Technology. In the digital age, a smartphone feels like a box without internet. In such a situation, if someone says that your phone can run internet even without a SIM card and without any Wi-Fi connection, then it is natural to be surprised. Cyber expert Amit Dubey has made a similar claim in an interview given on an Instagram handle ncupodcast. He explained that our smartphones have in-built transmitters and receivers, which can directly work as a hotspot. He says that if a special application is installed in thousands of phones, then these phones can connect with each other without any telecom operator (like Jio, Airtel).
How does this technology work? The math behind Bridgefy and FireChat
In technical terms, this system is called a “peer-to-peer mesh network” (P2P Mesh Network). A simple example can be used to illustrate this: if several phones are placed in a row at a certain distance, they act as bridges for each other. The first phone will send data to the second, the second to the third, and so on, forming a long chain.
Apps like Bridgefy and FireChat use this technology to allow people to send messages during internet outages or natural disasters that disrupt mobile towers. While the expert didn’t name any specific apps in his video, he did acknowledge that data transfer in this process occurs with some delay (lag) rather than in real time.
Why can’t this method become an alternative to the common internet?
Even though it may sound like some magical technology, calling it ‘global internet’ would be technically completely wrong. Experts say that the biggest catch in Amit Dubey’s statement is that with this setup, you can do offline chat or file sharing only with people who are within the same network range. If you want to search something on Google, watch videos on YouTube or scroll reels on Instagram through this method, then it is completely impossible. To enjoy the World Wide Web (WWW) or global internet, the phone must have an active internet connection (SIM or Wi-Fi).
Battery and security are a big headache.
There are several practical reasons why this technology shouldn’t be used daily. When your phone constantly acts as a transmitter and receiver, constantly searching for and transmitting signals, your phone’s battery will drain within hours. Furthermore, since data is transmitted from one phone to another, the risk of data hacking or privacy leakage increases a hundredfold. Clearly, this technology can be a boon for sending messages in an emergency, but it’s premature to consider it a substitute for regular internet.