No internet required… In this video, I build a public Reticulum node and test whether it can bridge completely different networks into one encrypted communication path. I send messages from a normal phone over LTE, through the internet and Starlink, then off-grid over LoRa—eventually using a $20 drone-mounted relay to reach a phone with no internet connection at all.
I think we may be talking about different things. When I originally said “emergency comms,” another way to say that would be “ad hoc communications in a disaster scenario.” I was imagining coordinating teams and disseminating information in a scenario where typical radio stations might be damaged or otherwise unavailable.
It seems that when you say “emergency,” you’re imagining a person who needs immediate medical intervention. For that purpose, I agree that I wouldn’t rely upon LoRA technology unless it was literally the only viable option.