I just started trying to get into this, and so far it's been kinda disappointing. I got a couple of heltec v3s, set them up with meshtastic and found zero other nodes in range. I did a range test by carrying 1 node around with me while I walked my dog, and the other one at home. It maxed out at about a block. I know there are other nodes in the area but I can't reach them unless I turn on MQTT, but at that point you're just using the Internet with extra layers. I'm looking into more powerful antennas, etc, but it looks like a big money sink.