What you need
Anyone can join the mesh. All it takes is a LoRa radio board, a USB cable, and a few minutes.
The flasher installs MeshCore from your browser onto these boards:
- Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3, and V4 (TFT)
- Heltec Mesh Node T114
- LilyGO T-Beam (SX1276)
- Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 with a Wio-SX1262 or a wired SX1262
- Seeed SenseCAP Solar Node P1-Pro
- Waveshare RP2040-LoRa-HF
Buy the 915 MHz (US) version of whichever board you choose, and attach the antenna before you power it on. Transmitting without an antenna can damage the radio.
Steps
- Open the flasher in Chrome, Edge or another browser with Web Serial support, plug the board in with a data USB cable, and pick your board.
- Choose a role. A Companion is the one you carry and pair with your phone. A Repeater is for a high, powered spot and relays for others.
- Install. The newest build is selected by default. The Build menu lets you pick an older version.
- Pair with the app. Install the MeshCore app on your phone, connect to the radio over Bluetooth, and check that the radio settings match the ones on the firmware page.
- Send a message. If you are in range of other MeshCore nodes, they will start to appear.
Help it grow
The mesh is a volunteer effort, and it grows with every radio that joins. A repeater helps most from a high spot with power and a clear view in every direction. Check that its radio settings match the rest of the mesh before you put it up.