Telemetry Module: Device, Environment, and Power

The Telemetry module broadcasts sensor data from your node across the mesh - battery voltage, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and more. Other nodes receive this data and display it in the app, and it can be forwarded to external systems via MQTT.

Enabling Telemetry

In the Meshtastic app: Radio Config → Modules → Telemetry

Via CLI:

meshtastic --set telemetry.device_update_interval 900
meshtastic --set telemetry.environment_update_interval 900
meshtastic --set telemetry.power_update_interval 900

Intervals are in seconds. Setting to 0 disables that telemetry type. The default of 900 seconds (15 minutes) is appropriate for most deployments.

Device Telemetry

Device telemetry is always available - it reports internal state from the node itself, no external sensors required:

Environment Telemetry

Requires an external I2C sensor. Supported sensors include:

meshtastic --set telemetry.environment_measurement_enabled true
meshtastic --set telemetry.environment_screen_enabled true

Power Telemetry

Requires an INA219 or INA260 current sensor on the I2C bus. Reports voltage, current draw, and calculated power consumption - useful for monitoring solar systems and diagnosing battery drain.

meshtastic --set telemetry.power_measurement_enabled true

Telemetry Intervals and Airtime Impact

Every telemetry broadcast consumes airtime. At Long Fast preset, a telemetry packet takes approximately 0.3-0.5 seconds of airtime. At 15-minute intervals with one sensor type, this is negligible. But if you enable all three telemetry types at 5-minute intervals on a busy network, the combined airtime impact becomes meaningful. As a guideline:

• Fixed infrastructure nodes: 15-30 minute intervals are appropriate
• Portable/personal nodes: 30-60 minute intervals to reduce network load
• Emergency operations (where battery monitoring is critical): 5-minute intervals acceptable