If you are only going to be wanting to go about 5 meters then why not simply go down the BLE route or even the NF low power transmitters ... you can buy the NRF ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271444747312 ) devices for a few $ and the BLE->UART bridges ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251310285396 ) for about $7.
The BLE->UART bridge will not require any libraries and there a a few out there for the NRF devices.
Connect them up to a few Arduino Pro Minis ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231191125386 ) and you have a solution for < $50 for 3 nodes with a forth node built up using the same combination and can be the bridge back to the PC using a USB->UART bridge ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261395201974 ) to the Pro Mini. This same cable will serve as the programming interface for the Pro Minis during firmware development.
Cheers Pete.