131–140 of 179 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, if they're not encrypting the radio transmission, easily intercept-able.
All transmissions are end-to-end encrypted, unless you use the "shout" or "emergency" features which are, by definition, messages to everyone within range of you.
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They also explicitly forbid store-and-forward operations.
Can anyone provide some insight into why this would be? What's the intention of these restrictions?
Because repeaters utilize two channels at once (input and
output) and extend the operating range of a single user,
their use would limit the number of users able to share
these frequencies at the same time.
...
some commenters are concerned that MURS frequencies will be
congested and that repeater use will only aggravate this
problem. We agree.
For whatever reason, MURS never did became as popular as GMRS or FRS did.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would it be possible to build a software-level mesh on top of these devices even though they don't officially support meshing? In other words, could someone build an iPhone app that implements some sort of decentralized DNS and routes messages, even though the hardware can't do that on it's own?
CFR 2009 § 95.1311 MURS stations are prohibited from operating as a repeater station or as a signal booster. This prohibition in- cludes store-and-forward packet oper- ation. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2009-title47-vol5/pdf/CFR-2... Pretty clear cut. No packet routing, at all, for any reason, using any method. Doesn't matter if the radio firmware is doing it or if the client is doing it. (There is a general exe…
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I have not been to Africa or India, but considering that it's easy to find areas of North America without cell phone coverage I find it very difficult to believe your assertion about 90% coverage. Even in cities, it seems from the comments here that there is some appeal to communicating "off the grid" as it were.
His assertion is true, i have traveled to 4+ countries in africa, and live in one. I have yet to be without signal in all my travels. You would need to go really remote to find a place without signal. Even sparsely populated areas, backwaters are covered. The reason is communication infrastructure was pretty bad here, hence we leap frogged and mobile is primary means of communication. You also have the other challeng…
In contrast, I can travel ~20 minutes outside a major metropolitian area in the US (Seattle) and be without cell service.
Heck I often am without cell service when I'm hiking. Then again I'm using a provider (T-Mobile) which is known to only work in metro areas!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
CFR 2009 § 95.1311 MURS stations are prohibited from operating as a repeater station or as a signal booster. This prohibition in- cludes store-and-forward packet oper- ation. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2009-title47-vol5/pdf/CFR-2... Pretty clear cut. No packet routing, at all, for any reason, using any method. Doesn't matter if the radio firmware is doing it or if the client is doing it. (There is a general exe…
I wonder whether the FCC is going to consider Bluetooth MURS interconnection to be in violation of this rule.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
CFR 2009 § 95.1311 MURS stations are prohibited from operating as a repeater station or as a signal booster. This prohibition in- cludes store-and-forward packet oper- ation. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2009-title47-vol5/pdf/CFR-2... Pretty clear cut. No packet routing, at all, for any reason, using any method. Doesn't matter if the radio firmware is doing it or if the client is doing it. (There is a general exe…
What's the rationale of the FCC to disallow this? Purely economic reasons?
At any repeater hop, the transmission uses double the airtime in the overlapping of the sender's and repeater's ranges (once while the sender is sending it, once while the repeater is repeating). And of course, if you use repeaters, a single transmission will use the band in a much larger area than a direct transmission.
With a mesh network, a product like this would be very problematic: From "a way to connect with friends while off the grid" it would turn into "unlimited free texts for a one time charge" (in a country with absurd charges for texting on mobile phones). Soon, neither this nor any other application on the band would be possible anymore.
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Daniela, goTenna co-founder here -- back-haul is the 'easy part.' We just wanted to start with the hard part, i.e. a communication system that never requires central connectivity; a smart network with no actual central brain.
It sounds like you don't even need the hard part for a viable product: range extender for cell phones targeted at people engaged in outdoor activities but parked somewhere with cell phone reception.
If you want real off the grid connectivity, buy or rent a sat phone or a satellite emergency notification device (there are pretty affordable choices for both).
The part I think is missing is a connection back to the cell network so that you can give people in more remote locations the ability to text the rest of the world using this as a link. I don't see the 2-user walky-talky being that useful, but I would happily leave this and an extra phone in my car if it meant getting text functionality as I hike out 20 miles.
> The part I think is missing is a connection back to the cell network so that you can give people in more remote locations the ability to text the rest of the world using this as a link. While reading their FAQ I thought of that, and if the API is open sourced or reverse-engineered, it shouldn't be too difficult to write a smartphone application which would act as a relay between to goTenna and the phone network (fo…
[1] you can legally do this in other bands, and there are some pretty cool open source projects.
This is pretty interesting. I work for an NGO and something like this looks really useful for people working in the field to allow some sort of simple communication/location when you don't have service, or it is super expensive.
There's a good reason why handheld or car mounted radios have been quite popular with NGOs all over the world. They're robust, reliable and simple. And in many cases, NGOs can get access to radio bands with more interesting transmission characteristics.