on one of the world’s largest cruise ships called the Explorer of the Seas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Explorer_of_the_Seas).
He was able to reliably communicate with his kids inside a theater on Deck 3, from a restaurant on Deck 14. (See diagram below.)
That being said, there’s no telling how it’ll do on another ship – laws of physics will dictate that but here are some tips. If you’re not getting the range you want, first try having both units outside of rooms/cabins (i.e, go out on deck) to ensure maximum range possible is attained. A second option might be to hide Mesh units as relay nodes in strategic locations on the ship.
It’s important to remember that each ship is constructed of different materials so your results may vary. But of course you should be able to use them when you dock on-shore too!
Yeah… I’m a mesh kickstarter and you are spot on. The CS here is through the roof. These folks know how to do it and it’s an insanely great sign. I mentioned a FW issue (that later resolved itself), and within 1 hour i had direct contact from the CCO/CFO/CEO/FCC/whatever their three letter awesome title is (You rock D). Later that day a lead engineer emailed me directly to follow up.
It’s an awesome product… but this community interaction is really why im inclined to tinker.
T-shirts…an interesting idea to let others know they can “mesh around with you”. (pun intended).
As far as T-shirts go, I adhere to the philosophy that if some manufacturer wants me to walk around “advertising” for them by wearing something with the their logo emblazoned on it, I believe they should pay me for doing their advertising, or at least give me their product at a very reduced price. However, in the case of goTenna Mesh, I’d be willing to forego that in order to know that there is someone else nearby who has the ability to relay for/with me and extend my range a bit.
With that in mind, I personally would prefer any indicator that I’m a goTenna user to be noticeable, but unobtrusive. Example: rather than a T-shirt with full-frontal or full-back wording “shouting” that I’m a goTenna user/owner, I’d prefer something a bit more discreet, like maybe the logo on a medallion of some sort that could serve as a zipper-pull, or a T-shirt with a small logo near/on where a pocket would normally be located, Other ideas that might be a bit discrete but noticeable are key chains/rings, window-stickers for vehicles, hats, etc. Personally, I’d be most likely to use zipper-pulls, window-stickers, and maybe a hat/ball-cap with the logo.
I also realize some folks might want to “shout” that they’re serving as available relay points, so full-frontal T-shirts should also be available, with the logo and an identifiable slogan, e.g. “MESH AROUND WITH ME, PLEASE”, or “I MESH AROUND WITH OTHERS”, etc. Not only would those let others know relay points are available without having to refer to the app, it would also serve as advertising.
My mesh units arrived today, and are charging as I type this. Hoping to test them before we leave for AK.
Also recently got a GoPro Hero 5 Black action-cam and hope to send some photos/clips once I’m familiar with the camera.
Thanks again to all who contributed to securing delivery before our flight.
Awesome! Don’t forget to download maps of Alaska (and other areas you might be in during your cruise) before you go off-grid. (Our offline maps are usually just easier to download on solid wifi.)
yeap. Another early KSer here. We are VERY lucky to have the team we have behind us. My first post was a FW error and i had (no kidding) responses directly from CEO and head engineers within an hour… At first i thought i had automated replies… nope it was legit peeps trying to get as much info right away (also, Daniel apparently doesn’t sleep as her direct email was at like 1 am EST).
I have ZERO doubt this is company that means to push a quality product.
Well, we’re back from our AK cruise. However, as (bad) luck would have it, my cell phone (an LG G3 from AT&T), which had been working very reliably since I got it, starting acting-up on the 2nd day of our 13-day trip, before we even boarded the ship.
I ended up suffering from what I’ve since learned has been a somewhat common problem with the G3, known as the “flickering” or “blacked-out” screen. It would take multiple tries to get it powered-up, and the screen would become all “staticy” then just go black. Other times it would start to power-up, then shut down then re-start by itself. Sometimes it would eventually get to a point where I could actually use the app, and in those few instances it did work on the ship, sometimes even with 2 or 3 decks between devices. (There were 10 decks on the ship). The “longest” reach I can recall was when I was in our stateroom on deck 4 near the rear third of the ship and my spouse was in an enclosed area of deck 9 about mid-ship.
After a couple of days of repeated and lengthy attempts, it got so frustrating I eventually gave up on using the phone at all. I did send out a shout to find out if there were any other goTennas on board, but got no reply. Unfortunately, I can’t say for sure if that was because of my phone’s bad behavior, or if there weren’t any others on board.
So, apologies for not sending any pix, as I was left to work with a GoPro and a small pocket HD camera, which I was able to work with a little by using a wi-fi only tablet and OTG accessories, but because the goTenna app is meant for phones, I didn’t try using it from the tablet.
I’ve since replaced the phone with a “Samsung S8 Active”. We have another trip planned in November for the Sedona area of AZ and will be taking the goTennas with us. It won’t be the same as being on a ship, but we may end up having occasion to use them then. Meanwhile, I have mine constantly powered-up/connected to a USB power source and turned on at home, so does that qualify me as a “static” site? If so, I’m hesitant to “put it on the mesh map” because we may take them with us when going out from time-to-time.
Again, a big THANK YOU for getting me the devices before we departed. I was really looking forward to using them more but fate (and LG) spoiled my plans.
Sorry to hear about your LG G3. Its always a good time to upgrade to a new phone
Its good to hear that you were able to communicate from Deck 4 to Deck 9. Have you tried to use Walkie Talkies on cruise ships before? If yes, how does goTenna Mesh compare in terms of performance?
This was our 1st cruise, and the only walkie-talkies I have are FRS or whatever the “family” band is, which, based on reviews I’d read, do not perform well on ships and usually have shorter range on-board. That, plus having to carry another device in addition to a cell phone would probably not have sat well with my spouse. The poor performance of FRS and the ability to relay messages are exactly why I bought the goTennas.
Even with the restricted use of my phone and the little use we got from them, I’m happy with the goTennas. They worked as expected;
Am now considering some as Christmas gifts. How is your supply? Are you likely to have enough for a holiday rush? Might there be a “black Friday” or cyber-Monday change in price? Or should I order now?
So great that you’re happy with your Mesh devices!
Hey there! We’ll be out of U.S. / Canada backorder by early-mid September for everyone who’s ordered so far (via Kickstarter or on gotenna.com). (Note: We’ll be out of US/CAN Kickstarter backorder sooner, by end of this month.)
We should be fine in time for holiday rush! You can order now or later — don’t forget that your units came with a discount code (including in our thank-you note) for our early customers (and their friends) that’s valid 'til EOY so we can get this mesh network off the ground!
You can order now or later — don’t forget that your units came with a discount code (including in our thank-you note) for our early customers (and their friends) that’s valid 'til EOY so we can get this mesh network off the ground!