When I purchased my phone plan it was advertised as being 5G compatible with speeds of up to 250 mbps. I would assume that means that when network conditions (Bandwidth, signal etc...) allow 250 mbps to be possible, that I will get up to 250 mbps.

After some testing and light research I found out that this is not the case. Public Mobile (And other providers) intentionally limit the speeds you can get for certain services.

I found that by setting up a VPS with wireguard running and using it as a VPN, I was able to get 20 mbps higher download speed and a generally more stable experience on Facetime (Especially), Tiktok and Youtube.

Should Public stop throttling and let users use high speeds when possible?

This is also not directly related to bandwidth throttling, but I find that at school where there are thousands of students trying to use their data at once during lunch (To bypass school network restrictions), that my phone's data doesn't work while my friends phone's (Bell and Telus) work completely fine.

Something I hate about cellular is how I am constantly tracked just living my life. Sometimes I wish there was a way to stay connected while avoiding cellular.

I had an idea for a sort of SMS-gateway, it would be self hosted for each user and you'd be able to send and receive sms up to the byte limit.

There are 3 main problems that need addressing though:

1. Having the same phone number as usual when your cell phone goes on airplane mode.

2. Dealing with messages bigger than the byte limit.

3. Unnecessary airtime for spam SMS. (Messages would need to be screened)

What are your thoughts on building an SMS gateway for meshcore?

https://preview.redd.it/g4zmgivsoslh1.png?width=1728&format=png&auto=webp&s=b329a3a8badd4d75874f7be52ef9196b2f3bfd39

I recently got interested in decentralized communication and since meshcore has many more users in my city that's what I'll likely choose.

The node should be cheap (under $50) and I'll just put it in my bedroom which is on the second story.

Will I be able to reach the closest node/repeater? Would my node be vital to the network? (It looks like my area doesn't have many nodes). What's my best option for an antenna?