Meshtastic

WisMesh Tag

Jack got hisself a new toy - a Meshtastic radio, about $50.  It's a little smaller than a smartphone. The four dots you see are for a USB cable with a magnetic connector. Connect it to your phone (does it have Bluetooth?) and you can send text messages over the Mesh Network. The Mesh Network is made up of whoever has a similar radio within range, which can be a few miles. Popular with some Neighborhood Emergency Teams. These mesh radios don't use the cell phone network and data is encrypted, so transmission is reasonable secure.

The big problem with these things is you need other people to also be using them. If you and your mother are the only ones with these radios and you are fifty miles apart, this thing isn't going to help you.

Meshtastic Map

I kind of expect them to be popular in war zones since Telegram uses the cell phone network and Starlink depends on Elon's mood.