i had the idea of trying to find a wifi card that would fit in the m.2 E key slot on the new headphone boards for when i upgrade my Pocket, and wanted to make this post to brainstorm it (and ask for help trying to find hardware)
my goal being that if i can get a unified card that just needs more antennas and supports WiFi + BT, but also LoRa, that would open up some insane things, namely making the Pocket a portable Meshtastic (and maybe even Reticulum) node for more communication methods, and also making it a potential node in a MANET for emergencies. i already have a cellular module, so it would need to slot into the mpcie slot on the new boards, and i know i’d be stuffing more wireless tech into this thing than is at all reasonable lol but that’s part of the fun, turning something so tiny and portable into such a beast.
i’m hoping some of y’all reading this might know of a module such as this as i’ve not had any luck finding one.
if nobody makes one that i can just go and buy then do any of y’all know of good chipsets i can buy and design a PCB for to make my own? and if i did go the custom route, would drivers be an issue? i don’t have a lick of experience with drivers or coding anything myself past bash scripts (hence my preference of a premade one) and have only used CAD not PCB design software, so i’d like some input on making this a reality.
another approach might be if there’s just an SDR card that can be set to operate as WiFi+BT and LoRa, and have those features disabled for SDR shenanigans, but that sounds more difficult to find/make and more convoluted
One thing that pop into my mind is using ESP32 micro-controller with LoRa capable chip integration. Similar to what this “Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 (V3) has as specs to offer. However, it’s not making use of M.2 slot, so need to figure other means for connection. Or similar product. Hope this helps you narrow the search.
As a side note, LoRa and WiFi/BT are using different frequencies for communication, they require different antennas sizes and room for them. I’ve seen LoRA devices antennas, they are not very discrete, might need to stick out of the Pocket in order to work properly for long range communication.
yeah any card like this would need 4 antennas up from the 2 most wifi+bt only cards run, and i think i could find a decent trace antenna for internal mounting, if i need serious range i’d run an external antenna through usb-c, or if i could use only 1 antenna i’d do that with an internal and 3D print a custom headphone side panel with an internal “basin” and macgyver in an SMA plug (already have adapters for that) and just use a rubber cap to keep it clean, then when i need range just pop on a nice lil nubbin lol. space would be tricky but absolutely doable imo, the hard part’s finding the right card
as for that one you mentioned, i already found that one, wish they’d sell just the underlying chipset but near as i can tell they don’t, not in the proper key and form factor anyways. even if i need to macgyver an adapter that’d work but none of their offerings are fully what i’m after functionality wise. as is my cellular card has a 3D printed slot extension thing since it’s too long for the slot so i’m no stranger to that sort of thing, the trick is the functionality. that said an esp32 might work, bonus points if i could pull some software and ideas from Flipper Zero wifi dev board projects to make it have some extra pentesting features, the hard part is finding one with lora compatibility. thanks for the idea