Long range (LoRa) mesh networks are interesting alternatives to communication, especially when state actors are blocking internet access for various reasons.
More details about meshtastic: https://meshtastic.org/
About its current state of encryption: https://meshtastic.org/docs/overview/encryption
Funny. I have some Disc Lite 5s that I’ve yet to get going due to difficulty of setup. We did have plans of a little Wi-Fi mesh setup to setup a WAN.
This would just be for fun between a few friends and the price point is pretty attractive. Plus the ham in me is a little excited about messing with antennas.