Hi @Alon1! It’s been 30 days and wanted to check in the status of the Mesh App update along with that new thread.
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I wouldn’t say that Gotenna Mesh is dead. I feel that it is DEFINITELY a useful product. But I also feel like there were expectations that were impossible to reach. The whole idea of an ad-hoc mesh formed by individual users sounds nice. But it faces stiff competition from cellular phone networks. With smartphones in the hands of virtually everyone and inexpensive plans allowing unlimited text messages basically universal, devices such as Gotenna don’t really have a chance - at least as an alternative to the cell network when the cell network is perfectly available. This is especially true when you consider its limitations and the fact that it requires an additional device to purchase, carry around, and keep charged.
Where Gotenna really SHINES is in situations where phone service doesn’t exist. This, of course, includes situations where the cell network may be overcrowded and, therefore, unavailable. It also includes off grid use in areas where there is no available cell network. This can include crowded locales like music festivals, Burning Man, etc. And it also includes outdoor recreation such as camping, hiking, and hunting as well as work sites in remote areas. Many of us may use our Gotennas while doing these sorts of things. And for these things, Gotenna works well. But when people get back home, the Gotennas go back into storage and people go back to the more convenient option of cell service for communication.
It is likely for THIS reason that Gotenna has decided to put more emphasis on the Gotenna Pro. It is simply more worth their while to focus on uses where they don’t need to compete with cell networks.
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An actual mesh could have developed if it had been easier to run a stationary node.
No external antenna
No easy access to antenna connector
Not open source
No easy usb communication (desktop/rpi)
No turning back on when power resume (solar)
No stats on relayed packet.
No accessory to hold it upright.
ect…
For any of that outdoor remote communication we switched to Motorola Talkabout with Bluetooth feature. (T800)
It actually reach people about 50% further and is half the price. Un-thethred voice function is a nice bonus.
I’m willing to bet ~99.99% of the devices they sold have never meshed past point to point. Almost nobody actually end up using their product. If it wasn’t for the government funding they get for their expensive units they would have made room for a competitor to deliver.
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[quote=“T11, post:23, topic:7015, full:true”] An actual mesh could have developed if it had been easier to run a stationary node.
No external antenna
No easy access to antenna connector
Not open source
No easy usb communication (desktop/rpi)
No turning back on when power resume (solar)
No stats on relayed packet.
No accessory to hold it upright.
ect…
For any of that outdoor remote communication we switched to Motorola Talkabout with Bluetooth feature. (T800)
It actually reach people about 50% further and is half the price. Un-thethred voice function is a nice bonus.
I’m willing to bet ~99.99% of the devices they sold have never meshed past point to point. Almost nobody actually end up using their product. If it wasn’t for the government funding they get for their expensive units they would have made room for a competitor to deliver.
[/quote]
THIS has always been an issue I have had with Gotenna Mesh. And I made a post about this a couple of years back when I first bought my units. Gotenna Mesh would have a FAR better user created mesh network if they had dedicated nodes available rather than relying on others carrying around standard Gotenna units (which may not be ideally located at any one moment). Also, the standard Gotenna Mesh unit isn’t really ideal for use as a stationary node, and requires that you do a hack job to make it more suitable (ie by adding an external antenna).
If Gotenna could make a dedicated stationary node that can accommodate an external antenna and run on mains power and/or be more suitable for solar power, a mesh network would be FAR more feasible. Even if only a fraction of Gotenna owners bought them, such a unit could go a LONG ways toward making Gotenna Mesh a more robust communications tool. Imagine, for instance, just a few of these placed in strategic locations around Yosemite Valley. Coverage would actually be GREAT.
The T800 sounds like an interesting unit, particularly if voice communication is needed. The price also seems attractive. And I have to admit that there are certain situations where this is a better solution than Gotenna Mesh.
On the other hand, Gotenna Mesh DOES have its advantages over the T800. For one, the T800 doesn’t seem to get very good reviews when it comes to the text messaging feature (although it seems to be a competent voice radio). Based on reviews, Gotenna Mesh seems to be MUCH more robust as a text messaging tool (and text messaging has HUGE advantages over voice in certain situations). There is also a size and weight advantage with Gotenna Mesh. And there is the option of mesh networking, even if the nodes are simply placed by the user as a range extender. In the end, it is just a matter of what works better to fit your needs.
As for people using their Gotenna units, it is hard to say how many people actually ARE, and how often. As I said before, it is really a rather niche tool, not to be used for everyday use. Naturally, it is NOT going to be something that is used every day by many Gotenna users (except maybe for business use). As for meshing, I have sent messages through nodes. But I have to admit that they were always my own nodes, set specifically as range extenders. I have NEVER sent a message through a stranger’s node.
