Meshtastic

What is Meshtastic?

Meshtastic utilizes LoRa, a long-range radio protocol, which is widely accessible in most regions without the need for additional licenses or certifications, unlike HAM radio operations.

These radios are designed to rebroadcast messages they receive, forming a mesh network. This setup ensures that every group member, including those at the furthest distance, can receive messages. Depending on the settings employed, the Meshtastic mesh network can support up to 100 devices concurrently.

Additionally, Meshtastic radios can be paired with a single phone, allowing friends and family to send messages directly to your specific radio. It's important to note that each device is capable of supporting a connection from only one user at a time.
Source: https://meshtastic.org/

Getting started

You can find an excellent starting guide on https://meshtastic.org/. I bought the following module on Amazon APKLVSR LoRa ESP32 which should be more than sufficient for any experiments.

Anyone there?

To do: Describe first tests with the module

Home Assistant

To do: Add notes about the Home Assistant integration