Bluetooth 5 long range mesh

[redansRedans]

Hello!

I bought recently some nRF52840 (PCA10059) dongle's and one nRF52840- DK. I want to create a kind of network ( a mesh network) from those dongles and communicate with them via Bluetooth 5 long range using an android app.My question is: Can create a mesh network just using multiple nRF52840 dongles via Bluetooth 5 long range or I need to use nRF52840- DK like a concentrator (gateway)?

[Joakim Jakobsen]

Hi. 

Can create a mesh network just using multiple nRF52840 dongles

Yes, it is possible to create a Mesh network only using the nRF52840 dongles. 
However; there is no support for the nRF52840 dongle in our Mesh SDK, so you need to make changes to the examples in order to use the dongle. 
More information here: 
https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/38567/test-procedure-for-any-ble-mesh-using-pca10059-nrf52840-usb-dongle 

 

via Bluetooth 5 long range or I need to use nRF52840- DK

 The Bluetooth Mesh specification is based on the BLE v.4.2 specification, hence there are no BT5 features available in Mesh. This might be added in a later version of the specification.
It should be possible to create a test setup using long range and Mesh, but note that end product using BT5 LR will not be certified as they don't comply with the specification. 

More information here: 
https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/29813/change-phy-in-mesh 

 

communicate with them via Bluetooth 5 long range using an android app.

We do have an Android app called nRF Mesh. This can used to provision and configure nodes in your Mesh network (More information in this blog-post). Like I mentioned above, BT5 is not supported by mesh, and most phones does not support BT5 Long range either. 

Best regards, 
Joakim