Meadows said this may be obvious, but you also need to set up a network before the disaster strikes. So during a cell and Internet outage, set up anyone who might need to communicate with you before it actually happens. And, thanks to relatively frequent firmware updates, you can’t just throw the device into the wrong bag and forget it. But, “If you actually use it, like pulling it out and using it once a month, that’s great,” Bennett said.

Then there is the problem of raw bandwidth. This limitation can cause problems when many people try to use the network at the same time. Last year, at the HAM broadcast conference in Dayton, Ohio (yes, that's Hamvention), someone ran a program that flooded the network and pushed the grid network toward restrictions, and the network network crashed.

"Because literally one person opened the MQTT bridge and then joined the rest of us in a metal building in Dayton, which immediately broke the entire mesh."

Following the incident, Vander Houwen, Bennett and Meadows went to work to prepare for the upcoming Defcon Hacker conference in Las Vegas, ultimately releasing special firmware for the bigger event, with Vander Houwen estimated that it would allow 2,000 to 2,500 nodes to run on the network “between 2,000 and 2,500 nodes.” Similar firmware released before Hamvention in May 2025 has been praised by the community.

Despite the limitations of a grid, its promise as a backup communication system and your pure pleasure in it - keeps attracting new enthusiasts. Android apps alone have drawn thousands of comments, and the mesh's Subreddit has grown to nearly 50,000 members. Some municipalities even want to launch networks in the event of natural disasters to help protect their communities.

For Bennett, Meadows and Vander Houwen, they were happy to see not only the number of grid nodes increased, but also the technology evolved into something that anyone could use without being a fan or a “simulated astronaut.”

“I think the biggest thing for me is that it’s not only accessible from the hardware that more people use. I want to make the software more accessible,” Meadows said. “I want to gain experience so that I can hand over this device to anyone and have them download the app and start messaging. We’ve come a long way. I think there’s still room there to grow there.”