We Need Better Comms

Let's get Meshed up.

Rest in peace, brother. It was a great ride.

Update: A couple of the products I have linked to are close to selling out. I will keep posting alternatives in the comments as this happens. I have no affiliation with any of the products or services that are listed, this is just information I’m sharing for the benefit of my readers. Also if you want to skip past the political stuff then start reading after the picture of the pager. For those who have never seen one before it’s the device with the blue screen.

Late model politics has taken on the distinct flavor of 1990's pro wrestling, specifically one steamy July night at the 1996 Bash at the Beach when Hulk Hogan betrayed Macho Man Randy Savage, told his fans to stick it, and traded his iconic orange and yellow in for the nWo black. The announcers called his heel-turn the end of Hulkamania, but something far more significant was afoot. The story had gotten stale and a shake up was needed in order to keep the audience engaged. Therefore a hero must fall in the name of keeping the sport alive, and a golden-era legacy was sacrificed to the gods of entertainment.

There are marked similarities in how the heroes of the Trump revolution are going back on their promises and spitting in the face of supporters who are still capable of critical thought. Epstein, CDBCs, foreign influence, and accountability for decades of criminal behavior that cost millions of lives and bankrupted the nation got shuffled around with the same tone deaf arrogance of the dying Democratic establishment.

This approach only works on Democrats and cult members.

Are we watching a scripted TV show designed to waste our time and energy as the billionaires continue carve up what's left of the Republic? Maybe there's some fourth dimensional chess at play, but my guess is that besides relying on evil tech bros to overcome a rigged election, the administration has run smack into the reality that the empire cannot survive without it's apartheid substates and pedo blackmail ops. Doing the right thing means instantly destroying the dollar as the world's reserve currency, and we've only had six months to try and restart the American manufacturing powerhouse that was gutted like a fish for the benefit of the laptop class.

The karmic implications of that arrangement are severe. We are now all complicit in those crimes as long as we hold on to our ill-gotten wealth, and the day of reckoning is rapidly approaching. Any system with that level of toxicity in it's genetic code is not long for this world, which probably explains the desperate scramble for communism or any other gimmick that will keep the powerful lining up their private jets at climate conferences as the rest of us lose the ability to afford a gas station sandwich on a single hour's wages. This could end up with either a mass uprising or quiet quitting, but either way it has to end, and when it does a lot of modern conveniences we have come to take for granted will be gone for good.

In this environment it's always a good idea to search for cheap reliable solutions when it comes to covering the basics, and considering the shape of our power grid as well as the propensity for the internet to one day become too unsafe to navigate it's probably time to start talking about what will eventually replace all those fancy phones that so many of us have become completely dependent on. Running a whole new network of landlines is not going to be possible during of chaos of trying to hold existing infrastructure together, and even if it were possible we are still stuck in a decreasing-trust society where toxic food and medication have caused an overall decline in mental capacity along with a marked increase in violent crime. If you want to meet up next Tuesday at the unlicensed farmers market in the abandoned mall then it's going to be awfully difficult to change those plans at the last minute when local gangs start a turf war and travel is no longer safe.

If there was only some robust low-level tech solution that was grid independent with a massive battery life and the ability to push a signal to just about anywhere.

The lowly Pager may have declined in popularity but it never really went away. Hospitals, emergency workers, and other industrial environments still rely on them because of their ability to pass along information in difficult environments where modern phones fail, which is especially important when lives are at risk. Yes, there is cause for concern that a hostile country such as Israel could weaponize such devices, but that goes for anything with a lithium battery and a wireless signal. If you're that paranoid (and I don’t blame you) then consider the advantages of such low tech solutions: modular builds allow you to verify components and put it together yourself, the devices cannot support advanced spyware programs, and when using open source software with a robust community the likelihood of slipping malicious code past thousands of watchful eyes is highly unlikely.

There are, of course, many modes of communication that do not rely on centralized cell tower networks or expensive questionable technology. CB radio is probably the easiest one for people to access, since anyone with an eBay account and $25 dollars can pick up a rugged reliable transceiver capable of bouncing a signal out to significant distances. On the other end of the spectrum is Ham radio where stations can reach around the globe given the right conditions, but this requires a license that one must study for and lots of expensive equipment. In the middle are services like GMRS with relatively affordable gear and a no-test license for a small fee, but the higher frequency signal is only good for line-of-sight unless a robust repeater network is available.

