Seems like this would support institutional/campus environments or changing environments where the sensors at the edge are sending higher bandwidth ultimately back to an Internet node using LoRA mesh--instead of directional WiFi?

I'm trying to envision the application of a mesh like this. These could be examples?

- interconnected nodes need to share data (like images)

- interconnected nodes are acting as a collective array of sensors (eg. geolocation)

- interconnected mesh nodes provide redundant pathways back to the central node

- interconnected mesh nodes provide spatial diversity in case of interference or jamming

- nodes are mobile (eg. drone or vehicle) and mesh provides alternative connectivity based on node location and RF attenuation (also provides longer range with mesh connectivity)

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syntaxing 10 hours ago | parent [-]

I’m guessing it’s just haloW without the licensing requirements.

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refulgentis 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Gonna reply here, but this isn't about you or this post:

HN has a lot of us that have ~0 idea what you'd use this for, even when we steelman, all we can do is vaguely handwave about easier to setup wireless internet on a vast compound we own.

Would be really cool if someone could hop in and just give a couple one off examples, i guess? Only other one handwave I can think of is IOT x assembly line stuff for businesses, but I'm real curious why individuals are so into it -- or maybe they're not, and that's why the codebase quality is so poor? Idk.

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nunobrito 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You'll read a lot of illusions and wishful intentions.

In the end: LoRa is only good for very short text messages at somewhat long distance (up to 10km without special setup) and without bad conditions (obstacles on line of sight, rain/fog). There is an ongoing fight between each of the two frequencies to be used as default and this publication adds another frequency into the battle.

There is WiFi HaLow, a relatively new WiFi protocol which seems to solve the low bandwidth issues with LoRa on relatively confortable distance (likely up to 8km, same as with LoRa in regards to Line of Sight), albeit slightly less affected by weather conditions. The advantage here is permitting to send images and binary data in general, but think about something being sent at the speed levels from 2005 (which in any case is good speed for most usable things).

Then there are other relevant mesh protocols yet to mention here like ESPnow which is my personal favorite. Whereas the other two options above are exotic and with transceivers around the 50 EUR and above. With ESPnow you just need any cheap ESP32 embedded device with an optional antenna to increase range for about 3 EUR (antenna included). With that you get similar returns to WiFi HaLow with less range (about 3 kilometers max on my experiments) but cheap like heck.

To setup internet on a vast compound, WiFi HaLow might be a good investment. If you are with a constrained budget, then ESP32 is your friend. To remember, long distance is limited so if you are considering more than 8 devices exchanging heavy data, you should just go for proper WiFi long range transmitters.

	▲	refulgentis 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Cheers, there's nothing more valuable than an opinionated overview from someone who groks the domain

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chocrates 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Assuming you mean mesh in general: Meshtastic like projects

- emergency communication

- low power data transfer for sensors

- low data rate data transfer for mobile groups. Air softers use it to transmit information to each other while playing.

HaLow:

- "high" data rate over shorter range, though much higher range than 2.4 wifi - data sharing between mobile groups like above, but high enough bandwidth for low quality video

- large area wifi deployments

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jakeydus 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I build environmental and structural sensor networks for work and this has my wheels spinning, but honestly I can’t think of many uses for the additional bandwidth. You could packet additional metadata maybe? GPS or network info? I’ll get one and play with it but off the top of the dome I think sub-Ghz is sufficient for most everything I do.