Both can and are being done. Though it definitely requires more knowledge on an uplink node. The mesh is local. But there’s nothing saying you can’t connect to larger networks and even other local mesh via them. I had access to the Internet long before I ever had Internet access. It was very delayed and slow. Since it would often have to make several fidonet hops. But it worked.
I think that most people want Internet connectivity, not just local connectivity.
Both can and are being done. Though it definitely requires more knowledge on an uplink node. The mesh is local. But there’s nothing saying you can’t connect to larger networks and even other local mesh via them. I had access to the Internet long before I ever had Internet access. It was very delayed and slow. Since it would often have to make several fidonet hops. But it worked.