The questions neighbors ask

Yes. There's no subscription, no account, and no company in the middle. PalmasMesh is a labor of love — run by neighbors for neighbors. The only cost is the small radio you buy once to get on the network. After that, using PalmasMesh costs nothing — there's no monthly bill because there's no service provider to pay.

No — that's the whole point. PalmasMesh runs entirely on its own radios, neighbor to neighbor. It keeps working during a blackout, when the cell towers are down, and when there's no Internet at all. It's at its most valuable exactly when everything else stops.

It depends a lot on where the radios are. Out in the open, one radio can reach a neighbor a few kilometers away. Around buildings and trees it's less. The clever part is that every radio passes messages along for the others, so the network as a whole reaches much further than any single device — and it grows every time someone new joins.

Closer to a text-message version of one. You're not talking into it — you're typing messages on your phone that travel over the radios. And unlike a walkie-talkie, you don't have to be in direct range of the person you're reaching, because messages hop across the whole community to get there.

Treat the main channel like a conversation in a public plaza. It's encrypted, but the key is shared by everyone on the network and isn't really a secret — so assume anyone could be listening, and keep it to things you'd happily say out loud in the town square. Direct messages to one neighbor are more private, but still not a substitute for a dedicated secure app. The simple rule: never send anything truly sensitive — passwords, financial details — over the mesh.

Not at all. If you can install a phone app and pair a Bluetooth speaker, you can use PalmasMesh. The one-time setup takes about fifteen minutes, and there's always a neighbor happy to help you through it. Day to day, it's just a group chat.

Barely any battery, and zero data — it never touches your data plan. The radio does the communicating and sips a tiny amount of power. Your phone is just the screen and keyboard, connected over Bluetooth.

It keeps running on its own battery. Many neighbors keep theirs topped up with a small power bank or solar panel so it can run for days. That way, when the grid goes down, your link to the community stays up.

Yes. Meshtastic uses the same license-free radio band that countless everyday devices use, as long as you're on the correct US setting (915 MHz) for Puerto Rico. You don't need a license or any permit to take part.

No — when you can reach emergency services, always use them. PalmasMesh is for staying connected with your neighbors and coordinating as a community, especially when the normal channels are down. Think of it as a community safety net, not a replacement for emergency dispatch.

Just follow the directions to set up a device and then join the chat.

Neighbors. PalmasMesh is a community project, not a business — built and looked after by people who live in Palmas del Mar and want the area to stay connected through whatever the next storm brings. The more users and nodes, the stronger it gets.