English
Japanese
German
French
Spanish
VietnameseReal-world communication beyond cellular coverage
Nelos runs on your own LoRa mesh radios - no cell towers, no internet, no subscriptions. Here's how people actually use it, from a weekend camping trip to a multi-day expedition.
Stay connected with the people and things you care about
Campgrounds, theme parks, and trailheads are exactly where cell service gets patchy or disappears - right when you most want to know where everyone is. Nelos lets your family or group create a private team, see each other's latest shared location on an offline map, and message each other freely, all over your own radios instead of the cellular network.
- A shared map showing everyone's latest shared location
- Private team chat, even with no signal
- Attach a small tracker to a child, an older relative, or a pet - no phone of their own needed
Nelos isn't a dedicated GPS tracker - it's mesh communication and location sharing for your group, working over the range of your own radios.
Keep your crew together when the crowd overwhelms the network
At a busy festival, mobile service can become slow or stop working just when your group splits up. Nelos lets friends, volunteer crews, and event teams message, share locations, and find each other over their own local radios.
- Find your friends without waiting for a crowded network
- Keep a crew coordinated across the festival grounds
- Share a meeting point or send a Need Help alert when plans change
Keep your team connected when the trail takes you beyond cellular coverage
The moment a group spreads out on a trail - or just gets far enough into the backcountry - phones stop being useful for anything but photos. With Nelos, everyone in your hiking group carries a small LoRa radio instead of relying on a carrier signal, so the group stays in touch the whole way.
- Message the group and check in without cell service
- See everyone's position on a shared offline map
- One tap sends a Need Help alert with your exact location
A private network built for the terrain search and rescue actually happens in
Search and rescue happens exactly where cellular networks give out - dense forest, canyons, mountainsides. Nelos gives a search team its own mesh network that doesn't depend on carrier infrastructure: members share their latest positions, coordinate a search pattern over team chat, and trigger a Need Help alert the moment someone is found.
Because it's a mesh rather than a single fixed tower, radios relay for each other as the team spreads out and regroups - useful for covering terrain a single antenna couldn't reach alone.
Nelos is a communication tool teams can use alongside their standard protocols - it doesn't replace certified SAR equipment, professional emergency services, or official rescue communication systems.
On what to expect from a mesh network in real terrain, see Are Mesh Networks Reliable? and off-grid communication for emergencies and disasters.
Stay coordinated for days at a time, not just in an emergency
Nelos isn't only for emergencies. Multi-day treks, remote fieldwork, and extended camping trips all share the same problem: you're out of cellular range for days at a stretch, and the team still needs to stay coordinated. A Nelos mesh keeps members in contact between camps and shares each person's latest position across the terrain, working the same way on day one as it does on day ten.
Place a node at a high point and extend your mesh across a larger area
A single radio can only reach so far. Add a repeater - a Nelos-compatible node left running at a high point like a hilltop, ridge, or tall structure - and it relays messages and locations between devices that couldn't otherwise reach each other.
It's a simple way to cover a whole campsite, a valley, a remote community, or an event site with one mesh, without every device needing a direct line of sight to every other one.
For when you need to cover more ground, see Do You Need a LoRa Mesh Repeater? and our field notes from a first repeater deployment.
Take your mesh above the terrain
Terrain is often one of the biggest practical limits on mesh coverage - a ridge, a treeline, or a valley wall can block a signal that would otherwise travel much farther. Carry a Nelos-compatible node aloft on a drone, and it acts as a temporary elevated relay, extending line-of-sight coverage down to the ground for as long as it's airborne.
It's a fast way to bridge a gap in coverage or extend a mesh over a specific area for a limited time - useful for events, short-term operations, or scouting coverage before you commit to a fixed repeater location.
Stay connected across parks and protected areas
Rangers, researchers, and field teams often work across large remote areas where cellular coverage is limited or unavailable. Nelos gives these teams their own local network for team messaging, location sharing, and worldwide offline maps - independent of cell towers or internet access.
Trackers can help keep tabs on vehicles or equipment, a Need Help alert can flag when someone needs assistance, and strategically placed repeaters can extend coverage across a larger protected area. Nelos doesn't guarantee safety or replace official emergency communication systems - it's a practical tool for staying in touch across the field.
Heading somewhere without signal? Take your whole group with you.
Nelos keeps your group messaging and visible on a shared map with no cell service or Internet. Pick a supported device and set up in minutes.