goTenna: Text & GPS on Your Phone, Without Service

Brand: goTenna
Manufacturer: goTenna Outdoors
Model: 900-00102
EAN: 0814096020053
Category: #246789 in Sports (Handheld GPS Units)
Price: n/a  (95 customer reviews)
Dimension: 0.90 x 4.20 x 1.30 inches
Shipping Wt: 0.56 pounds. FREE Shipping (Details)
Availability: In Stock.
Average Rating: 3.6 out of 5 stars
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Product Description

You have a phone – now create your own network! Pair this device to your phone to relay texts and GPS locations from phone to phone, no service required. You can leave devices in strategic locations to serve as stationary relay nodes (create your own pop-up mesh network!). Revolutionary mesh protocols immediately and automatically relay private 1:1 and group chats or public broadcast messages through other devices to extend beyond point-to-point range. Messages are encrypted end-to-end thanks to your smartphone’s technology. Great for groups enjoying outdoor activities, travel & crowded events; crucial for users in remote locations or preparing for emergencies to create connectivity when service is unreliable, unavailable or unaffordable.

Features

  • NOTICE: Any products sold by third-party are not guaranteed for manufacture warranty and cannot be confirmed as holding up-to-date firmware. Protect your purchase and buy from trusted and authorized sellers only – Amazon and GoTenna.
  • SMART DEVICE: goTenna Mesh pairs to your phone and enables it to privately relay texts and GPS locations between other goTenna devices, up to 4 miles in range. ANDROID & IOS READY: Compatible with iOS or Android. Sold in pairs. Charging cables included
  • INDEPENDENT & FREE: You don’t need phone service, routers, towers or satellites to use goTenna. Power your own network, whenever and wherever you need it. Secure encryption- No central data-store so your private chats are end-to-end encrypted.
  • CHAT, TEXT & GPS: Our super-smart mesh protocol powers private 1-to-1, group chats or public emergency broadcasts to all nearby users. Plus, the free goTenna app includes detailed offline maps for any region in the world.
  • THE PERFECT OFF-GRID TOOL: goTenna Mesh is great for hiking in areas where cell service is unreliable, avoiding costly data plans while traveling internationally, and staying connected in emergency situations when cell service is down.

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Top Reviews

Groundbreaking - The future of local emergency/disaster communication.
by David L Johnson (5 out of 5 stars)
November 30, 2018

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.
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They do require a Cell Service at the activation stage
by How2do (1 out of 5 stars)
November 16, 2018

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.
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Helped us stay connected in Peru during a clinical rotation!
by amazon customer (5 out of 5 stars)
June 11, 2018

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.
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Works everywhere...does what they say it does...worked GREAT on our Cruise!
by Frederic Block (5 out of 5 stars)
September 7, 2018

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.
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Limited Usefulness
by Sawmill Operator (3 out of 5 stars)
August 9, 2018

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.
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Easy to use, map/location sharing is great...
by gua742 (5 out of 5 stars)
December 4, 2017

Very easy to use, being able to download offline maps is very handy. Texting is awesome however I think the best feature is being able to share your location on a map and others can see where you are in relation to them. Came in very handy hiking this weekend.
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Staying connected 24/7
by Andy L (3 out of 5 stars)
October 3, 2018

I already own a pair of walkie talkies great little devices but they can get crowded especially when your walkie talkie is limited to certain channels you will have alot of other interference. This is where the Gotenna Mesh will shine.. The more people using it the better the connection & signal will become for everybody which is also the downside if you don't have enough people to mesh with in your area.

To be honest I didn't really need another communication device but I guess I got sucked into the marketing and was just curious about this new technology of mesh networking the ability to create your own private network. Just being curious got me this device.

The set-up process is pretty easy, download app and follow simple instructions and you are basically ready to use.. oh yeah download the map data too. The advertise for I believe 2 mesh is about 4 mile apart in open area. and If you are located in a area with more user you basically increase that range by unlimited.

The range test I have done so far from a 2 story house indoor to a parking lot 600 feet away still works...and then I went out to around 1900 feet was the 2nd test ping and I was unable to send anything. so basically the range isn't good in residential area unless you have a clear view or able to get the whole neighborhood to mesh with you for better range.

I can see this product being very useful out in the PCTA Trail a 2000+ mile long trek from Canada to mexico if gotenna mesh is Strategically placed along this route not every single mile just sections where is most likely trekker would need some type of emergency request for help this can be very useful.

Gotenna Mesh App

Its great they have their own app.. but I am not too big of a fan since its a extra app kinda like having another page open your web browser that needs to be used.. If this app was integrated and used the same area where texting is it would have been nice. Just my own personal preference

overall I will say.. this review is think of what you are going to use it before spending the money.
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Doesn't work with newer phones.
by Ryan (1 out of 5 stars)
October 8, 2018

I bought these in the Summer of 2018 and I had a one year old Pixel and my wife had a new iphone X. The gotenna connected to my Pixel, but not her Iphone. So we couldn't use it. 4 months later I was able to pair it to my wife's iPhone X, but since then I bought a new Pixel 3 for myself, gotenna would not connect to my new phone. From my experience, unless you're using a phone that is more than a year old, gotenna won't work for you.

I didn't find their product support helpful. They do support through email and will sometimes email you a few days later and ask you to simple things that most people know how to try anyway like power cycle your phone/gotenna. After multiple days of correspondence on two separate occasions, I gave up.
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Absolute garbage. Will not work with iPhones.
by Anonymous (1 out of 5 stars)
March 18, 2019

These terrible things were a disaster, and you should not buy them. We bought four for an overseas vacation and despite hours wasted trying none of us could successfully get these devices to actually send or receive messages.

The first problem: the company dishonestly advertises that you can use these devices without cell service, but they actually require cell service for the initial configuration (during which you have to (a) have a cell phone number and (b) receive a code that is sent to you via SMS). Doing this required paying a day of overseas roaming -- $10 per device.

Second the app for the device tried to get access to my phone's contacts. This is terrible from a privacy point of view. (Who knows what the "GoTenna" company is doing now or is going to do with this in the future? Even though it sounds innocuous, like "oh we just want to help you quickly choose who you want to send a message to", there's nothing stopping them from uploading your entire contacts to their servers and selling this to advertisers -- or leaving it somewhere vulnerable to hacking.) Fortunately, you can deny the app this access, but note that the app will not let you create a simple local GoTenna contact list -- you either give away full details on every single contact in your phone or you have to memorize the phone numbers of everyone you want to gotenna message. Clearly they just want to pressure you to get access to your data. Sleazy as heck.

Third each device insisted on a firmware update. This took 40 minutes and failed every time... and worst of all seems to have left the devices in an unpairable and unusable state. No amount of turning devices/iphone on and off or switching bluetooth off, etc. could get the devices to even connect with the phone, much less send/receive messages.

The concept is great, the devices look neat. But once again a good idea is ruined by a sleazy and/or miserably inept company implementing. And here I am left high and dry on my trip.
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... a fan of the first product and I'm in LOVE with the new MESH
by Amazon Customer (5 out of 5 stars)
January 18, 2018

I was a fan of the first product and I'm in LOVE with the new MESH! Love the new design - it's smaller and really easy to use. Also love that we can use the new devices to extend our reach with the meshing capabilities! We're using it at this time of year for staying in contact while we snow-shoe (great for knowing where everyone in the family is) and skiing. We have a cruise trip planned for the Caribbean coming up and we plan to use it on the ship and off. Looking forward to warmer days when we use it during hiking and fishing season.

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