One must also consider the cultures that gather around such services. With CB radio you will be forced to share the airwaves with characters from The Hills Have Eyes as they go on hours-long meth fueled rants about what the queers are doing to the soil. On the other hand Ham radio can often seem like a retirement community where old folks practice fake laughing at corny jokes or drone on endlessly about their medical problems. GMRS is popular with 4-wheel drive enthusiasts, spread-out agricultural operations, and businesses that are trying to communicate with their employees while keeping them off their phones all day. There’s a good chance they will become annoyed when you attempt to reach out for a chat, although more casual user groups to exists. What most people really want is a secure way to stay in touch with friends and relatives, and the thought of having their transmissions possibly intercepted by mutant cannibals is a huge turn-off.

“Yep. That’s right. Just keep going all the way to the back of the valley.”

In order to establish reliable off-grid comms with non-nerd associates what is needed is a platform that is inexpensive, easy to use, reaches out moderate to long distances, offers a reasonable sense of privacy, and comes in small enough package that makes it easy to carry around without a second thought. Such was the use case that inspired a community of tinkerers to come up with mesh networking, a system of cheap nodes using license-free bandwidth and text messages rather than voice. The nodes bounce signals off each other, and this forwarding feature is what allows the messages to travel great distances. Even more attractive is the ability to legally use encryption (unlike the other radio services mentioned), which skyrocketed their popularity to the point where we have an emergent technology on our hands.

Meshtastic node with newer RAKwireless chipset. These are selling out fast.

The most popular of these services is Meshtastic, and as you can see on a node map they have especially taken off in Western countries where totalitarian governments and power grid failures have become a big issue recently. It's actually become increasingly difficult for node manufacturers to keep up with demand, and as grid failures increase in frequency and AI bots take over more complicated systems the interest in simple robust networks will only continue to grow. With so much information out there already there's no point for me to explain in detail how it works, but I will share some important considerations for those who are interested in getting their communities connected.

Meshenger standalone device. Pricey but well built and no phone required.

Standalone Nodes

Nodes are the basic infrastructure of the network, which means when you buy one you are in effect purchasing the equivalent of your own cell tower. They typically come in two flavors, the most popular being the ones that use your existing phone for the user interface vs standalone nodes with their own built-in qwerty keyboards. The advantage of the latter should be obvious seeing as how phones are basically spy devices these days and anything you type on them is automatically intercepted by corporate behemoths and intelligence agencies. There's also the issue of battery life. The more recent mesh nodes are designed to last a long time, but most smartphones can barely make it through a day with their giant power-sucking screens and multiple background processes. While it might go over better with your relatives when you hand them a cute little keychain vs a brick, from a prepping and security standpoint it's better to go for the all-in-one device.

The premiere among these is the Meshenger which is made by hand and sold on Etsy. The price is a lot steeper than comparable devices and there will be some delay before your order arrives, but the manufacturer claims to use the highest quality components available which use an external antenna to push a signal a lot further than the competition. Phone-dependent nodes excel at getting the signal into people's hands and increase the probability that they will actually use them, but journalists and preppers who want max battery life and the ability to avoid the prying eyes of the Deep State are better off with a standalone device, especially if you have the option to turn off the GPS.

Lilygo Pager. Excellent case design, but uses the older less efficient chipset.

Rapid Technological Advance Warning:

As with all emergent technologies this one is going through one heck of a development phase. Devices using the first generations of chipsets might seem like a deal at first, but there’s a good chance the user will have some buyers remorse when they battery goes empty in a critical situation. Also Meshtastic is one of many mesh networking protocols currently in development, and even though it's main competitor Meshcore has solved some of the reliability issues it's still a distant second when it comes to popularity. For now Meshtastic remains king since it has the most nodes and therefore the most coverage, but this could change as more people pile into the system and signal conflicts start to become an issue.

Governments also despise encryption and have expressed growing concern about the possible loss in grip strength of their technological stranglehold. At some point there will be an inevitable Deep State pushback, so even though I usually play it safe and let the dust settle a bit on new technology in this case it's probably a good idea to have a legacy device or two on hand in case the crackdown is more severe than anticipated. Even if future software updates disable the most desirable features, the fact that there is no centralized system means there will still be plenty of folks out there running the old versions for as long as the devices continue to function.

Summary:

Look for deals on multiple keychain nodes (preferably with the updated chipsets) and hand them out to people that you wish to stay in contact with no matter what hijinks the nWo gets up to. Also consider acquiring a standalone device (preferably with an external antenna) for your go-bag or emergency kit, and recommend them to others in your comms circle once they catch the mesh fever. If the supply chain dries up (because of tariffs or whatever) it’s likely that the raw components will be the last to disappear. If you are facing budget restrictions at the moment consider getting just the parts and following online instructions on how to build your own node. We are getting short on time and the signal must prevail.

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