Going on a cruise. Can I pair 2 phones to a mesh unit? Or is it one phone per mesh unit?
1 Like
It’s one paired phone at a time. Your phone can pair and unpair from multiple devices, or you can swap GTMs between phones, but no more than one at a time.
2 Likes
@faulk28 what is your use-case, exactly?
If you have 2-3 hikers traveling in a close proximity small group shouldn’t they be able to share a single goTenna?
1 Like
Why wouldn’t you have either everyone have their own goTenna or one person be the designated goTenna handler? Trying to share one GTM unit with people having multiple phones, all wanting to send/receive their own messages with their own devices, seems overly cumbersome to me.
While you can pair a GTM with multiple devices, one at a time, I’m not sure that it will continue to receive messages for every GID that was ever associated with it. Even so, you’d have to coordinate turning devices on and off since it can only pair with one phone at a time.
1 Like
Another issue here is that your account info is tied to a single email address. If you have a throwaway email you use for this, it might work to play tag-team and hand off the GTM to all those others, who would need to be sharing that account. However, many people’s email address and password are somehow sensitive, enough so you wouldn’t ordinarily do such sharing with others. And you’d still need to pair and unpair between phones to really share rather than simply being able to shout at someone that you have received their message.
1 Like
@alliekbean @faulk28 @danielagotenna
I mentioned this idea around a year or more ago. I think it would be an effective way to get friends interested in Gotenna Mesh by giving them a little taste of its functionality.
The best way to implement it would be to utilize Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity framework. The Gotenna Mesh device might not be able to support simultaneous multiple Bluetooth connections, but the iPhone easily can.
Using this method. The Gotenna Mesh owners iPhones would become a bridge between the other users iPhones and the Gotenna Mesh network.
Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity framework not only uses Bluetooth to make its connections. It also leverages nearby available WiFi networks.
The lead iOS device that’s connected to the Gotenna Mesh and the various users without GoTenna’s can potentially connect and participate in the Gotenna Mesh network even when beyond Bluetooth range.
This capability could be very useful in emergency situations when only a handful of users have Gotenna Mesh devices yet many many more people need to send critical messages.
Considering this SDK has been available for quite sometime I would think it could be easily added to the Gotenna Mesh iOS app.
Users without an actual Gotenna Mesh device would have to download the app and create an account just like everyone else.
I personally have quite a few friends and family that have been on the fence about investing in Gotenna Mesh hardware due to its price point when compared to FRS. Obviously Gotenna Mesh is better in almost every regard. However for many these reasons are not enough to convince them to purchase.
Adding Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity framework to the Gotenna app and allowing Gotenna users to share access with friends / family could easily be the extra push to convince people to purchase Gotenna Mesh devices for themselves.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/multipeerconnectivity
2 Likes
Maybe this is more an area for the SDK? Writing an app that shares a single GID but keeps track of who is sending/receiving messages for different users.
3 Likes
I made kind of a similar feature request (#3), I think. I like your idea of extending the mesh network between the phones in the group though via the app - no extra hardware needed.
Here is my post: iOS app v.5.3.2 is here!
At least GoTenna developers are open to our ideas, hope they adopt some of our ideas in upcoming updates.
1 Like