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Comment by eternityforest | Hacker News Reader

I'd rather have Bluetooth, in a mode that allows for multiple users in a stateless way(Anyone can connect to it if they are nearby, the device doesn't know any secrets, etc)

Connect to it as a GATT server, send your message, and you don't even need LoRa at all if both phones are on the same hotspot.

No setup or connection, just put the sealed box with the solar panel somewhere and everyone in the 500' circle is now connected to the world.

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This is one way you can use the rf95modem firmware. It turns your lora esp32/cortex-m0 board just into a modem that can be accessed via usb/serial or bluetooth low energy (or even WiFi) and can be paired with any device and speaks the same text-based command "language" via all its different configurable interface options. Nothing app specific is stored on the microcontroller and no extra drivers are needed on the actual applications' device, so it can easily be passed around between different users or attached to IoT sensors to form D2D networks.

But for mass adoption lora has a bit too many limitations such as bandwidth, duty-cycle restrictions and also the energy consumption if you have devices constantly listening and not going into deep sleep.

Nevertheless, there are usecases where it is super helpful to have relatively affordable long range communication devices that you can easily attach to almost any system.

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