Btw, look into LoRa for communication
I came to the thread to say exactly this. [email protected] is pawbably the best option for communication. It’s cheap and encrypted. Use an old smartphone to connect to your node, without a SIM in it. Or get a T-Deck.
Meshtastic - Mander

A community to discuss Meshtastic (https://meshtastic.org/docs/introduction [https://meshtastic.org/docs/introduction]) Other mesh communities: MeshCore: [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] Reticulum: [email protected] [/c/[email protected]]

Just going to drop the meshtastic firmware loaded version:

https://lilygo.cc/products/t-deck-meshtastic

And the meshtastic site:

https://meshtastic.org/

Which has a ton of info in docs worth checking out, including other hardware options

T-Deck Meshtastic