Meshtastic: Off-Grid Messaging

I blame Jeff Geerling for getting me into Meshtastic - not really, but kind of. Jeff has an impressive ability to make tech look fun. Unfortunately, my experience with Meshtastic has been more disappointment than fun. This post aims to:

1. Introduce Meshtastic
2. Describe my experience
3. Give some tips for new users

What is Meshtastic?

Meshtastic® is a project that enables you to use inexpensive LoRa radios as a long range off-grid communication platform in areas without existing or reliable communications infrastructure. This project is 100% community driven and open source!

There are a couple of things I really appreciate about Meshtastic:

1. Messages are encrypted. I value privacy, so being able to encrypt messages is extremely valuable.

2. You don’t need a license to use Meshtastic.

When using amateur radio frequencies, messages cannot be encrypted, and you need a license.

My Experience

Cell phone coverage in my town is impressively weak, and I was curious to see if anyone nearby had set up Meshtastic nodes. In August 2024, I bought a Heltec v3 for $26 and took it out on a few bike rides, but I didn’t detect any other nodes. The Heltec v3 on its own was inconvenient because I had to plug it into my phone to use it. So I decided I needed:

1. Battery for $24
2. 3D-printed case from PacificNorthWest3D for $20
3. Antenna for $12

For both the battery and the antenna, the cheapest option at the time was a four-pack of each. All in, I ended up spending $82. I now had a Meshtastic radio I could bring anywhere. I brought it on a few more bike rides and car rides, and left it on in my house. Unfortunately, I still haven’t communicated directly with anyone via the mesh.

I’ve connected my node to the public MQTT server mqtt.meshtastic.org (via WiFi). I named my node https://andrewmarder.net/meshtastic/ so people can find this post from the MeshMap. I’m hopeful that advertising my location on the MeshMap will encourage nearby Meshtastic enthusiasts to contact me via on-grid messaging so we can build our off-grid mesh. If you’re a Meshtastic user near Wayland, Massachusetts, please reach out - I’d love to connect!

Tips for New Users

As a first step, I would suggest checking out some node maps to see if there are nodes near you.

Map Link	Data Source	# Nodes
meshmap.net	mqtt.meshtastic.org	10,529
meshtastic.liamcottle.net	mqtt.meshtastic.liamcottle.net	26,411
meshsense.affirmatech.com	MeshSense	6,594

The regional maps for New Hampshire and the Bay Area are particularly impressive.

Second, I would suggest looking for user groups near you. Here are some groups near me:

Platform	Group Link	# Members
Facebook	New England Meshtastic Users (Unofficial)	613
Discord	Greater Boston Mesh	457
Facebook	Boston Meshnet (Meshtastic/Meshcore)	366
Discord	New England Mesh & Outdoors	46

If you’re interested in Meshtastic, Meshtastic’s Official Subreddit is an excellent resource. It has great information and really helpful people.

Thanks

I want to thank the folks on the Meshtastic Subreddit for their helpful feedback. I posted a first draft of this post and learned a lot from their comments. Then I asked about node maps and learned about a ton of useful maps.

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