Real-world guidance on communication, devices, offline maps, and preparing for places where cell service can't be relied on.
39 guides
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.
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.
When you lose signal, apps like Life360 and Find My stop updating. This guide walks through the options for a family that still wants to see each other's location out of coverage: phone GPS, internet apps, an internal radio layer, a standalone LoRa tracker, and satellite messengers - and where each one fits.
A GPS receiver and a communication network are two different things. A tracker can fix its position with no SIM, but for someone else to receive that location it needs a transport - Bluetooth, LoRa radio, satellite or Wi-Fi. The kinds of SIM-free tracker, subscription vs no-subscription, and when each one fits.
A communication plan for a family camping trip: work out where you'll have signal and where you won't before you go, agree on a meeting point, choose handhelds and trackers, download offline maps, think about battery and charging, and know when you need a satellite messenger or a PLB.
Camping is different from hiking: there's a relatively fixed campsite and people spread out and come back. How to take advantage of that fixed point, where to place devices and a repeater, how to coordinate when the group splits into smaller parties, offline maps, and battery for a multi-day trip.
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 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 plain explanation of a LoRa mesh radio for someone who has never heard of LoRa or MeshCore: your phone connects to a small radio device over Bluetooth, and that device talks directly to other devices and relays through them. The ideas of node, handheld, tracker and repeater, and why it works offline.
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 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.
goTenna has left the consumer market. A comparison of goTenna Mesh alternatives: LoRa mesh (Meshtastic, MeshCore and Nelos), satellite messengers and two-way radios - and who each one fits.
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