Blue tooth
Discussion
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But you need to be super close for this to work… doesn’t that defeat the point of an app? Couldn’t you just talk in person then?
Phone to phone I've got halfway down the block, with one phone still in the house. Bluetooth range is father than I thought. I think the Android version is going to utilize wifi as well soon.
wtf… I can’t walk more than the distance of my entire house and still maintain a connection
I think phone to phone is better than phone to headphones. Better antennae and more power. I use my phone as a bt keyboard & mouse and I can control my PC from outside the house, easily 50m away, through a few walls.
Interesting 🤨
Headphones are definitely not as good. I just tried with my PC and I lose audio in the next room 🤣
I get about 20 feet max on headphones
I'm assuming it uses this, lowering data rate for extended range. Simple text chat should use orders of magnitude less bandwidth than audio streams.
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Introduced in Bluetooth 5.0, a feature called LE Coded PHY (Physical Layer) allows devices to extend their range significantly—up to 4 times the standard distance—by reducing the data rate. It does this by repeating bits of data, which makes the signal easier for the receiver to "hear" through noise or over long distances.
Bluetooth LE Speed vs. Range
| Mode | Data Rate | Max Range (Approx.) | Use Case |
| LE 2M | 2 Mbps | ~10–30 m | Fast transfers, low latency |
| LE 1M | 1 Mbps | ~30–100 m | Standard connection (default) |
| Coded (S=2) | 500 kbps | ~200–400 m | Better range, moderate data |
| Coded (S=8) | 125 kbps | ~1 km+ | Long range (industrial/outdoor)
Both my phones, pixel 6 & 8 series support the long range modes, probably why I get such long distance connections. This app lets you check your hardware capabilities.
https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Development-tools/nRF-Connect-for-mobile
This is nice 👍
I have some testing to do
The lastest update has town level meshes too, initially it was just Bluetooth. Country level chatrooms too, from what I saw messing around in it this week after the Lora update ~ LG
That's not using mesh though, that's using Nostr relays. It won't work without internet. The mesh & Nostr parts are currently disconnected as well, they don't interact or exchange messages.
For the Nostr side of it I much prefer https://nym.bar for a better interface, and more options.
Thanks for the clarification, didn't know that. Tried multiple permutations but still ended up being the lone account online in my region.
Will check out Nym.bar , seems like a good addition to the #FreedomTech #PrivacyRefuge hashtags. ✅
It is Bluetooth mesh (~100m per hop) + nostr relays (probably did not work) + Lora (just recentl upgrade, not sure how or if it works yet) - kilometers per hop !
