Adding support for nRF24L01 2.4 GHz modules

These modules are supported by RadioLib, would it be possible to add support for these modules ?

is it still LoRa if it’s not long range? :grin:

Yes, why not?

Im interested in the Meshtastic-tunnel potential.

why not use WiFi? whats the advantage?

WiFi use the same 2.4GHz band, but the modulation it’s way different.
WiFi it’s fast and short range, Lora at the other end it’s slower but with longer range.

@mark.birss I think can be very cool, the 2.4GHz ISM band it’s word wild free, so we don’t have pick a region specific hardware.

Also to take in account the reduce size of antenna and the wild availability of it, the wider band of the 2.4GHz.

I think one problem of microwave frequencies is poor propagation, as they tend to be absorbed and attenuated into pretty much everything.
Wooden door or fence in the way? You lose 3dB. Brick wall? That’ll be 8dB please. Clothing, vegetation, other people, everything comes at a high cost in the power budget. Hell, even a regular glass window will set you back about 2dB.

So, all other factors being equal (waveform, tx power, antenna gain etc), in real world conditions a sub-GHz signal will simply travel a lot further than a microwave one - a key requirement for long-range comms if ever there was one.

in theory. what if in practice WiFi is faster AND longer range than LoRa 2.4GHz? would this still make sense? thats all I’m saying.

not to mention competing with the 2.4GHz noise floor in urban environments, might as well call it a WiFi jammer. :joy:

WiFi can’t do longer range than Lora.
WiFi it’s suppose to be use in proximity of the device whit a coverage of hundreds of meters, if you’re in line of site.
Lora it’s design to be longer range, it’s a different kind of modulation done in hardware to provide insane range. But like WiFi work better in line of site connection.

If you consider some obstacle in the way the propagation it’s worst, but in an open space whit the 2 antenna in line of site, the 2.4GHz travel further than a sub-GHz one.

In the 2.4ghz space, the SX1280 chips have proven to have significantly more range than traditional Wifi on the same spectrum, just ask the drone community. And Semtech has published a datasheet that details how the technology avoids interference with both Wifi and Bluetooth.

Also Ebyte modules exist which can produce up to 27dbm output with that chip. Personally, I think 2.4ghz LoRA is worth exploring in Meshtastic. Yes, true line of sight becomes much more important in that band, but it does open up some neat niche use cases that could do with the extra bandwidth afforded.

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Ok, so the question to further our discussions here, what would be needed to add a 2.4Ghz LoRa implementation?

Im referring to the actual breakdown of the channel and channel settings?

I think the channel setting can be modified to add the 2.4GHz band.
Can we add a new region setting whit the 2.4GHz parameter?

Yes, that sound like a better approach to add a new region setting, as region specific allowed channels still apply to 2.4 Ghz

Only some countries use channels above 11 for WiFi

Only Canada and US use 1-11CH, the other country listed use 1-13CH. So to be legal and use the max possible CH, we have to set the region, or we can lock all setting to 1-11CH, like some WiFi AP do.

Ok, that we can start with the basics and hopefully build from there.

Who else has DIY designs that can help to get these 2.4Ghz devices working ?

These are what i already used as prototypes

I have a couple of thoes nRF24L01 SPI modules

Any updates on this? I’m very interested.

SX1280 support has been implemented, not NRF24L01

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