emptywheel

Really useful at large events that overwhelm cell coverage (or are in places with marginal coverage)

Do you have one? And is the encryption sound?

I have a couple. Haven’t personally looked at the crypto. But they seem to care about doing it properly.

Do you believe it bypasses govt surveillance or is there a way they can get to it?

Weakness for that is that it’s easily tracked and obvious that you’re using it, in a way that stands out from everyone else with a cellphone. And requires you have Bluetooth on.

Making you susceptible to other BlueTooth compromise? Would you use it at DefCon?

If you have BT on, your phone is broadcasting a persistently linked id beacon. But all that said, defcon is a perfect use case. I do use it there.

I'm wondering if Serval is just as good for these use cases.

Serval is great but only Bluetooth range. goTenna Mesh is over many miles in many cases. See more at http://imeshyou.com 

Serval is buggy as hell. Been desperately trying to get it to work in Puerto Rico. They need funding and coders... But even then, talking fifty feet distance? Gotenna and @SonnetLabs offers miles... Best you can get within Fcc 1 watt limit.

wait.. do you have a sonnet labs device? They appear to still be in preorder.

Only gotenna devices here. Sonnet only got fcc approval a week ago? Another four weeks until delivery?

We are aiming for early Feb delivery right now.

Hiking / camping in groups where there is no cell coverage.

How do you charge your phones?

Solar panel and/or battery pack depending on circumstances