Communicate node to node

[pbosmans]

Some beginners questions.
I was wondering if it's possible if a node can communicate with another node (send and receive messages)
Or is it always a node to the gateway (like in the examples).
If a node can communicate to another node, why is the gateway needed for ?

[TomWS]

Some beginners questions.
I was wondering if it's possible if a node can communicate with another node (send and receive messages)
Or is it always a node to the gateway (like in the examples).
If a node can communicate to another node, why is the gateway needed for ?

The answer is: ABSOLUTELY!  If a node 'knows' where to send a message, ie another node's ID, sending to another node is no different than sending to a gateway (assuming the other node is listening).  Rather than using the Gateway's id, you'd use the other node's id in the send command.

I do this in a set of nodes I documented in https://lowpowerlab.com/forum/index.php/topic,934.0.html.  The 'remote' node sends to another node (the DC Controller) to tell it that a particular zone is active or not, no gateway is involved or required for the transaction.

Tom

[EloyP]

If a node can communicate to another node, why is the gateway needed for ?

To add to what Tom said, the gateway is needed to bridge the RF world to the rest of your infrastructure (a central computer, your home network, the Internet, you name it). If you don't have a need to consume, outside of the RF world, data produced by your nodes then you don't need a gateway. Or said another way: If your nodes can do whatever it is you want them to do without talking to anything outside of the RF world in which they live then you don't need a gateway.

Cheers,

Eloy Paris.-