2 Likes
I think you are totally right. I think we want is something as effective as smartphone text messaging and a good GPS device. But with the range of at least 5 miles city/hill or no city/hills with out meshing. Longer with meshing.
2 Likes
Or come to think of it I think I just want a civilian version of the pro for use backpacking or at work. I’d be willing to pay a reasonable civilian price per device but not government waste price.
2 Likes
I am very disappointed with the lack of interest the company has in the gotenna mesh users. I have 4 of them and they still work and I use them but there have not been any upgrades or attempts to improve functionality.
It’s just a matter of time until they end up in the junk drawer for recycling and I definitely won’t be buying any more devices from them.
Vern
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Hi Vern, please check out our release notes from the July, 2020 v5.5 Mesh update.
I live less than a mile from their Downtown Brooklyn office. I assume in the office they must be running some relay nodes or have some employees living nearby doing the same at their own apartments. I have never once been able to ping, relay, or otherwise detect another gotenna mesh user. I figured for sure they would have a userbase in Brooklyn but I think this just exemplifies the problem – there is no user adoption so I have myself gotenna mesh bricks. My hope was to use this for SHTF use in a dense city. And maybe if that happens everyone will take their gotennas out of the drawer and light up the mesh network, but I cant risk my family’s safety on the hope this might happen when in reality there may just be no users at all.
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I think you’re looking at this wrong. Take care of your family first, set them up so they can communicate when they need to as that is a very doable solution. Having achieved that, you’ll be ready when the less prepared take their GTMs out of that proverbial drawer.
Also, keep in mind in a dense city, a mile is a long way, requiring multiple hops to achieve.
For as long as running a stationary node is not made easier, the public mesh isn’t going anywhere.
Also, keep in mind in a dense city, a mile is a long way, requiring multiple hops to achieve.
There are many strategic points with very larger coverage, ie. rooftops.
Hard to see how turning the power on, hitting the same button 3 times, then doing the same three pushes again is so complicated.
Admittedly, power reliability can be an issue (I know that well) but that’s external to the goTenna Mesh device itself.
Rooftop access in tall buildings is typically very restrictive. Good if you can get it, something to otherwise be worked around if you can’t. However, if I was concerned about my family in a crisis, working to get rooftop access is essential now. Have you taken this up with your building super?
In a disaster I think all the varieties of voice radios would have to be exhausted before enough GTM’s come out of the drawer to make useful network. FRS/GMRS, MURS, public and private truck mounted shortwave radios, CB, HAM, SAT phones etc are EVERYWHERE.
Well, sort of. And they are all mutually incompatible. More importantly, they all would suffer from significant bandwidth limitations in a disaster scenario when the increased traffic would lead to massive problems with interference, lack of user discipline, etc.
Power? You think that’s a problem for the rechargeable GTM? Try finding enough AA and AAA batteries in a disaster to power the many devices that rely on that, rather than on vehicle power.
Mesh networks are inherently robust and self-managing. Once up, they can sustain a level of traffic far in excess of voice radio.
Which is not to say that other-than-GTM-devices aren’t handy. They are, it’s just that you should always have a back-up if at all possible in a disaster. The goTenna Mesh is ideal for that.
Study for a few days and take the test to get a ham radio license.
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I’ve had personal access to a few rooftops, it’s really not hard to have them agree to drop something there if it doesn’t need power cables and constant servicing.
Someone should make MOAN that makes sense to purchase. I don’t have the patience to assemble one myself and would doubt how reliable it’d be.
Wow, I’ve had a look in the Hardware Mod community, and yes, project is dead.
Precisely my point. If you’re not willing to put the effort into such a low effort endeavor, then it’s something other than the GTM that’s the problem.
Not sure where you got that idea. Typically, it’s months between the need for human intervention, which I don’t see as “constant servicing.”
You’ll have to discuss this with the FCC. Currently a MOAN would not pass FCC review, so it’s not something goTenna can market to the public. It is a viable hack if you have some skills with the soldering iron and circuit boards… Off the shelf purchase will require a change in position at the FCC. This has all been stated before, but people still seem to think goTenna is holding out on the consumer for some reason I can only ascribe to the popularity of illogical conspiracy theories more generally right now.
Good information thanks for sharing
vmware
New hardware platform is rising
Look this
Interesting, but my Chinese is nearly non-existent. I can make out that they want about $105 each for whatever it is (it does says “Mesh” further down the page), but I can’t make out anything else of relevance other than that it appears to be substantially larger than a GTM. Since you seem to know enough about this to link it here, how about a short description in English of what is going on?