Just bought 2 pairs and trying to connect between Eastlake to Capitol Hill. I even set up a wall powered relay on a 4 story building. My current experience is that the range is really short, less than a quarter mile. The node map is pretty much useless because it’s not real time information and self appointed data. Is my experience different from yours? Please share before I return this product.
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Hi LTC-
Sorry to hear that your range experience has been less than average. goTenna Mesh range is usually 0.5 - 1 mile in congested environments and 3-5 miles in open environments. With the 6 hops our beta users have now, this will extend the range much further.
I see that there are a few nodes between Eastlake and Capitol Hill but these might not be sufficient enough to relay the messages or they could be turned off.
@gua742 is our current Mesh Ambassador for Seattle. He has done some great testing in the past and I’m sure could do some testing with you now to try and strategically place nodes in between Eastlake and Capitol Hill. Feel free to DM him to set something up!
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Hi Danielle,
Thank you for the response. I really wanted this to work because we are looking for a back up communication device between our Long Term Care pharmacy and the nursing home facilities that we serve. However even after purchasing and spreading out 8 nodes the topography and density of Seattle doesn’t allow it to be effective. We will be returning the devices and look for another solution.
Thank you,
Great interview with @gua742 today for In The Mesh about his plans to make Seattle the “Mother of All Mesh Networks!"
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Is the MOAN currently operational? I’m trying to send a test message and connect from West Seattle (Gatewood), but I’m not getting through. Tuesday 11/27/18 at 11 am.
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New to this. Setting up a stationary relay high up in a Belltown mid-rise, south-west facing window with clear, unobstructed views from Alki to the stadiums.
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Added another powered (with battery backup) relay near Cinerama downtown. 6th floor, south west-facing. Added to map and estimate about 0.5 mile range.
Adding one more on the 8th floor near Pacific Place next week.
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I’m in Pioneer Square and I’ve not heard back from anyone… am I doing something wrong? I can connect to my own gotennas but haven’t heard back from anyone on the public mesh and wondering if it works?
I haven’t been able to ping the MOAN so it may be down. I’m going to inquire about setting up a relay on my roof.
FYI the range of these units will be pretty poor unless you have visibility of a MOAN. It’s pretty similar to what you’d expect with an FRS walkie talkie.
If you’re sending a broadcast, it won’t go through any repeaters. You (or anyone) can try and send a ping to me directly (I’m in Belltown) that should go through any available repeaters if you’d like to test. It’s still a distance that’s unlikely - but you’re welcomed to try. The GoTenna is pretty much always on.
GID: 9217 0719 1161 70
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Added another relay downtown. South-east facing window of 8th floor near Pacific Place. Always powered on with battery backup. Added to Node Map.
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@ImBrian Nice! Photos? 
Sorry, no photos. Most are kinda tucked away in window-sills I’ve “borrowed” space on and aren’t immediately accessible. 3d printed bases (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2798856 but in grey), anker cables, anker PowerCore Fusion acting as a poor-man’s UPS with 5Ah. An old Google Nexus with GID 9217 0719 1161 70 is also plugged into one of them in Belltown and always paired if anyone wants to ping it for testing range.
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Another permanent, powered relay set up facing SE from the same Belltown location (just other side of the same building). Map updated - same location, but additional text.
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Hi everyone, I’m a new GTM user on east part of Shoreline. I have clear view of Lake Washington. Registered on node map. I see there is a MOAN in Kirkland. How can I find its GID to do a ping test?
The Moan’s ID is in the description. However, I was not able ping it from closer so I wonder if it is down.
I put up the powered stationary node north of there in Bothell. Probably out of range to you. St Edwards is at the edge of my range. Thinking of putting up a repeater on that hill though.
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@bero2 Is your node usually up?
It’s not always-up right now. But I want to set it up that way, maybe outside on my deck.
If I set one up as relay, how do I monitor it? Do relays have a GID that I can ping? I have an old phone that I can pair always-on as well. Which way is better?
Ok. The “home” node is always-up now. I’m going to drive around with the other GTM to test.
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