That is really the big question about open mesh networks: how much of other people's traffic is going through your open node. The more traffic you allow, the fu

That is really the big question about open mesh networks: how much of other people's traffic is going through your open node. The more traffic you allow, the further the mesh can reach. But I really think it should be zero in the case of phones for security/privacy and limited battery reasons. That of course means you are limited to people within direct reach of your phone's broadcasting power (would be interesting to get actual numbers for this). Also, the surveillance issues around mesh networks seem rather thorny. Being open, it seems trivial for authorities to set up listening stations everywhere. Yes, you are an anonymous handle, but you are also very localizable. Just as an additional data point, another example of mesh network is the smart meter. It uses more powerful wifi, but it sends its data through other smart meters (down the street through your neighbor's smart meters) to reach its recipient (the phone company).