Briar Bluetooth messenger

ACuriousFellow

Hi all

I have been trying to get briar to work between my graphene os phone and a Samsung.

I've successfully got internet and local WiFi messaging working. But the main case I want it for is Bluetooth for the scenario all comma are down

I have the two phones with Bluetooth on and all requested permissions and they are contacts of each other but whenever I try the connect via Bluetooth option it always fails.

Has anyone successful configured this?

Cheers

Tandara

ACuriousFellow Did you grant it 'Nearby devices' permission?

chinook

ACuriousFellow

But the main case I want it for is Bluetooth for the scenario all comma are down

Realistically I wouldn't expect the range to exceed 10-20 metres (phones are Class 2), so in case of the natural disaster they're useless. In case of the adversary (the police force that doesn't like the demo) they're useless - BT is ISM range (2400 to 2483.5 MHz), which is accessible to other users which can emit MUCH more.
Phones transmit with the power of 2.4mW max, and the couple of the amateur licensees can talk over them with 400 W EIRP :)

Briar on BT is probably good for the text chat on the plane or in the Channel tunnel (as long as you're in the same carriage).

CB-radio, pmr radio, ham licence (JS8Call) with any of the immense range of the equipment will give you better options for voice chat, LoRA, especially networks like Meshstatic (can serve as the underlying layer for the Reticulum Network) can be probably better solution.

Or is it just for fun? Then I don't know, sorry, Briar never worked for me (tried on several phones over the years).

Meatheadmarty

ACuriousFellow thanks for testing this

ACuriousFellow

Tandara I did yes

Meatheadmarty

chinook what is the best prep technologically for a grid down or communication limitied situation? (Example, civil unrest and Internet monitored, people randomly being rounded up because of internet chatting)

ACuriousFellow

chinook thanks for this. I'm trying it with the phones literally next to each other and it still can't connect .

Has anyone got it working?

LeslieFH

chinook In case of the adversary (the police force that doesn't like the demo) they're useless - BT is ISM range (2400 to 2483.5 MHz), which is accessible to other users which can emit MUCH more.

The one reasonable scenario for Briar is large demonstrations, and not because "the police force doesn't like the demo", it's because large demonstrations overload cell networks and people lose connectivity.

This is what happened regularly in Poland when tens of thousands of people went into the streets to demonstrate when our constitutional tribunal made a lot of abortion illegal - very spotty cell connectivity above a certain demo size, basically only text messages work.

If a lot of people in the demonstration have briar, then the "mesh" part comes into play.

argante

chinook LoRA, especially networks like Meshstatic (can serve as the underlying layer for the Reticulum Network) can be probably better solution

Meshcore looks the most interesting - it's a lesson learned from the mistakes of Meshtastic and Reticulum.

chinook

LeslieFH

it's because large demonstrations overload cell networks and people lose connectivity.

true that. Out of the curiosity, did Briar work for you and your friends?

Meatheadmarty

what is the best prep technologically

I don't think it's a good forum to cover that, and I'm definitely not the right person to ask. It likely depends on your priorities and budget.

I'd start from the good, reviewed resources like this: https://www.suomi.fi/guides/preparedness and/or this: https://prepare.campaign.gov.uk/get-prepared-for-emergencies/ and/or https://emergency.un.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/Emergency-Preparedness-A-Guide-for-United-Nations-Personnel-in-New-York.pdf

Personally, to stay on topic, I don't believe my cellphone will have any use beside being an offline map/database, so I have a good AM/FM/SSB battery-powered radio, amateur radio licence and equipment (which I use, to keep the skills fresh), some food, basic medicines, tools, power backup, etc.

people randomly being rounded up because of internet chatting

How can you counteract this? :)

LeslieFH

chinook true that. Out of the curiosity, did Briar work for you and your friends?

I didn't test it out then, I only found Briar after looking for solutions for the problem afterwards.

(That is a problem insofar that many people would need Briar installed and running beforehand)

DeletedUser499

I had my P6a connect to two Samsung tablets. I did nothing but follow the prompts. the internet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth symbols were lit up and activated in the app on both. As I recall, neither devices were paired by Bluetooth to each other.
I did however notice problems at first when trying to add the contacts until all were connected to the internet.
I mean why did it need internet connection to add contacts via the QR codes and the device cameras, when they are next to each other, but once connected they worked.
Don't use it often. I found its a temporary, use, delete, then try and prove we communicated type of messenger, not a replacement for WA. Then again that's its point, is it not.

ACuriousFellow

DeletedUser499 thanks for your reply.
If you turned off WiFi and internet,were you still able to send messages with Bluetooth?

Its been really interesting the preparedness chat . I'd really like to be able to get some kind of Bluetooth messenger working (old guide says this work )

Appreciate if anyone else is able to get this working

DeletedUser499

ACuriousFellow
since your post I tried connecting via Bluetooth and frustratingly it just fails.
Its not a GrapheneOS problem, as two Samsung Tablets cannot connect using Briar and Bluetooth either.
WiFi perfect, Internet perfect, Bluetooth nothing..