Unique Bluetooth Accessory for iOS/Android

[GlockSpock]

http://static.gotenna.com/

 

With it you can communicate with no cell network at all. Essentially it is a Bluetooth accessory that use radio technology to create a "network" of its own. You can communicate with anyone that has one of these. They claim range is up to 50 miles, but I expect what would typically be found on FRS radios.

 

Right now they are $149 for a pair, not too bad in my opinion, if they work as expected.

 

https://gotenna.myshopify.com/products/preorder

 

I would really like to test two of these out to see how they work, they seem nifty.

 

 

[gjohnsoniv]

The 50 mile range seems really optimistic for radios but darn if those aren't a cool idea.

[Lowpower]

Might be good in the woods and up in the mountains.

 

Pity you have to have two of them, that you can't pair with a bluetooth phone that is by a tower, etc.

Then you could send a message in the middle of nowhere and have it picked up by a tower 30 miles away then go 

anywhere any tower can reach, to it's intended destination.

[GlockSpock]

Might be good in the woods and up in the mountains.

 

Pity you have to have two of them, that you can't pair with a bluetooth phone that is by a tower, etc.

Then you could send a message in the middle of nowhere and have it picked up by a tower 30 miles away then go 

anywhere any tower can reach, to it's intended destination.

 

Well, if that is what you are "wanting", then Sprint, Verizon, etc all already do this:) Sort of. The main purpose of this isn't to gain cellular service where there is none, it's allowing you to use your cell phone with another without a cell network period. At $150 I don't think that is too bad a price for a pair. At $300, that seems steep.

 

Of course you could build your own "network" using HAM radios and whatnot, but the beauty of this product is its simplicity as well as the fact that it is "smart".

[MacGyver]

Man, I drop off the grid so that people will quit calling my phone...

[vontar]

I would like to look at the feature more.  For example, I wonder if I could set one up at my house on my home network and then go to work about about mile away and access my home internet though it.  Then I could stop using 4g maybe.  Right now I burn 8-9 gb on 4g a month, mostly streaming music while at work.

[enfield]

It's apparently a mesh node interfaced to a cell phone. I have two home-made mesh nodes sitting on the table behind me - re-purposed WIFI routers. Mine are not interfaced to cell phones.

These devices are most likely Ghz-range, line-of-sight devices. 10 miles if one or both is on a hill top.

PS - my nodes cost about $30 each - the price of a used WRT54G router on Ebay. Edited July 27, 2014 by enfield

[vontar]

I have moded a few WRT54G routers, if possible get the WRT54G-TM, it has a bit more memory.

 

T-mobile had them setup for a certain phone so while you were home you could go VOIP instead of using your minutes.  It must have been a failed idea as I never seemed to get into the market much.  I never saw them over then a commercial .

 

this model is found on ebay in the same price range.

 

 

Link: http://amzn.com/B001LYHB38

 

The Linksys/T-Mobile WRT54G-TM is based on the WRT54GL built to T-Mobile's specfications for UMA access from WiFi-equipped T-Mobile phones. This router has several upgrades relative to the WRT54GL - most notably 8 MB of FLASH memory, and 32 MB of RAM. The processor speed remains the same at 200 MHz.