Common causes:

• The cable is a charge-only cable with no data wires → use a proper data cable.
• USB tethering is not enabled on the phone (Settings → Hotspot/Tethering).
• The node's port is a power-only port (see above).
• Missing driver / USB role (host vs. device) — some nodes must be configured as USB host.

No. At the moment (Firmware 0.5.1) ther is no support for local data logging to the SD-card.

The node with the case has an integrated antenna. (comes with the ESP32)

Typical temperature is about 55°C.

Possible reasons:

• Status LEDs at full power (set via Admin Node Portal > Set brightness (0 = off, 255 = maximum)
• Direct sunlight on outdoor installations.

• interference of a 5GHz WALN Access Point near by → seperate devices od deactivate 5GHz (ESP32 only uses 2.4GHz)
• indoor usage (Tinted windows also reflect waves) → mount outdoor

Common approaches:

• MQTT: the node publishes telemetry to a broker, HA reads it via the MQTT integration.

From there you can build sensors, automations, and dashboards in HA.