ATAK and mesh networks

Tweety15

Newbie
Is anyone running ATAK and running a mesh network for out of network coverage? What are you using to set your mesh network up? Gotennas or radios?
 

BooneGA

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
WARLORD
Yes its being done. If you have SIPR access I can discuss more.

Rick
 

Tweety15

Newbie
My understanding is they were close to fielding ITAK. A couple agencies in NY were about to go live on it sometime in the beginning of this year (for some reason I feel like it was either NYPD or NYSP, I can't remember). We were originally holding out for ITAK but we are trying for ATAK.
 

Oak City Tactics

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Out tech IT guys all love iOS and push it heavily ( you get your choice of Apple or Android phone). Factor that with how many people are already in love with iOS from their personal phone experience and there is just no way to purefleet Android. I took an informal poll within the Special Ops Div and could only find one guy with an Android device. The success of the system thrives on more folks being on the network. If over half are not eligible right off the bat it’s not happening. We had a chance to get our own server and network for free and I couldn’t do it. It would be nice if Motorola had made APX compatible as well. It would be a way to get folks who don’t want to use their personal phone and don’t get issued one.
 
Working various networks to operate ATAK on (among other things) is part of my daily job description. The type of network infrastructure required to use ATAK can vary significantly depending on your use case. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to disclose details here and I can likely give you some pointers. GoTenna is an option if you're looking for COTS purchases and fairly easy integration, however it will not provide constant coverage in the sense of running ATAK over commercial cellular or other similar wireless architectures. In my experience, GoTenna works decently for specific use cases in a small/defined area. For example, LEOs converging on an active shooter scenario or when conducting a raid. However, if you're looking for a fairly constant "net" that will maintain connectivity throughout a city/metropolitan area similar to an LMR rollout or similar, the infrastructure needs to be much more robust coverage wise.
Regarding iTAK, one of the major hurdles is that it's much more difficult to maintain at the organization level due to the restrictions that iOS places on how you can download and install apps, etc. Android is very flexible, as well as Windows for WinTAK.
 
Top