LoRa Range: Realistic Expectations
Range is the most common question new users have, and the most complex to answer accurately. LoRa range depends on antenna height, terrain, preset configuration, and environmental conditions. Here's how to set realistic expectations for your deployment.
The Honest Range Summary
| Environment | Typical Range (stock antenna) | Typical Range (good external antenna) |
|---|---|---|
| Open flat terrain, low antennas | 2-5 km | 8-20 km |
| Suburban (houses, trees) | 0.5-2 km | 2-6 km |
| Dense urban (buildings) | 200m - 1 km | 1-3 km |
| One node elevated (hilltop/tower) | 5-15 km | 15-50 km |
| Both nodes elevated (mountain ridge) | 20-80 km | 50-200+ km |
The largest factor in real-world range is antenna elevation. Elevating an antenna from ground level to 30 feet (10m) typically doubles effective range. Getting to 100 feet (30m) can increase range by 5-10x. This is why community networks invest in hilltop and water tower installations.
Modem Preset vs. Range
Meshtastic's modem presets trade speed for range. Slower presets = longer range:
| Preset | Relative Range | Message Throughput | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| ShortTurbo | Shortest | ~21 kbps | Dense urban, close range |
| ShortFast | Short | ~10 kbps | Indoor/urban |
| MediumFast | Medium | ~3.5 kbps | Suburban networks |
| LongFast | Long (default) | ~1.3 kbps | Community networks (best balance) |
| LongSlow | Very long | ~0.5 kbps | Rural sparse networks |
| VeryLongSlow | Maximum | ~0.15 kbps | Extreme range (slow) |
Range Factors You Can Control
- Antenna height: The single biggest lever. Even adding 10 feet of height can double your range.
- Antenna quality: A $30 external fiberglass antenna outperforms the stock rubber duck by 5-10 dB (2-3x range).
- Modem preset: Switching from LongFast to LongSlow can extend range 20-40% at the cost of message throughput.
- TX power: Maximum legal power (1W / 30 dBm) extends range vs default. Set with
meshtastic --set lora.tx_power 30.
Range Factors You Can't Control
- Terrain: Hills, buildings, and forests attenuate signal significantly. One building between two nodes can reduce range by 50%.
- Weather: Rain and high humidity cause minor RF attenuation at 915 MHz (usually under 3 dB in heavy rain
—- not a major concern for LoRa). - Interference: Other 900 MHz ISM devices sharing the band can raise the noise floor and reduce effective range.
- Multipath fading: In urban environments, reflections from buildings create constructive and destructive interference that causes range to vary significantly over short distances.