Meshtastic & Meshcore. Messaging without the Internet.
During protests, some governments shut down the internet on purpose. It happened many times in Iran and also during the war in Ukraine. When that happens, it is not just the network that disappears. People lose the ability to coordinate, to tell what is happening, to stay in contact. This is why this story matters. It is about a system that lets us send and receive messages using our phones, without the internet.
It may sound technical, but this is first of all a social and cultural issue. The same thing happened at the beginning of the internet. At the time, it looked like a topic for technicians. Later we understood it changed society. Treating this as a nerd toy would be the same mistake.
The system is called Meshtastic. It is open source and has no central owner. It lets people and devices exchange messages using radio, not the internet. Every device becomes a node. Each node sends radio signals for hundreds of meters, sometimes for kilometers. When nodes can reach each other, they automatically form a network.
To create a node you only need a small, low cost device. Today it is still for hobbyists, just like the internet at the beginning. The technical details do not matter here. What matters is that once a node is on, it becomes part of the chain. Think big and keep it simple: one node in Boston, one in New York, one in Washington. Boston cannot reach Washington directly, but New York is in the middle. The message goes from Boston to New York, then to Washington. Every new node makes the network bigger. Anyone can add one.
From the same idea came Meshcore. It is another open source system, similar to Meshtastic, but designed to let messages travel across many more nodes. Both are important for the same reason: accessibility. Devices can cost as little as 10 or 20 dollars. No infrastructure is needed. No operator. No big investment. Someone just turns on a node. Some people place them on rooftops with solar panels. Others put them on trees.
These devices connect via Bluetooth to an app on the phone. We write messages, see other nodes, choose channels. The phone is only an interface. It can even be offline or in airplane mode. Real communication happens by radio, between nodes. I tested both systems here in Manhattan during a snowstorm, when internet and cellular networks were unstable. The nodes kept working normally. We exchanged updates about the storm without any issue.
When many people use these systems and many nodes are active, it will be possible to send messages across the planet by radio, with no central control and nothing to shut down, even if the internet goes dark. That is why you will hear more and more about this in the coming years. For those who like to experiment, I will share links to Meshtastic and Meshcore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshcore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXoAhebQc0c
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