I talk to one person from highschool, it's my current department head, he joined the company about 10 years before me. We've joked that this is the closest either of us will ever get to a class reunion.
The best part is we have a similar sense of humor and give each other shit during every team meeting. This is especially fun when newbies are in the meeting, we take it up a notch just to screw with them. Afterwards we of course let them in on the gag.... eventually.
Thread also works on the 2.4 GHz range but can utilize sub ranges of 868 in Europe and 915 in north America. The 868 and 915 GHz ranges are what LoRa operates on and provides a much greater range for low data rate transmissions.
In fact Meshtastic operates on LoRa on 915 here in the U.S. and I have a node in my second floor window with a 3db antenna and I have been able to message both ways up to 3 blocks away.
Long story short, utilizing 868 and 915 in these devices will make dead spots a thing of the past within a home, even with their lower gain internal antennas.