Haha I did some work looking after the network for an Aboriginal organisation in Alice Springs a few years ago. I remember the bad satellite services and slow ADSL that dropped when it rained.. The Meshtastic gear is very cheap, less than $100 per device. It is slow so limited in what you can do with it but I think it could be great for messaging in the case that mobile and fixed Internet services are unavailable. Assuming there are enough nodes to build a mesh.. Range is dependant on the devices and antennas etc used. I found some other nodes from my office in the CBD and exchanged a few messages there but nothing near home to properly test the range yet.. Now that I have 2 devices I will be able to test.
Very interesting. VicPol had all the signals from protestors during Covid, I remember David Limbrick tweeting about it because VicGov got their hands on the data. And China had Apple ban airdrop because Hong Kong protestors were using it to communicate. Imagine a few of these in a crowd with people on some little nostr network.. No more pulling the plug on the internet, no more strongarming King Cantillionaire or any other platform owners to censor, Govs are going to have to start using fully blown military tactics and equipment to stop people who would oppose them and that doesn’t look good. Would be really cool as just a neighbourhood network but potential is very powerful!
There is a Meshtatic to Nostr bridge that I want to look at which I think would be useful for the application of communicating information out of a crowd etc. I do wonder though if it would be fairly easy to jam the signal with interference in a small area as it is a very specific frequency. I agree it is cool just as a neighbourhood or even city wide network if you can get enough users to build a mesh..
I only know the very basics of EW, but LoRa is certainly harder to jam than any other civilian RF technology. Spread spectrum AND forward error correction!
What do they use in military? I read that Russia has been doing a lot of experimenting in signals because of drones so really have no clue what is feasible today
Its been more than a decade since I got out, and I was only really trained in how to recognise hostile EW and take countermeasures. Mostly just switch frequencies. I know the good stuff is all spread-spectrum chirps picked up by satellite, but unless you're in DSD they don't tell you much more than how to use it. Basically the military uses LoRa-but-better, and with a bird in the loop for unlimited range. How much better is anyone's guess. I've heard Russia way outstrips us in EW technology, but IDK any details.