I am planning to create my first mesh network that I hope can send sensor data from multiple locations in a remote area to a central collection point. I envision the greatest distance between any two points in this first test network will be less than 2 miles, or perhaps less than one mile.
The digi Xbee3 mesh kit (XK3-Z8S-WZM Digi XBee3 ZigBee Mesh Kit, worldwide–$99) appears to be a good choice, but since I’m a beginner I have a few questions.
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Does this kit include two Xbee3 devices and one Xbee3 Pro? (I haven’t found the answer in the catalog)
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Is everything I need to start with Xbee mesh networking included in this kit?
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Is there another combination of XBee3 devices to better meet the needs of this project?
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Is this the most cost-effective solution?
Here are additional details that led to my tentative choice of the digi Xbee3 ZigBee Mesh Kit:
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Ample documentation.
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Each device will need battery power.
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Error correction.
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Initially data will be fetched by physically driving to the central collection point and copying it to another storage device.
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Reasonable price and scalability.
NOTE: The collected data will be analyzed in a lab about 40 miles from the mesh network, so ultimately it would be nice to transmit data from the field to the lab. But for now, I simply want to become acquainted with the technology.
Thanks for clarifying the kit’s contents and for any suggestions you may have for a better approach to this.
jb