Real-world guidance on communication, devices, offline maps, and preparing for places where cell service can't be relied on.
Tracking dogs, kids or gear beyond cell coverage? Start with the off-grid GPS tracking overview.
46 guides
A convoy of cars on the same route, spaced apart on the road, through long stretches with no cellular signal. How to coordinate between cars, plan stops, mount a radio device inside a metal vehicle, use offline maps, and when you need a satellite messenger for genuinely remote routes.
A group of riders is strung out along the road, bikes are spaced apart, and terrain blocks the line of sight between them. The difference between a helmet intercom (voice between a few bikes close together) and group messaging with location for the whole group, how to use offline maps and regroup points, and the limits of radio while the whole group is moving.
A practical comparison of local SIM/eSIM, international roaming, and LoRa devices for staying in touch with your group while traveling abroad, and what to check before carrying a radio across borders.
Off-grid communication means messaging and sharing location with your group when there's no cell service or internet. Why your phone still knows where it is but can't send it, the main methods - two-way radio, LoRa mesh, satellite messenger - and how a phone paired to a LoRa radio fits together.
A practical look at hiking without cell service: two-way radios, satellite messengers, and LoRa mesh - what each is actually good for, plus offline maps and location sharing when signal disappears.
There are several ways to send a message with no cell service, and they are not interchangeable. Local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, two-way radios, LoRa mesh, satellite messaging - each fits either internal communication within a group or reaching out through external infrastructure, rarely both.
GPS gets its signal from satellites, not from cell towers, so your phone can usually still fix its position with no cell service and no internet. But knowing where you are is a different thing from sending that location to someone else - which is why location-sharing apps stop updating.
Cellular relies on towers and carrier infrastructure; a LoRa mesh network is carried and run by the group itself. A comparison of infrastructure, range, bandwidth, latency, control and internet dependency - and why the two complement each other rather than replace each other.
A plain explanation for someone who has never heard of LoRa: a small radio device pairs with your phone so a group can message and share location with no signal. How Nelos turns that into a modern, easy-to-use app.
A handheld is the kind one person carries and interacts with through a phone. A tracker mainly broadcasts its location and needs no smartphone attached. A comparison by job: screen and buttons, GPS, phone dependency, and which kind suits people vs children, pets, bags or vehicles.
For a small group travelling together, the handhelds usually reach each other directly and you don't need a repeater. A repeater helps when you want to cover a wide area or get past a fixed piece of blocking terrain. This explains what a repeater does, when you need one, when it won't solve your problem, and placement principles.
A practical look at how reliable a mesh network really is out in the field, its limitations, and where it fits as an additional layer of communication.
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