Show HN: Red Grid Link – peer-to-peer team tracking over Bluetooth, no servers

Re:Show HN: Red Grid Link – peer-to-peer team tracking over ... by redgridtactical on Friday March 20, 2026 @08:04PM (#47462543)

Meshtastic is great if you're willing to carry extra hardware. Everyone in your group needs a LoRa radio (which can range from $30-50 each), and you need to pair them, flash the firmware, configure channels, etc. For a SAR team or preppers who already own the gear, it's definitely a solid choice.

Red Grid Link was more so for those already carrying their phones and those that don't want to buy anything else. The trade-off is range for convenience. BLE gets you maybe ~50-100m in the open, ~20-60m in densely woooded areas. That's enough to keep tabs on a hunting party spread across a hillside or a hiking group. Absolutely not a replacement for a radio relay across a valley.

Different tools for different problems. If I need a 2km mesh range I'd set up Meshtastic too.

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Re:Show HN: Red Grid Link – peer-to-peer team tracking over ... by RankingMember on Friday March 20, 2026 @08:28PM (#47462728)

Good points. I like the ghost marker functionality, helps with the shorter-range of BT.

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Re:Show HN: Red Grid Link – peer-to-peer team tracking over ... by redgridtactical on Friday March 20, 2026 @08:58PM (#47462930)

Thanks, yeah the ghost markers ended up being one of those features that came out of necessity. Once I accepted that the BLE range was never going to be amazing, the question became what happens when someone drops off? Felt wrong to just remove them from the map.

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