No Network, No Problem!

A device will help you connect to your near and dear ones even if you are out with no network on your smartphone

Technology has increased exceptionally over the last decade still we suffer from terrible problem of phone reception. There are many incidences when cellular services go for a toss. Whether it’s because we’re off the grid in the wilderness, or in the middle of a natural disaster, we tend to freak out when there is no network. But with the help of a little device known as goTenna—a device that aims to allow users to use their phones even when there’s no reception—things will change.

GoTenna is the answer to all problems we face when there is no cell towers, no WiFi, no satellites. The device can be paired with your smartphone and you can communicate with anyone near you who also has a goTenna. A free app is used to type out text messages or share a location.

The working of the device is pretty simple yet effective. When you are in non-receptive area then using goTenna will help share your location to another goTenna user. When you type a message while using goTenna, your smartphone will send the message to your goTenna, which will then shoot it out, via long-range radio waves, to the intended goTenna(s). The recipient goTenna sends your message over BTLE [Bluetooth Low-Energy] to the smartphone app it’s paired with. All of this happens in a matter of milliseconds.

Two key movers behind Brooklyn-based goTenna are co-founders Daniela Perdomo, CEO, and her brother, Jorge, who is CTO. The idea for goTenna came during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, when a number of cell towers were downed and Internet access was not available; people were unable to communicate when they needed the most.

Overall, the device can prove to be a life saviour and can definitely increase your chance of survival when you are struck in wilderness. But there are many flaws in this device as well. One such one is that you can only contact to another goTenna user. But it is under development and we can see lots of modifications in this device soon.

By Rohan Pal