goTenna Mesh | Two Off-Grid SMS & GPS Devices that Pairs with Android and Apple IOS Phones | Chat, Send Texts & Location Information Without Cell Service or Wi-Fi | 24-Hour Battery

First, they work as advertised. I bought 4 about six weeks ago and have done numerous tests with them. I have bought 2 more just recently. I have personally done a 15.5 mile test with one relay in between and they worked wonderfully. The distance between the relay and the two people was 6.5 and 9 miles. The relay was hung on the top strand of barb wire fence with a carabiner. It was that simple to make my own personal repeater. Real test by a real guy. They work. As with ALL radios, range is dependent on too many factors to give a definitive, set range capability. Just know they do what a 1w device of this nature should be able to do. Since buying and using these, I've had several "Aha" moments about the impact these would have for my family in a real, extended emergency or disaster. Do your own research on these. But while researching, think about these five things that set these apart from any other emergency communication device available to the average person: Privacy, delivery confirmation, ease of extending range with relays, out of the box usability for virtually anyone (we all text now, even teens) and ability to keep device outdoors (immediate range extension) while user is indoors via bluetooth. These things put the Gotenna Mesh in an entirely different universe compared to FRS/GMRS radios and even, quite frankly, Ham Radio. (I'm a Ham - N7DLJ) If you think about these things in the context of emergency communications and you don't have several "Aha" moments, you either just don't really think private communication is a big advantage or you don't truly understand how these work and you need to keep researching. It's not hyperbole to say these things are groundbreaking. They don't use much power at all and use standard USB chargers. So pair these with a basic portable charger and a $50 portable USB solar panel and keeping them charged in an extended emergency would be pretty easy.Cons:Must have app installed on device before using. If a need for these arises and you haven't installed the app, it's too late.And the biggest problem of all which they need to fix, internal battery that cannot be easily replaced.This is a relatively new device and they recently worked out some kinks and improved the devices enormously with a recent firmware update. There is an active community of users who give great feedback to the company and there are some really great things coming in future firmware updates that will make these things even more amazing.

The description of this item says: Chat, Send Texts & Location Information Without Cell Service or Wi-Fi. But it does require a cell services to activate the device. During the activation step you should provide a cell. phone number and they will send you a text message. How can you do this without a cell services? There are no other options available to activate the device (like via e-mail). My daughter has a pay as you go phone with the iMessage service enabled via WiFi (but the text message service is disabled), and I was unable to activate her goTenna device. I am going to return them.

I'm a physician assistant student and I just got back from a 5 week clinical rotation where I worked in a medical clinic in a poor region of Peru. My friend and I used gotenna to stay connected throughout the trip. We absolutely love this product! We took the gotenna with us everywhere so we didn’t have to worry about becoming separated or lost while traveling to the clinic or around town. We were able to stay in touch with the chat feature during the evenings and early mornings from our dorm rooms. We were also able to see where the other was at all times.It was great to use the map feature when we traveled on the bus into Lima or nearby towns. We were able to download the map of Peru beforehand while we had access to wifi. We then used the GPS location while traveling on the bus to figure out when to get off the bus since none of the stops were marked and our spanish wasn't that great. We also used gotenna to communicate while hiking and exploring machu picchu. I highly recommend this product. It took away a lot of the stress of traveling in a foreign country with limited access to wifi or cell service.

We purchased 4 GoTennas for our cruise this past August.We had 3 unites out and about on the ship and hung one up on our balcony to act as a dedicated relay node.I think the general consensus was that the GoTenna’s worked great throughout the ship. We were “regularly” relaying through one or two nodes so I am sure that the fact many of us had a GTM helped. I personally recorded successful messages throughout many parts of the ship and usually through one or two relay nodes. Remember that communications are a stretch considering all the steel the messages have to go through.On the island of St. Maarten we communicated with some of our friends who were further down the beach from us and one person communicated with his wife on the ship which was over a mile away from us.In all, I am pleased with the performance we got and can only see things getting better from here. So much so that I just ordered two more so now have a total of 6! I look forward to the next adventure where I can use them.

The devices worked as advertised. However, in examining their network map, I was unable to communicate with any other nodes other than the other pair I bought. This would be unacceptable in any emergency situation. The network nodes shown in their map are generally turned off if they are ‘mobile nodes’. You cannot send out a broadcast message which will repeat through nodes—only to specific nodes known to you. This means you cannot seek other users other than those who can receive your signal directly, which will be highly limited. This device is engineered for city environments and is not useful to those outside of big cities. Furthermore, you cannot send data other than text messages or gps position. I suggest buying a Beofang uv-5r cheap hand held ($27) instead of these. You will have much more flexibility , albeit voice only.

These are well made and look great. Simply to setup and use. So I was really happy until I used for real. I paired them with iPhones and set off. Unfortunately the position did not update! It sent the position and the range seemed great, but the position was the position when the app started (potentially many hours previously). After much searching and trialling I found an a bug conversation recently updated and going back to August. Basically the position does not update on iPhone, but fixing it is not a priority. I suspect on Android these are great.

Ordered two pairs, tested one pair so far. The first pair I opened looked like used or refurbished. One of the devices (with blue band) has a bad battery and dies fast, goes from 100% charge to 85% in an hour without any usage (no messaging). Both devices are sitting next to each other. The blue one also refuses to connect to phone several times, and is intermittent. The one with green band looks to have an OK battery. I haven't tested the second pair yet.It seems there's no way to contact the seller for support. Most probably will return both pairs soon.

The range wasn't as advertised and the setup was confusing, which I could deal with, but I also learned that the unit has no GPS antenna itself. It relies on the GPS from your phone, which was a massive fail for this product.I felt a little misled and returned it for a refund. I bought a gotele instead, which has built-in GPS and was easy to set-up.

Bought these several years ago. Waste of money. Doesn't reach very far.