Volk Fi: Distributed network smartphone
This makes a bit more sense:<p>&quot;Every Volk phone has a SIM card slot and supports use on traditional LTE networks.<p>However, a SIM is not necessary and the phone will always prioritize the Volk network first.<p>The Volk network works as such: every Volk user gets a special router with their phone. The router acts as a wireless Qi charging pad also. The router connects to your existing internet via Ethernet or something similar.<p>The router is what connects phones to Volk and allows calls, texts, and data to go through.<p>If a router isn&#x27;t nearby, the phone will try to find another Volk phone to use as a hop, until it finally reaches a router.<p>All Volk phones have strong radios and can go more than half a mile if terrain is clear.<p>If there are no routers or Volk phones nearby to hop to, you&#x27;ll either not have service, have to use Wifi, or fallback to LTE if you have a SIM card installed and it has active service.&quot;<p>(<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;Scams&#x2F;comments&#x2F;aq3hul&#x2F;volk_fi_claims_it_gets_reception_everyone_and&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;Scams&#x2F;comments&#x2F;aq3hul&#x2F;volk_fi_claim...</a>)<p>So the backbone of the mesh network is their charging stations &#x2F; routers, and phones can (?) mesh but not necessarily that far.<p>What I still don&#x27;t like about this is that nowhere they talk about the frequencies on which they operate, not even in the &quot;Specs&quot; section of the website. This makes it very hard to verify any range claims they make.