Hey Gotenna, you need to come up with a better version of the MESH MAP. It is pretty frustrating to try to ping permanent relay nodes that are not there or do not have their ID. I think you should come up with some requirements for registering the permanent nodes. They should have their ID and they need to be confirmed after a certain amount of time and you could send email reminders to the owners to confirm the node of the owner does not confirm the node it should be deleted from the map. It is important to have accurate information about these nodes. They also should have an option to show if they have battery backup or not. I have been going around my city in Sun Valley, CA and discovered a lot of these nodes do not have a way to ping and the ones that have are not responding even when standing next to them so please make these rules because it has been a couple of years and we don’t seem to get this network running. It is misleading when you look at the map and think there are so many nodes only to try to ping or shout without any answers. In the last 2 years I have been driving around LA and shouting without any replies.
Another requirement for a stationary relay node should be GPS broadcasting.
Also when you shout there should be an option if you are not in range and someone wants to get back to you to say they received your shout and you are not in range anymore maybe by you could enable an over the internet reply through the app or text or email. Please think about this. I really like your idea but it just does not work in practice and if in a city of 18 million people I cannot get a shout back we have a problem. Thank you.
Rich,
Your concerns have been expressed before. They seem to rest on expectations placed on the node map that don’t fit all that well with a crowd-sourced production like it is. Don’t assume it’s a guide to available connections. Rather it documents the possibilities, not the actual connectivity you may encounter.
Much of this may be due to putting internet-size expectations on something that is not part of the internet. Bandwidth and other limitations sharply constrain the amount of data that flows over the mesh, even though it’s plenty capable for what bandwidth it does use so efficiently.
Well, that’s not part of what’s available when in relay mode, so none of them natively do that. You may read of some installs with that capability (when not in relay mode), but this requires additional power for the GTM device to accomplish in pairing mode, which has it’s own set of issues…
Be aware that Shouts do NOT relay. They are sent in the clear, but they do not hop so will only be picked up directly by nearby GTM devices.
Most communication on the mesh is not done randomly or between strangers. People use the mesh to communicate with those they already know and have addresses for. The mesh isn’t like ham radio, where there’s a system with technological features that encourage such new contacts because of amateur radio’s global reach, etc.
Picking up a random Shout from some person unknown to you is a bit like having some mysterious stranger breaking into your conversation on one of those old party-line phones like my cousins on the farm used to have. You’ll want to write such messages carefully to encourage people to reply, because that is likely not the first thought that crosses their mind in such a situation.
Hmmm, the GTM depends on the GPS in your phone for location services. This would mean that anyone putting up a relay must also add and power a phone. Now a relay doesn’t usually move - although some like the one in my truck do - so maybe you mean that a relay should broadcast it’s location in LAT/LON? That would have to be a feature that could be turned off, as it could compromise a relay host site to official repression under some circumstances.
If you think this is how a network, be it crowd sourced, should work than good like using it when you really need it in an emergency. When I am shouting I am asking for range testing and if someone would reply I could determine how far my signal traveled so I am not a weirdo asking for hookups. My node is solar powered and connected to am old phone, I could ping it with our without it being connected to the phone.
The idea is to e able to use these devices in am emergency but if people are not willing to maintain and test the network than it is useless. I could just get a walkie talkie and I could talk to someone a couple of miles away. The innovation of the mesh is allowing you to talk to someone even if you are not in range but you depends on other nodes so people need to understand they need to cooperate to keep those nodes up to date and be able to ping them so I know how to use in an emergency otherwise again I could just by a walkie talkie.
So telling me my expectations are high for a $80 useless device I think it’s exaggerated.
Richard Rosenberg
You should note that I did not say your expectations are too high, just different than what it is capable of delivering. For instance, you feel the node map should represent expectation of connectivity, when it’s more accurate to say it represents the possibility of connectivity.
A crowdsourced network means that it doesn’t act like an internet-based network. The data in it is self-reported, depends on the accuracy of the person who entered it, and is changeable. It’s not intended to be a real time depiction of available for use nodes. Since posting on it’s voluntary, it likely represents only roughly 1 out of every 10 devices deployed.
The conundrum of emergency communications is that their development shouldn’t wait for an emergency to happen. This is particularity a issue with goTenna Mesh. What you need to prepare is to make contact with others near you and enter their info in your Contacts so they are available when the balloon goes up. In other words, the mesh reinforces existing human relationships. It can be used to reach out and establish that, but that is typically a much more limited possibility because of the limits of sending a Shout. But if you insist that’s what you want to do, that’s your privilege.
I tried making contact and nothing comes back. I even used the Emergency because it hops. I knew the shout does not hop but it will be better to give people the possibility to acknowledge of they want when they receive the shout out emergency even when not in range
at least I know my device is working.
Also I understand the information is voluntary but gotenna child establish rules for registering permanent nodes, after all they are not shy to request money for gotenna PRO so why not request this information and establish some rules for everybody’s benefit. If the individual does not want to give that information he will not be able to register the node and that’s it.
I am so sick about this privacy issue, there is no privacy, we only dream and hope but in reality nothing is private anymore so trying to say that you respect people’s privacy is just a gimmick in my opinion, you make the rules and people decide if they want to follow them or not.
Richard Rosenberg