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another possibility is to use wifi antennas for a longer range, people around me used that solution as a cheap alternative to radio modems.
May 02 · 8 days ago
Back in the day before DSL my brother in law got Internet via WiFi broadcasted from a grain silo. 802.11b I think it was. So making the backbone out of WiFi gear is one option.
Mind the frequencies are different for LoRa and WiFi so I don't know whether WiFi antennas would work. But large ones seem relatively inexpensive.
2.4GHz and 5GHz antennas would not work well since LoRa uses ISM bands around 433MHz and 900MHz but they are common frequencies so it is easy to find antennas for those frequencies.
I was looking into longer range LoRa antennas and they are cheap, really. AliExpress has some for £3-£5. Even a large, 110cm 8dbi antenna can be had for £18. You can get decent range out of those, especially if you have direct line of sight. The simpler, 2dbi antennas do look a bit like WiFi antennas, but they are for a different wavelength.
As far as I know LoRa has some VERY low bandwidth (250bit/s - 11kbit/s) and there are some regulations at least here in germany that you may only use 1% of the capacity.
1% means that you may only send one second out of hundred. LoRa is mainly for sending short GPS positions or some other sensor data.
I did my research because I wanted to use LoRa for the next ROOPHLOCH challenge, but it seems it's too low bandwidth even for gemini.
I did it in python with the ignition and meshtastic librairies, i build a simple gateway who split the gemini page in smaller messages (200 characters) because of limitation.
I configure lora device at mediumfast (3.5 kbps). Take somes time to transfert but feasable. I did it without a gopher client and also without optimisation, just a proof of concept. Need a lot more test in different environment and need gemini capsule with less text by page.
I'm working on it !!!!!!
Cotteux, very interesting!
what limitation do you mean: speed? size? why do you need to split the page to 200 byte pieces?
The meshtastic protocol is limited to 230 characters to send and receive a message. I also made some test at longfast and it's working good. A small page take around 30 to 120 secondes without optimisation.
Gemini over LoRaWAN? — I'm fascinated by the idea of running a smolweb over LoRaWAN. Imagine a decentralized network of FLOSS-hardware devices, solar-powered, each running a gemini capsule and a relay (HAM radio style) to transmit data on to other points on the LoRaWAN mesh network. It's not a fast way to communicate, but smolweb gemini doesn't need to be. If LoRaWAN can reach 56.6kbps, it'd feel like the days of dialup, but... decentralized, solar-powered, and resistant to censorship. Has...
💬 Half_Elf_Monk · 20 comments · 4 likes · May 01 · 9 days ago