How Far Can ChatterBox Deliver
Line of Sight is Important - But Smart Meshing is More Important
With nearly all radio transmission, line-of-sight can be important. If you can see it, ChatterBox can likely deliver the message directly in a single hop. But, that is easy. Meshing is what makes things interesting.
With a very early prototype
Why Meshing can be the Determining Factor
Meshing can deliver your messages and location around impenetrable obstacles, across large distances, and even across gaps of time.
That’s right, your messages/packets can sit on any ChatterBox device, waiting for an opportunity to be delivered. Your message could be sitting on a device in an unwitting person’s pocket, waiting to be delivered when they pass by you on the way to work.
Mesh communication is automatic and secure in ChatterBox.
Pushing Packets
Although mesh capability can be the determining factor, obviously every single hop has to complete at some point. Hopefully there is more than one path, but lets discuss how far you can get in a single hop.
Remember, you have up to 89 hops available in a cluster, and the hops are allowed up to 24 hours to complete.
Some Distance Tests - 41 KM and Beyond
As you can see from the two points on the map, I have done direct, instant, one-hop deliveries, including signed delivery confirmation, as far as 41 KM, on more than one occasion.
This is in the midwestern US, where it is extremely flat farmland, so neither device as on a large hill or mountain. That would certainly yield even better results.
I have done real-world testing with a variety of devices, antennas, conditions, and amplifiers. You can find the results of my testing throughout this site, but I’ll save you a little trouble if you don’t want to read much more. Generally, you can expect results similar to what’s shown here.
Need More Distance?
Check out how adding an MQTT bridge with any compatible 2.4 GHz internet source (mobile phone hot spot, Starlink, etc) can help you span any distance. To ChatterBox, it’s just another hop available to all devices in the cluster.
