Why use Internet when you can have your own WAN?
this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2026
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Love how tiny that is, but I'm not a fan of the pin layout on those little Xiao modules. The connection pads on the bottom, including the battery connection, are a major pain to try to solder to. If I ever get around to playing with the remaining two I have, I'm gonna try using pogo pins or something instead of trying to solder onto them
Edit: I do really like that it has external antenna connectors for both Wifi/BT and LoRa (unlike my Heltecs). Assuming I handle the battery charging and convert to 5v externally (to avoid dealing with the annoying battery pads) they'd make a great "attic node" (in my case on a mast in the back yard) that could stay connected to my wifi rather than having to remote admin it over LoRa (Slow and not all config options are available)
With the Grove expansion board, you can also get GPS access as well as environmental sensors. Lots of cool applications.
Got a link? that looks cool.
https://thepihut.com/products/grove-shield-for-seeeduino-xiao
Seeedstudio has a TON of Grove-compatible peripherals: https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/Grove_Accessories_Intro/
For Meshtastic, a GPS might be handy: https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/Grove-GPS/
Tx!