Plus a general red-flag gut feeling
seems to be waving in the background
of their online payment efforts.
That suggests there may be shenanigans in the future.
I'm not sure what "online payment efforts" you are referring to here. I know there has been a project to allow people to pay for features they want implemented, is that what you mean?
Mesh access must be paid for - it can never be "free".
If your neighbor is feeding you mesh access
then they will bill you (cheaply) to recover their costs+profit.
Micropayment/mB
